The US Senate approves a bill aimed at banning members of Congress from profiting from stock trades made with specialised insider knowledge.

Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the US Senate and longtime force behind sanctions on Myanmar, will pay his first visit to the country to assess nascent reforms, his office said Thursday.

Brown was the lowest-ranking member of the state’s minority party in the Mass. Senate when he rocked the state and national political establishments by winning the special election to replace the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

The US Senate – battered by fiscal crisis and gridlock – voted Saturday to fund the government through FY 2012 and extend a payroll tax cut, set to expire on Dec. 31. The House is expected to vote next week.

The US Senate on Saturday passed a compromise measure extending a workers tax holiday and jobless benefits, but for just two months, setting up a February showdown in the heat of an election campaign.