New York  - Frederick "Fritz" Henderson, second in command at beleaguered General Motors, is the likely candidate to take over the firm amidst reports that GM head Rick Wagoner has been asked to leave by the US government, media reports said Sunday.

Henderson, 50, the chief-operating-officer, is the likely replacement, at least on a temporary basis, The New York Times reported, citing people close to the situation. Henderson met with members of the government panel overseeing the car industry bailout.

New York, Mar. 29 : Ponzi scammer Bernie Madoff, who is currently in jail for defrauding investors of millions of dollars, also cheated on his devoted wife Ruth

Madoff carried on at least one affair during the couple's 50-year marriage, the New York Daily News quotes two sources, as saying.

One insider tells us Bernie once had a thing with an executive assistant at a major media corporation.

"She was attractive and Jewish," says the source. "He was quite generous with her. He used to fly her around."

New York, March 29 : U. S. Vice-President Joe Biden may have to face shame after a video of his daughter allegedly snorting cocaine has been put for sale, according to online reports.

The footage was said to have been recorded by his daughter Ashley's friend and reportedly showed the social worker taking three lines of coke rolled in a dollar bill at a bash.

According to Radaronline. com, the alleged video of the 27-year-old has raked up offers up to as much as 250,000 dollars, reports the New York Daily News.

New York, Mar 28 : President Barack Obama Pak-Afghan policy, which could be his signature foreign policy effort, said that al Qaeda terrorists are hiding in Pakistan and Afghanistan and he wants them to defeat them in their safe havens to prevent their return in future.

Obama said he would increase aid to Pakistan and would, for the first time, set benchmarks for progress in fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban in both countries, the New York Times reported.

New York  - US stocks fell on Friday after two leading banks said they made less money in March, but the major indices were still up at least 6 per cent for the week.

JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp said that earnings had fallen this month after they made money in the first two months of the year, pushing their shares down more than 3 per cent, Bloomberg financial news reported.

New York  - The cultural clone of shamed financial scammer Bernard Madoff has been arrested and charged after help from former tennis great John McEnroe, who reportedly lost 2 million dollars in a fine art fraud.

Mac got mad and then got even after bankrupt Lawrence Salander sold him and others shares in paintings the gallery dealer didn't actually own.

Local media reported that art-mad Mac paid up the big bucks in 2004 for a 50 percent interest in two paintings by abstract expressionist Arshile Gorky, Pirate I and Pirate II.