New York - US markets got a slight boost from government plans announced Tuesday to pump an additional 800 billion dollars into the struggling economy and unfreeze credit for consumers and small businesses.

The increases continued a three-day rally on Wall Street. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36.06 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 8,479.47. The broad-based Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 5.58, or 0.7 per cent, to 857.39, while the technology heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 7.29 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 1,464.73.

Hamburg - Both Arsenal and Real Madrid needed 1-0 wins to book their places in the last 16 of the Champions League Tuesday while a draw was sufficient for Manchester United to ensure their berth in the knockout stages.

Arsenal put a torrid week which saw William Gallas stripped of the captaincy and Arsene Wenger's side crash 3-0 at Manchester City behind them, registering a solid performance to beat Dynamo Kiev 1-0 thanks to a late Nicklas Bendner score.

Kiev finished the game with 10 men after Olexandr Aliyev received a straight red card for trying to move the referee away from the ball as he wanted to take a free-kick quickly.

Los Angeles - Just four days after the finalizing of her divorce from ex-husband Guy Ritchie, Madonna appears to be finding solace in the arms of baseball hunk Alex Rodriguez, according to gossip reports Tuesday.

Television show E! News reported that the 50-year-old Queen of Pop met up with the 33-year-old sports star at a tour stop in Atlanta, and that the couple then flew together to Miami aboard a private jet.

The couple will also spend the Thanksgiving holiday together, with Rodriguez hosting Madonna and her children at his New York apartment.

The arrangement was far from popular with Rodriguez' estranged wife Cynthia, according to Access Hollywood, who accused Rodriguez of abandoning his own children during the important US holiday.

Washington  - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has agreed to stay in the job for at least one year of president-elect Barack Obama's administration, ABC News and Politico reported Tuesday, citing unnamed officials.

With Gates staying at the helm, Obama keeps in place a key architect of the troop buildup in Iraq that contributed to the sharp decrease in violence during the past 15 months. It will also help Obama fulfill a pledge to have a bipartisan cabinet.

Gates is a registered independent but has served in numerous Republican administrations. He replaced Donald Rumsfeld as Pentagon chief in December 2006.

Washington - The US Federal Reserve and Treasury Department on Tuesday announced two new programmes that will pump an additional 800 billion dollars into the struggling economy and unfreeze credit for consumers and small businesses.

This second stimulus follows the 700-billion-dollar rescue package already approved by Congress. Under one of the two new programmes, the Fed will use 600 billion dollars to buy mortgage-backed securities to reduce the cost of home mortgages.

Amman - Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi on Monday received a letter from his Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki assuring him that under the provisions of the security pact with Washington, US troops will not be allowed to use Iraqi territory to attack Jordan or any other neighbouring country, Iraqi Culture Minister Maher Hadithi said.

The Iraqi minister made the remarks to reporters after meeting with Dahabi to relay to him al-Maliki's message.