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South African Children's Hospital Closed Under Apartheid To Reopen

Credit Courtesy of KwaZulu-Natal Children's Hospital

The Durban Children's hospital opened in 1931, as a facility for all races, but tensions during the apartheid era forced it to close in the 1980s.

Credit Jason Beaubien / NPR

Now boarded up and in disrepair, the Durban Children's Hospital was designed in the 1920s with stately porches and huge windows facing the Indian Ocean.

By Jason Beaubien

Originally published on Tue September 25, 2012 8:08 am

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A large children's hospital in Durban, South Africa, is being rebuilt two decades after it closed owing to apartheid. It opened in 1931 as a facility for all races, but racial tensions in the 1980s forced its closure.

Now with Durban and the surrounding province of KwaZulu-Natal extremely hard hit by AIDS and tuberculosis, local leaders are hopeful they can begin reopening the hospital early in 2013.

2:26 am

Mon September 24, 2012

Ads Slice Up Swing States With Growing Precision

By Ari Shapiro

Originally published on Tue September 25, 2012 8:08 am

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2:24 am

Mon September 24, 2012

Grizzly Bear On Candor, Democracy And Too Much Music

Credit Tom Hines / Courtesy of the artist

Grizzly Bear

By editor

Originally published on Mon September 24, 2012 10:10 am

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Grizzly Bear, which has just released its fourth studio album, Shields, spoke to Morning Edition host David Greene about democracy within the band, censorship and candor in interviews, and achieving success as an indie band. Hear the radio version at the audio link and read part of their conversation below.

Interview Highlights

On division of labor in Grizzly Bear

2:23 am

Mon September 24, 2012

Employee Shopping: 'Acqui-Hire' Is The New Normal In Silicon Valley

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Credit AFP / AFP/Getty Images

A Google logo is seen through windows of Moscone Center in San Francisco during Google's annual developer conference, Google I/O, in June. Google is one of several major tech companies known for the "acqui-hire."

Credit Jeremy Orlow / Jeremy Orlow

Gabor Cselle created an app called reMail, which Google acquired.

Credit AFP / AFP/Getty Images

By Dan Bobkoff

Originally published on Tue September 25, 2012 8:08 am

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Tech companies like Google, Facebook and Zynga are on a shopping spree. They're buying small startups with innovative products and apps. But, many times, the tech giants don't care about what the small companies were producing. They just want the engineers.

There's a new name for these deals: the "acqui-hire," and it could mean the end to your favorite app.

2:22 am

Mon September 24, 2012

Two New Drugs May Help In Fight Against Obesity

Credit iStockphoto.com

Doctors may recommend that obese patients use weight-loss drugs to trick their hunger pangs.

By Patti Neighmond

Originally published on Tue September 25, 2012 10:59 am

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The Food and Drug Administration approved two new medications this year to help obese and overweight individuals lose weight.

Diet drugs have been around in different forms for a while, but now researchers hope one of these two might actually help make a dent in the obesity epidemic.

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2:57 am

Mon September 24, 2012