New Ludacris Album ‘Ludaversal’ Due in May
Ludacris tells Billboard.com that his eighth studio album, “Ludaversal,” is on track for a May release, and that Usher is on board for a collabo.
“Usher is one person that I’ve already worked with,” says Ludacris, “and in terms of other artists, you can say that there’s going to be a lot of surprises on here.”
Ludacris and Usher previously collaborated on the latter’s smash single “Yeah!,” which featured Lil Jon and topped the Hot 100 for 12 weeks in 2004, as well as Lil Jon’s “Lovers and Friends,” which peaked at No. 3 on the chart.
The follow-up to 2010′s “Battle of the Sexes” is still “in the beginning stages” for the Atlanta rapper, who tided fans over by releasing the mixtape “1.21 Gigawatts: Back To The First Time” in November.
Ludacris spent 2011 continuing to hone his acting skills, with supporting roles in “No Strings Attached,” “Fast Five” and “New Year’s Eve.” Meanwhile, he announced the opening of a new restaurant, Chicken & Beer, in the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia last week, although the rapper has yet to specify when the eatery (which shares its name with Luda’s third album) will open.
Ludacris says that the first single from “Ludaversal” will be released “probably within March,” and that fans can expect the album to encapsulate everything within the Luda’s ever-expanding world, as the title suggests.
“It’s been a minute since I’ve been away from music, and there is just so much to talk about,” he says. “So [the album] is mostly about my personal life, my travels, my experiences, rumors, gossip — you know, everything coming together in one.”
Mayweather-Pacquiao saga plods forward with no end in sight
The latest development in the neverending saga that is the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao negotiations -- Pacquiao telling a Filipino media outlet on Monday that he wants Mayweather to be his next opponent and plans to advise his promoter Bob Arum accordingly -- sparked another Internet debate about will this fight happen ... and who is to blame this time if it doesn't.
Let's delve into some of those topics, shall we, in this all-Twitter, all Pacquiao-Mayweather mailbag:
If Manny stands up to his daddy Arum, there is still a chance!
--@Tha_R
Talk is cheap, Chris. Is Manny willing to make Bob put the fight together?
--@MisterRudolph
Pacquiao's longstanding unwillingness to demand certain opponents rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Of course, Pacquiao has put his faith in Arum, who has matched him well over the years and made him a truckload of money along the way. But if Pacquiao is really serious about fighting Mayweather in May -- something Arum has called impossible due to the slow-healing cut Pacquiao received during the Juan Manuel Marquez fight and financially irresponsible because a specially designed, 45,000-seat outdoor stadium in Las Vegas would not be ready in time -- he needs to make that clear.
Marquez, Tim Bradley, Miguel Cotto or Lamont Peterson might make Pacquiao some money, but it won't bring him a fraction of the attention a Mayweather fight would. Pacquiao has always said he is about giving the fans what they want. Now, he has a chance to prove it.
Arum is obviously afraid, he has come up with every excuse in the book not to make the fight
--@AbsolutVodka99
You don't know Bob Arum if you think he doesn't cares about money. It's ALL about money with Bob.
--@Layzie_Guy
I'm with a lot of you on this: I don't think Arum wants this fight. But it's not because of money. Arum is 80, worth hundreds of millions and Top Rank is in great shape with a well-stocked roster and bright executives Todd DuBoef, Bruce Trampler, Carl Moretti, Brad Goodman and Brad Jacobs running the show behind the scenes. It's not about not wanting to empower Mayweather anymore, either. Does it stick with Arum that Mayweather left him before signing on for his fight with Oscar De La Hoya? Yes. But Arum has promoted Ali. He has promoted Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and George Foreman. Fighters come and fighters go. He may not like Mayweather, but that would not stop him from making the fight.
No, what matters to Arum now is the process. He still enjoys promoting. What he doesn't enjoy -- and has said this to me many times -- is working with the people at Golden Boy or with Mayweather advisor Al Haymon. Arum looks at them condescendingly. He doesn't believe they have a true understanding of the boxing business and knows he would not enjoy a four- or five-month mega-promotion with them. That's his resistance to making this fight. Nothing more.
Of course Arum is afraid. He is afraid to lose his cash cow.
--@jtorell
Here's another argument that I find absolutely ridiculous: If Pacquiao loses to Mayweather, he loses his box-office appeal. Come on. When did a fighter's record become the reason we watch a fight? Pacquiao is appealing because he has an aggressive, come-forward style that usually ends in a knockout. That's not going to change.
Besides, let's look into the crystal ball of Pacquiao's career: The plan, according to Arum, is for Pacquiao to fight four more times before his desire to be a governor (and, ultimately, the Filipino president) consumes his career. Say he fights Mayweather in May. Say he loses. Would that diminish the attractiveness of rematches with Marquez and Cotto? Or a fight with Brandon Rios? Or a possible all-Filipino finale in Manila against (and this may be wishful thinking) Nonito Donaire? I don't think so.
And I'm not even considering the possibility here that the Mayweather fight would be so competitive that there would be an overwhelming demand for a rematch. Bottom line: Losses are not relevant. Just ask Oscar De La Hoya.
Is Mayweather serious about fighting Robert Guerrero?
--@TheRealMikeJC
It's possible. I've been told that Guerrero -- who has been openly lobbying for a Mayweather fight and was said to be close to an agreement, according to an Internet report -- is under consideration. I've thought all along that Saul Alvarez was Mayweather's first choice. He's a popular Mexican with a junior middleweight title around his waist. When you're talking about fighting on Cinco de Mayo, that's important.
Personally, I think both Guerrero and Alvarez are horrible choices. Guerrero would be a joke. He's a lightweight (a lightweight) who is coming off shoulder surgery in August. He has no real fan base and his resume doesn't suggest at this stage of his career he would be anything but a punching bag for Mayweather.
Alvarez is more popular but, at 21, he's raw. In September, Alfonso Gomez outboxed Alvarez for a few rounds before Alvarez caught him with a crushing combination. Mayweather would box circles around him.
The only competitive fight for Mayweather is Sergio Martinez, the lineal middleweight champion who has said he would drop to 150 pounds for the fight and agree not to rehydrate to more than 164, the weight Victor Ortiz carried into the ring against Mayweather in September. But I've been told Martinez's people have not heard a whisper of interest from Mayweather's people.
Chris Mannix
SI
Anguillan is acting general secretary of CFU
The Caribbean Football Union Normalization Committee appointed Damien Hughes as acting general secretary of the organization on Friday, filling the position left vacant when Angenie Kanhai resigned effective December 20.
The 34-year-old Hughes, who graduated from Moorehouse College in Atlanta and has a Master's degree from York University in Toronto, has been the general secretary of the Anguilla Football Association for the past 10 years.
The announcement by Cayman Islands Football Association President Jeffrey Webb, chairman of the normalization committee, of Hughes' appointment came following a conference call of the nine-man panel Friday.
The committee was selected in December by the 30 presidents of the Caribbean federations as the first step to rebuilding the CFU following the tumultuous past year.
The CFU has been without a president since Jack Warner resigned June 20 amid ethics allegations surrounding the FIFA presidential candidacy of Mohamed Bin Hamman, ending his 20-year tenure. The allegations, which also led to sanctions against several members of the CFU, prompted December's gathering at FIFA's urging to develop a plan to restructure.
Hughes will "serve as the chief administrator of the Union during the normalisation (sic) period, maintain the communication lines between the CFU and it members, and to prepare the Union for its Ordinary Congress slated for May 2012," Webb wrote to the CFU members in a letter.
"As you will imagine, the success of Mr. Hughes' tenure will be dependent upon our ability to partner with him as he seeks to assist us in return the Union to some level of administrative normality."
Hughes' appointment will not last 30 days past the congress, Webb wrote.
Web domains to get major overhaul with custom names
Applications will soon open for new top-level domains in the biggest change to the system in over two decades.
From Thursday it will be possible to register almost any word as a web address suffix.
Familiar endings like .com and .org could potentially be joined by the likes of .pepsi, .virgin or .itv.
The proposals are controversial but Icann, the organisation which regulates domain names, says the change increases choice and competition.
In December, the US Federal Trade Commission wrote to Icann warning that the expansion of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) "has the potential to magnify both the abuse of the domain name system and the corresponding challenges we encounter in tracking down Internet fraudsters."
And in the US, the Association of National Advertisers, whose members include some of America's biggest companies, have also opposed the changes.
Not cheap
But Peter Dengate Thrush, a former chairman of Icann's board of directors, said the change was necessary.
"It's badly in need of overhaul," he told the BBC.
"No-one would design a domain name system now for several billion users just using a couple of names that we started the system with in 1985."
Mr Dengate Thrush is currently chairman of Top Level Domains Holdings, a company developing registry services for top level domains.
At a cost of $185,000 (£120,000) just to apply, obtaining one of the new names is a serious financial commitment.
"Probably you are closer to half a million dollars to get it off the ground," said Jonathan Robinson, a non-executive director of Afilias, a registry operator which manages extensions like .mobi and .info.
The cost has lead to concern among some non-profit organisations that they will have to spend considerable sums defending themselves from cyber squatters.
Last month, the Reuters agency reported that the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and 26 other international organisations wrote to Icann asking it to protect suffixes like .imf from cyber squatters.
Deadline approaching
In spite of the cost there has been significant interest in applying for the new general top-level domains before the deadline for applications closes in April, according to companies advising on registrations.
"We're already working on over 100 applications - we're expecting that to increase," said Stuart Durham of Melbourne IT DBS.
He said around 25% of those had been "from Fortune 500 companies", with the majority of interest from the retail and financial services sectors.
As well as brand names, Mr Durham said there is likely to be a lively interest in place names.
"A lot of the geographic extensions that are being discussed like .london or .nyc will have a very good solid business case," he said.
"We've recently had extensions like .cat for the Catalan community that's done very well as well."
However, Mr Dengate Thrush worried this could lead to some conflict issues with places like Wellington, capital of his native country New Zealand, which shares its name with other places around the world.
"I think there are about 20 or 30 other cities called Wellington." However, he believed the systems set in place by Icann will ensure these issues can be successfully negotiated.
Cyber squatting
Even those who support the change foresee some issues.
"I would say it's almost certainly a good thing," Afilia's Mr Robinson told the BBC.
However, he says "you open up a whole new second tier of real estate that could be cyber squatted".
But Mr Durham thinks that there's very little that could be done to eradicate malicious squatters and others seeking to exploit the system.
"Cockroaches would survive a nuclear attack," he said.
"Some cyber squatters and infringers would too."
IRS comes up $385 billion short
The IRS has collected $4.4 billion from two programs that allowed tax evaders hiding money in offshore accounts to come clean and said it will launch a similar initiative this year.
The two voluntary disclosure programs, launched in 2009 and 2011, allowed taxpayers to pay reduced penalties and avoid jail time if they disclosed information about their offshore accounts.
The 2009 program netted $3.4 billion, and the 2011 program has brought in payments of $1 billion so far -- an amount that's expected to grow as the IRS processes the rest of the cases from last year, the agency said Monday. In all, 33,000 taxpayers have voluntarily come forward through the two programs.
Because of the success of the initiatives, the IRS also announced Monday that it is opening a third voluntary disclosure program for 2012.
"Our focus on offshore tax evasion continues to produce strong, substantial results for the nation's taxpayers," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "We have billions of dollars in hand from our previous efforts, and we have more people wanting to come in and get right with the government."
Tax gap: IRS comes up $385 billion short
Unlike the past two initiatives, this year's program doesn't have a set deadline by which taxpayers must turn themselves in. But the IRS said it can change the terms of the program at any time, which could mean closing it altogether or increasing penalties.
For now, taxpayers disclosing offshore accounts are required to pay a penalty of 27.5% of the highest aggregate balance in their offshore accounts during the eight tax years prior to disclosing the accounts. That's up from the 25% penalty in 2011.
The lure of avoiding jail time is still there for the new program, and, as in the prior programs, taxpayers with smaller accounts may be eligible for lower penalty rates of 5% to 12.5%.
The program also requires tax evaders to fork over back taxes, interest and late charges for up to eight years.
Tax evaders who don't voluntarily disclose their offshore accounts but are instead caught by the IRS are in much more trouble. They risk jail time, and penalties can even be 50% -- or more if fraud is involved -- of the total account balance.
As part of the crackdown on offshore accounts, the IRS has also been boosting its audits of millionaires, because offshore accounts are often held by higher-earners, according to the agency. Last year, the IRS audited 1 in every 8 millionaires -- meaning about 12.5% of all taxpayers earning one million dollars or more were delivered audits
Intel Medfield chip on Motorola and Lenovo smartphones
Intel's new processor designed for mobile devices will be used by Motorola Mobility and Lenovo in upcoming Android-based smartphones.
The Medfield chip is designed to help Intel make headway in a sector dominated by processors based on designs by the UK firm Arm Holdings.
The announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The Motorola partnership is significant as Android's maker, Google, is in the process of taking over the phone maker.
This launch marks Intel's second attempt to get Atom-based chips used in smartphones.
LG unveiled a previous tie-up at CES in 2010, but the handset never went into production.
This time Intel has announced rough shipping dates for the new devices.
It said Lenovo would launch a Medfield-based phone in China before July, while Motorola would sell its first handset in the second half of the year with others devices to follow.
Battery life
Medfield's system-on-chip design packs an X86-architecture central processing unit (CPU), RAM memory, storage and an Imagination Technologies-designed graphics processing unit all onto the same chip using the firm's established 32 nanometre manufacturing technology.
The chip is smaller than a fingertip and is designed to balance processing power against energy use in order to maximise battery life.
Intel said a prototype unit, which it built itself, could deliver eight hours of 3G voice calls, six hours of 1080p video decoding or five hours of 3G internet browsing.
"Battery life on this platform is not the best in the mobile market, but it is by far not the worst," Mike Bell, Intel's Ultra Mobility Group general manager, told the BBC.
"We are very effective and good at some tasks and sort of in the middle of the pack at others.
"Essentially we think you can build a smartphone based upon our processor with an ordinary sized battery that you see in today's smartphones that will provide a great experience. There will be no battery life issue on our platform."
Avoiding fragmentation
Intel said it has also taken steps to prevent existing Android apps from being incompatible or slow on its chips.
It will deploy a team of experts to advise creators of Java-based titles on how to optimise their code - something it already does to help PC program developers.
The firm says it has also developed a technology to tackle "the 25% of apps" designed specifically to run on Arm-based processors.
"Applications that have native components or that were compiled natively for Arm - the majority of them, we think, by the time we ship will run just as well here as they do on other platforms. So the user won't have to worry about will it run on this or that phone," said Mr Bell.
"Compared to a native Intel version of the application it might use slightly more power if it is running under our technology, but the user wouldn't notice it.
"It will let those applications on day one run. And of course we are then going and evangelising to those people: 'Hey, if you recompile it it is going to run a lot faster on our platform as our platform is better.'"
Tablets
Intel said the chip could later be used in tablets.
However, for now it is promoting a separate Clover Trail processor, which was demonstrated on a tablet running the upcoming Windows 8 system software by chief executive Paul Ottellini during the CES keynote speech.
Despite showing off an Intel-designed Medfield prototype handset, Mr Bell said that the firm had chosen to pursue "a more horizontal ecosystem" with handset manufacturing left to others. However, he admitted that there had been discussions about Intel moving into the sector.
Intel's ability to crack the mobile device market could prove critical to its future success. Many analysts believe the division between smartphones and tablets versus PCs and laptops will become blurred over the coming years.
Microsoft's new system software has been designed to work on both Arm-designed processors as well as Intel's X86-based chips. Manufacturers have also experimented with Arm-based laptops running Linux operating systems.
"There are somewhere between three to five billion smartphones in the world, if Intel wants to grow its business at a significant rate it must participate in this market, there is no alternative," said Ken Dulaney, vice president of mobile computing at the tech research firm Gartner.
"It also gives them a fallback if the Wintel monopoly begins to fall apart and the browser, rather than system, becomes king. They have been too tied to Microsoft for too long."
Nissan-Renault alliance in sales record in tough year
The Renault-Nissan partnership's global vehicle sales increased 10% last year to a record high.
Deliveries by the two car companies and their Russian partner AvtoVaz rose to 8.03 million vehicles, up from 7.28 million in 2010.
Renault-Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn announced the results at the Detroit motor show.
The rise has been attributed to a rebound in the US car market and strong demand from China.
Disaster year
Japanese car makers suffered major disruptions to production in 2011 due to the earthquake and tsunami in March and the floods in Thailand.
Despite this, Nissan's deliveries jumped to 4.67 million cars and light trucks.
Nissan's factories and production lines were not as badly hit as rivals Toyota and Honda.
Nissan was able get production back up to 80% of its capacity by mid-May and said it had recovered fully by September.
Mr Ghosn told reporters in Detroit that passenger car sales role 8.9% in the US and about 10% in China.
Fannie Mae CEO to resign
Fannie Mae CEO Michael Williams plans to resign, the government-controlled mortgage giant said Tuesday.
Williams, who took over as president and CEO of the troubled company in 2009, will continue as CEO until Fannie Mae's board names a successor.
The firm did not provide a specific reason for Williams' departure; in a statement, Williams said only that he had decided that "the time is right to turn over the reins to a new leader."
Williams will leave behind a firm still struggling to get its finances in order.
In November, Fannie Mae (FNMA, Fortune 500) reported a net third-quarter loss of $5.1 billion. The loss forced the firm to ask for another $7.8 billion in funding from the Treasury Department, a request that took its bailout total to $112.6 billion.
Federal regulators put Fannie Mae and fellow government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac (FMCC, Fortune 500) into conservatorship during the financial meltdown in September 2008. The sister companies now depend on government help to cover losses on the mortgages they own or guarantee.
In October, Freddie Mac CEO Ed Haldeman also announced plans to step down at some point this year.
Williams and Haldeman have faced scrutiny in recent months for their hefty paychecks, granted even as their firms rely on taxpayer support. The targets for their 2011 pay, which will include deferred compensation, are set at about $6 million a piece.
In December, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged six former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including former Fannie CEO Daniel Mudd and former Freddie chief Richard Syron with securities fraud. The SEC alleges that the executives misrepresented the firms' holdings of high-risk mortgage loans ahead of the financial crisis.
Romney Wins Major Victory In New Hampshire Primary
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney took a major step Tuesday toward winning the Republican Party’s presidential nomination with a convincing victory in the New Hampshire presidential primary. Romney easily defeated five Republican rivals one week after a narrow win in the Iowa caucuses and appears to be a strong favorite to be the Republican challenger against President Barack Obama in the November election.
Romney was clearly excited when he addressed supporters at a victory celebration in Manchester.
“Thank you, New Hampshire! Tonight we made history,” he said.
Romney was an easy winner in New Hampshire -- the first in the nation presidential primary, historically an important test for those seeking the White House.
In his victory speech, Romney focused less on his Republican rivals and highlighted his differences with President Obama.
“We still believe in the America that is a land of opportunity and a beacon of freedom. We believe in the America that challenges each of us to be better and bigger than ourselves. In this election, let’s go on to fight for the America we love because we believe in America. Thank you so much! God Bless America,” he said.
Texas Representative Ron Paul finished second -- a strong showing for a candidate whose focus on smaller government and less U.S. involvement abroad struck a chord with New Hampshire voters.
“But there was another victory tonight. He had a victory. But we have had a victory for the cause of liberty tonight,” he said.
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman captured third place in the primary. Huntsman has campaigned almost exclusively in New Hampshire for the past year.
"Here we sit tonight, with a ticket to ride and move on. Here we go to South Carolina," he said.
Surveys of voters leaving the polls said the economy was the top issue.
John Boghosian of Concord voted for Mitt Romney. Four years ago, his vote went to Barack Obama.
“I voted for the wrong guy last time. I shouldn’t have, but I did,” he said.
Ron Paul had loyal supporters as well. One of them said “I think he appeals to the common man -- the middle class of America -- and that is who I am.”
Romney now is in the enviable position of having won the first two presidential contests. But he faces his toughest test yet on January 21 in the South Carolina primary, where Republican primary voters tend to be more conservative than those in New Hampshire.
Romney has a small lead in the latest polls in South Carolina.
American University political expert Allan Lichtman says a Romney victory there would be a serious blow to his Republican rivals.
“After his first-place finish in New Hampshire, if Mitt Romney can go to a Southern state like South Carolina and win there, I would say the nomination struggle is virtually over. He’s got it wrapped up,” he said.
As the campaign moves South, Romney can expect intensified attacks from conservatives like former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Governor Rick Perry. Perry largely skipped the New Hampshire contest to focus on South Carolina.
Three believed dead in S Korean boat fire in Antarctic
Three crew members are thought to have died on a South Korean fishing boat that caught fire in Antarctica.
"Three crew members are still missing and are believed to have died in the fire in the vessel's accommodation block,'' the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre said.
Another 37 fishermen were rescued - seven sustained burn injuries, two of which were serious.
The 51-metre (167ft) Jeong Woo 2 issued a distress call early on Wednesday.
It got into trouble in the Ross Sea, about 600km (375 miles) north of the US McMurdo Antarctic base.
Two other South Korean fishing vessels rushed to evacuate the crew members.
They were being medically assessed and would be transferred to the US research ship Nathaniel B. Palmer, which was ''steaming north to meet them'', said the New Zealand rescue authorities.
The two rescue boats remain stuck due to ice and fog conditions, it added.
The Nathaniel B. Palmer has medical facilities on board and will sail to the McMurdo base, where flights to New Zealand are available.
The incident happened about 3,700km (2,000 miles) south-east of New Zealand.
The weather in the area is calm and relatively mild, according to a Reuters report. Ships in the area would usually be fishing for toothfish, a valuable species known as the ''white gold'' of the Southern Ocean.
The Jeong Woo 2 was built in Japan and is registered in Busan, South Korea, according to the Associated Press News Agency.
Last month, a Russian fishing boat hit an iceberg in ice-filled waters off Antarctica, leaving its 32-member crew stranded for 12 days.
The Sparta was eventually repaired and managed to sail into a New Zealand port.