New York 

New York, Nov 9 : Padma Lakshmi’s friends are rushing to the stunner’s defence after it was reported that she was a gold digger.

The New York Post’s sources had earlier insinuated that the "Top Chef" host used former hubby Salman Rushdie for his fame.

"She does live in the circle of rich, famous people so it would be natural that they are the ones she may date,” the New York Post quoted a pal, as saying.

New York, Nov 8: A longtime aide of John McCain’s vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, has bashed critics claiming that the Alaska governor was unfairly being made a scapegoat for the Republican campaign’s missteps.

Meg Stapleton gave a piece of her mind to anonymous critics inside the now defunct McCain-Palin team, claiming that they were inappropriately using Palin’s infamous 150,000 dollars shopping spree to cover up their misdeeds.

New York - US stocks rose Friday, after two days of major declines, despite a sharp hike in unemployment and massive losses reported from major automakers.

The Wall Street rally was attributed to speculation that the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates next month to combat a surging unemployment rate. The US Labour Department reported Friday that unemployment climbed to 6.5 per cent in October, after another 240,000 jobs were lost in a worsening sign for the economy.

Former Governor Spitzer, who reinvented the office of attorney general, but had trouble adjusting to being governor, has been reprieved. A statement by Michael Garcia, United States attorney ends eight months of uncertainty for the disgraced governor, who will not face any criminal charges for patronizing a high-priced prostitution ring.

A Democrat, Spitzer, who after eight years as state attorney general, was elected as Governor in 2006, built his reputation as a prosecutor, who single-mindedly tackled white-collar corruption and promised to bring the ethics back to Albany.

New York, Nov 7 : Modelling agency Elite Model Management, known for its world-class beauties, has won a case against escort service website Elitemodel. cc for using the name “Elite”.

When Elite Model Management filed the lawsuit last summer, the unnamed owners of the website, who had used a Park Ave. address, took the site down, revealed attorney Abraham Skoff, The News reported.

But they failed to respond to trademark-infringement claims made by Elite lawyers, which prompted Federal District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel to issue a default judgment in Elite’s favour.