6 cities that know how to party

These six party hotspots know how to throw a shindig in the after-hours. From glitzy multi-level clubs to the craziest underground parties, they cater to your every hedonistic desire.

Credit: Reuters

New Orleans
This American city can be likened to a rebellious teen that never grows up. From the famously touristy Bourbon Street, littered with jazz clubs, restaurants, strip joints and bars, to Mardi Gras - there's never a dull moment in Orleans. Even a hurricane can't disrupt the party. Hurricane parties, in fact, are something of a tradition here - they started out as a way to make the best of a storm during lock-ins, and have turned into house-parties, thrown just about any place where people can get together and eat, drink and be merry. No doubt, N'awlins sure knows how to let its hair down.

US Job Market's Five-Year Recovery

Six-and-a-half years after the Great Recession began — and five years after it officially ended — the U.S. has finally surpassed its pre-crisis employment peak. But the job market is far from fully healed.

U.S. employers added 217,000 jobs in May, bringing total non-farm employment to 138.5 million – 113,000 more than the 138.4 million jobs that existed in December 2007, the first month of the recession. It took 76 months to regain the nearly 9 million jobs lost in the recession, making this by bar the slowest jobs recovery since World War II. (If any of this sounds familiar, you’re right: Private-sector employment returned to its pre-recession peak in March.)

How Wal-Mart and Google could steal young customers from traditional banks

It used to be that the JP Morgans of the world only worried about losing customers to Wells Fargo or Bank of America. But that universe of competitors has grown to include T-Mobile, Wal-Mart, Google and a host of other retail, tech and telecom companies that are now operating like banks.

These upstarts are gaining footing in the banking world with prepaid debit cards that customers can use to pay bills, make purchases and deposit checks via a smartphone camera -- pretty much all the things you can do with your traditional checking account. And they are piquing the interest of a highly coveted group that traditional banks have struggled to attract: young people.

A new survey of nearly 4,000 Americans by Accenture found that 72 percent of people ages 18 to 34 would bank with Wal-Mart, Google or T-Mobile if they offered banking services. Of the nearly two dozen companies that researchers asked about, people were most willing to sign up with Square or PayPal because of the relationships they already have with the companies. Nearly one-third of those polled said the same about T-Mobile, Costco, Apple and Google.

Who has the hardest World Cup 2014 draw?

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is approaching and the draw has been made. And after every World Cup draw, a debate ensues as to which group is deemed the "group of death." Quickly many proclaimed Group B, with Spain and the Netherlands to be the one, but the analysis shows that in fact Group G is this tournament's deadliest.

GROUP A

• Brazil
• Croatia
• Mexico
• Cameroon

GROUP B

• Spain
• Netherlands
• Chile
• Australia

GROUP C

• Colombia
• Greece
• Ivory Coast
• Japan

GROUP D

• Uruguay
• Italy
• England
• Costa Rica

GROUP E

• Switzerland
• France
• Ecuador
• Honduras

GROUP F

• Argentina
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Nigeria
• Iran

GROUP G

• Germany
• Portugal
• United States
• Ghana

GROUP H

• Belgium
• Russia
• Algeria
• Korea

Analysis of all the teams of FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil

GROUP A
Brazil (BRA), Croatia (CRO), Mexico (MEX), Cameroon (CMR)

GROUP B
Spain (ESP), Netherlands (NED), Chile (CHI), Australia (AUS)

GROUP C
Colombia (COL), Greece (GRE), Ivory Coast (CIV), Japan (JPN)

GROUP D
Uruguay (URU), Costa Rica (CRC), England (ENG), Italy (ITA)

GROUP E
Switzerland (SUI), Ecuador (ECU), France (FRA), Honduras (HON)

GROUP F
Argentina (ARG), Bosnia & Herzegovina (BIH), Iran (IRN), Nigeria (NGA)

GROUP G
Germany (GER), Portugal (POR), Ghana (GHA), USA (USA)

GROUP H
Belgium (BEL), Algeria (ALG), Russia (RUS), Korea Republic (KOR)

Promising the good times

An overwhelming election victory promises to reshape Indian politics.

INDIA brims with colorful politicians, but none has quite the sense of political theatre of Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He swept into Varanasi, India’s most ancient city, on May 17th pledging to clean the Ganges, its holiest and filthiest river. Three days later, in Delhi, BJP parliamentarians chanted and roared unanimous support for him, and he broke down in tears in mid-speech. After that he called on India’s president, Pranab Mukherjee, who agreed to swear him in as India’s 14th prime minister on May 26th.