National / International News

A jury made of six men and six women are selected to hear a wrongful death case brought against promoters AEG by the late singer's family.

Graphic journalist Dan Archer uses comic strips to report on human trafficking. Here, he describes the tools of his trade.

A man wanted in connection with a burglary is arrested after a three hour rooftop stand off with police in Birmingham.

Attack on French embassy in the Libyan capital, Tripoli

The cost of a new gas plant at the Sullom Voe terminal in Shetland has risen by about £500m to £3bn, it is announced.

Goldman Sachs boss Lloyd Blankfein says the UK must stick with its austerity plan or face a negative reaction from global investors.

The "outdated" practice of recruiting 16-year-olds into the Army is a waste of up to £94m a year and should be stopped, two human rights groups say.

The earnings parade continues. Today’s marchers include DeVry Inc., which releases third quarter results after the close.

Pretty much all the for-profit colleges are having trouble recruiting students, as more people question taking on a lot of debt in an uncertain economy. The industry continues to face a steady stream of bad PR. DeVry itself recently announced it is under investigation in two states for its marketing practices.

DeVry has a better reputation with employers than many of its competitors, says Corey Greendale of First Analysis, and enrollment has started to improve. 

“We expect not necessarily that they’re going to be blowing the doors off," says Greendale, “but that they’ll continue that trend of gradually working their way back.”

Many elite universities have been moving into online education -- traditionally the turf of for-profit colleges. Schools like Stanford and MIT are offering what are known as Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, for free.

Most of them don’t offer credit -- yet, says Kevin Kinser, associate professor at the State University of New York at Albany.

“If MOOCs really do take off, then the ability of the for-profit sector to continue to use distance education to drive their profits I think is going to be limited,” says Kinser.

Another threat on the horizon: Last week, Barack Obama's administration said it will try again to write rules that hold career colleges accountable for their students’ success.

A 19-year-old Wrexham woman who was badly injured in a coach crash in the French Alps is now back in the UK.

Ever type a random search into Google and watch the system auto-complete exactly what you were looking for? Now there’s a hint that Google could soon add even more predictive technology to its search page. A sharp-eyed blogger noticed some software code that suggest the new Google Now predictive personal assistant feature could be available on any web browser.

Molly Wood, senior editor at CNET, joins Marketplace Tech host David Brancaccio to explain Google Now and how it works.

New data show that the Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" is now the most streamed song on Spotify. Spotify is a music platform that lets you stream music from your desktop, cellphone or other Internet-connected device.

Video of Daft Punk - Get Lucky (Radio Edit) [feat. Pharrell Williams] [Official]

 

But 30 years before Spotify, 22 years before iTunes, 4 years before even before the first compact discs went on sale, "Le Freak" by Chic found its way to the top of the Billboard charts. The year was 1978. The similarity of the two songs prove what's old is new again -- or technology changes, but not always the tune.

Video of Chic - Le Freak (Freak Out) A OLD SCHOOL CLASSIC

Let's Do the Numbers: Pop Music Then and Now Edition

Billboard magazine's Hot 100: December 23, 1978

1. "Le Freak" by Chic
2. "Too Much Heaven" by Bee Gees
3. "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" by Barbara Steisand and Neil Diamond
4. "My Life" by Billy Joel
5. "I Love the Nightlife (Disco 'Round)" by Alicia Bridges
6. "I Just Want to Stop" by Gino Vannelli
7. "Sharing the Night Together" by Dr. Hook
8. "Y.M.C.A" by The Village People
9. "(Our Love) Don't Throw it All Away" by Andy Gibb
10. "Hold the Line" by Toto

Spotify's most streamed tracks: April 8-15, 2013 (latest data available)

1. "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons
2. "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton
3. "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz
4.  "Mirrors" by Justin Timberlake
5. "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars
6. "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z
7. "Just Give Me a Reason" by P!nk
8. "Love Me" by Lil Wayne
9."Ho Hey" by The Lumineers
10.  "Started from the Bottom" by Drake

 

Ryan Giggs is a "freak" who will play for two more years says Sir Alex Ferguson after the veteran won his 13th league title.

A 39-year-old man dies after falling into the River Findhorn at the Randolph's Leap beauty spot in Moray.

This final note will come as a relief to the good people in the finance department here at Marketplace.

I finished up about two months' worth of expense reports today. Kinda let 'em get away from me...sorry about that.

Maybe that's why this item caught my eye this morning. A report from the the expense management firm Certify, its latest business travel spending survey. Number one among restaurants listed in expense reports? Take a second, you can probably get it.

Starbucks.

Marriott was the most expensed hotel. Delta led the airlines.

None of which, by the way, show up on my reports the past two months. See the whole list here in Certify's infographic.

Click to see the entire list.

A film installation celebrating quotes from Nelson Mandela is taking over the electronic billboards in New York as part of the Tribeca film festival.

Comments by a former Tory councillor about children from ethnic minorities are being looked into by Sussex Police.

Canada's authorities charge two people with conspiring to carry out an "al-Qaeda linked" attack on a passenger train in the Toronto area.

Eleven racehorses test positive for anabolic steroids, in one of the biggest doping scandals in British racing history

Asked whether he cries regularly, George Osborne jokes that he has been moved to tears after listening to the BBC's Today programme.

The performance of HMP Hewell has deteriorated sharply since its previous inspection, a report says.