New York, Feb 17 : Pakistani immigrants from the Swat Valley living in the United States say some of their families are being singled out for threats, kidnapping and even murder by Taliban forces, who view them as potential American collaborators and lucrative sources of ransom.

Some immigrants also say they, too, have been threatened in the United States by the Taliban or its sympathizers, and some immigrants say they have been attacked or kidnapped when they have returned home, the New York Times reported.

New York, February 17 : Bernie Madoff, who is under house arrest for running a 50-billion-dollar scam, has been dubbed as a one-dollar-guy by staff at a posh Montauk oceanfront resort.

The Wall Street fund manager, who was said to be a regular at Gurney''s, allegedly held the reputation of being a bad tipper around the hotel spa.

"He won''t be missed. Bernie was strictly a buck-a-towel guy," the New York Post quoted one employee as telling a source.

The 70-year-old was alleged to have conned many with Ponzi schemes, which involves paying abnormally high returns to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from the profit from any real business.

New York, Feb 17 : Heidi Klum has blasted the German fashion designer who caller her "too fat" to walk the ramp.

Last week, designer Wolfgang Joop criticised the supermodel-turned-TV presenter for her weight.

Talking to editors at German website Bild. com, he said that Klum had become too heavy to walk the catwalk.

But, the German stunner, who rose to fame modelling lingerie for Victoria''s Secret, has insisted that her fashion career is going great guns.

New York, Feb 17: Despite being pulled off from the shelves, controversial Malia and Sasha dolls are selling like hot cakes at popular auction site eBay.

"Marvelous Malia" and "Sweet Sasha," dolls, renamed by the Ty toy company as "Marvelous Mariah" and "Sweet Sydney," were withdrawn from the market after US First Lady Michelle Obama complained.

They are still being sold on eBay and elsewhere for as much as 3,000 dollars.

New York, Feb 17 : Olympic golden boy Michael Phelps will not face any charges in pot-smoking scandal, according to South Carolina sheriff Leon Lott.

Lett confirmed that they won't prosecute the 23-year-old star, as he defended the zealousness of his probe into pot-smoking at a college party last year.

The eight times Olympic gold medallist came under fire after he was snapped smoking marijuana pipe at a party in University of South Carolina.

Lott said that they had no choice but to launch a probe after the photos surfaced.

New York, February 16 : Alex Rodriguez is hitting the headlines yet again after reportedly getting cosy with a stunning model on Valentine Day.

The baseball''s biggest superstar was said to be dating the beautiful Melissa Britos, despite previous rumours linking the power-hitting player to Madonna, who was reportedly blamed for his broken marriage.

The Yankee slugger was seen fixing his gaze on Britos during a romantic dinner at the Scarpetta restaurant in the Fontainebleau resort in Miami.