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They report the great playwright did not entirely make his living in the theater. He was also a merchant, a moneylender and a tax dodger. In 1598, he was prosecuted for hoarding grain during a famine.

The man was picketing Moscow's Hydrometeorological Center wearing swim trunks and holding a sign that read: "Let Summer Come Faster." Russian forecasters now predict that "everything will thaw fast" — adding, "we are meeting him halfway."

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with a patent ruling that may affect millions.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

Public expressions of concern are on full display as South Africans monitor the hospitalization of anti-apartheid hero and former president Nelson Mandela. The 94 year old is being treated for pneumonia.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And today's last word in business is one of this year's contenders for highest profile April Fools joke.

The video-sharing website YouTube announced yesterday it's shutting down.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In a video message, YouTube executives said that the whole site was actually designed as an eight-year contest to find the best video on the web. Well, eight years are up. And now panel of experts, the company said, will spend the next decade watching everything uploaded on the site to choose a winner.

Top overall seed Louisville will face Wichita State at the Georgia Dome next Saturday, while Michigan takes on Syracuse in the other national semifinal. The winners advance to the April 8 championship.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could soon issue a final ruling that aims to force oil companies to replace E10, gasoline mixed with 10 percent ethanol, with E15.

This move could come just as widespread support for ethanol, which is made from corn, appears to be eroding.

Mike Mitchell was once a true believer in ethanol as a homegrown solution to foreign oil imports. He owns gas stations, and he went further than most, installing expensive blender pumps that let customers choose E15, E20 and all the way up to E85.

We've heard many claims in the past decade — and much debate — about the role of vitamin D in the prevention and treatment of conditions as varied as brittle bones, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and dementia.