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At a recent academic conference, Michigan State University professor Natalie Phillips stole a glance around the room. A speaker was talking but the audience was fidgety. Some people were conferring among themselves, or reading notes. One person had dozed off.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep with news of the evacuation of Akron City Hall. Authorities found a suspicious pipe labeled with the word Kaboom. Turns out it was accidentally left behind by Natural Hunka Kaboom, who comes to watch city council meetings. The pipe was an extendable shower rod he used as a walking stick. Mr. Kaboom tells the Akron Beacon Journal he meant no harm and that his name really is Kaboom. He changed it legally to promote his pest control business. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Oregon residents are being asked to please contact police if they happen to see a 30-foot tall gorilla. He's wearing sunglasses and polka dot shorts, carrying a hot tub and may or may not be inflated. This giant gorilla stood for years on top of the Spas of Oregon store in Gladstone. John Harrison, the owner, is not sure how the thieves took down that gorilla, but he is offering a reward for the return of the animal he calls Marty. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Steve Inskeep talks to Beijing-based economist Patrick Chovanec about too many subsidies in China's solar energy industry. It is resulting in money-losing companies. One company, Suntech, could soon be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange because it is performing poorly.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

OK. Let's review an exciting weekend of Major League Baseball playoffs. Two teams won single game playoffs to get into the full-blown playoff series that are now underway. The Yankees, Reds, Nationals and Tigers have all been winning. And if I did not just mention your team, that's because your team is now in a hole. NPR's Mike Pesca's here to help feel your pain.

Mike, good morning.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: In a hole, or out of it entirely.

(LAUGHTER)

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NPR's business news starts with slower growth in East Asia.

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INSKEEP: That prediction comes from a World Bank report released today. The bank warns of a deeper and longer slowdown in the region caused by weak exports and weak domestic demand.

Bruce Osterweil is a lucky man to live just a short walk from where San Francisco's Golden Gate meets the cold, rough waters of the Pacific Ocean. He is also a lucky man to have married his wife, Patricia Furlong, who has long provided the family's health insurance through her job at a small financial consulting firm.

But last month, Osterweil's wife turned 65 and decided to retire, and although she may walk away with a crystal bowl or a golden watch for all those years of service, she will also walk away from her company's generous health insurance benefits.

After failing to predict the Arab Spring, intelligence officials are now exploring whether Big Data, the combing of billions of pieces of disparate electronic information, can help them identify hot spots before they explode. The intelligence community has always been in the business of forecasting the future. The question is whether tapping into publicly available data — Twitter and news feeds and blogs among other things — can help them do that faster and more precisely.