U. S. Food and Drug Administration gave given green signal to Afinitor made by Novartis for treating advanced kidney cancer in people that is ineffective to other therapies. Afinitor works by blocking cells' ability to communicate hence preventing the growth of tumors.

FDA said patients tested with Novartis' Afinitor lived more than twice as long without tumor growth as those who didn't receive the drug. The study by the Swiss drugmaker showed Afinitor delayed tumor growth nearly 5 months, compared with less than two months for patients not taking the drug.

New York  - Major US stock indices posted strong gains Tuesday following Europe's lead, capping the US market's best month in nearly seven years.

Financial firms led the gains on signs that banks were starting to increase lending in the current recession. An index of financial companies jumped 6.7 per cent.

The rally comes ahead of an emergency summit of the Group of 20 major economies Thursday in London to help pull the world out of recession. US President Barack Obama and other world leaders began arriving Tuesday in London.

Wellington  - New Zealand has withdrawn

Washington  - The United States on Tuesday s

Washington  - The US Chamber of Commerce threw its weight behind a bill introduced Tuesday in the US Senate that would eliminate the ban on most US travel to the Caribbean island.

The bill, which has strong support in both parties, would appear to open the flood gates for US travellers and tourists, and is seen as a first step towards reexamining the overall restrictions on US trade with the communist island.

San Francisco  - A California jury has awarded 8.6 million dollars to a motorbike rider who was severely injured when he crashed into a wild pig that was crossing a highway.

According to the Monterey County Herald, the jury agreed with lawyers for Adam Rogers, who argued that the state of California was responsible for the crash because it took no steps to mitigate the problem even though it knew that wild boars were crossing the road to eat newly planted vegetation on its verges.