newsmakers

newsmakers

Timberlake, rapper lead with 6 VMA nods

NEW YORK

The man in the suit and tie and the duo who buys clothes at thrift shops are the leaders at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards.

MTV announced Wednesday that Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have six nominations each. Bruno Mars has four nominations.

Timberlake’s “Mirrors,” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” and Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” will battle Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” for video of the year.

Timberlake’s “Mirrors” and “Suit & Tie” are up for best male video, pop video and collaboration, among others. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ nominations include hip-hop video and collaboration.

Thicke, Miley Cyrus, Pink and Thirty Seconds to Mars have three nominations each.

The VMAs will air live Aug. 25 from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

Syfy plans sequel to ‘Sharknado’

NEW YORK

Syfy says flying sharks will bite again.

The network is announcing a sequel to “Sharknado,” which became an instant campy classic with its recent airing. The new film premieres in 2014.

This time, the mayhem moves from Los Angeles to New York City. There, as before, sharks can be expected to plunge from the sky and plow through the streets as a result of an ecological nightmare. No other details of the film were disclosed.

Syfy also announced a special Twitter contest to give the movie an appropriate subtitle. Fans can tweet their subtitle to @SyfyMovies using the hashtag #Sharknado.

Aired last week, the disaster film was a trending topic on Twitter, generating nearly 5,000 tweets per minute at its peak. Meanwhile, nearly 1.37 million viewers tuned in.

Versace mansion on auction block

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.

The South Beach, Fla., mansion once owned by Italian designer Gianni Versace and the place he was fatally shot is headed for the auction block.

Fisher Auction Company is handling the sale, set for Sept. 17. The 23,000- square-foot oceanfront mansion previously had been listed for $125 million.

Originally built in 1930, the 10-bedroom, 11-bathroom, gated home features a 54-foot-long mosaic pool lined with 24-karat gold. It also includes numerous frescos, ornate statues, arched doorways and an open-air courtyard.

Travis’ brother arrested on meth charge

MARSHVILLE, N.C.

Authorities in North Carolina say a brother of country singer Randy Travis was arrested after sheriff’s deputies found a methamphetamine lab inside his home.

Union County sheriff’s investigators searched the home of 50-year-old David Traywick on Tuesday and said they found a working meth lab.

Deputies arrested Traywick, his wife, Jessica, and two other women, charging them with conspiracy to traffic meth. Bond was set at $500,000 apiece for David and J essica Traywick. They were scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether either person has an attorney.

Last September, deputies charged David Traywick with cooking meth in a makeshift lab near his home in Marshville, about 35 miles southeast of Charlotte.

Travis is in a Texas hospital, where he’s recovering from surgery after a stroke.

Vindicator wire services