Morning Edition

China vice President Xi Jinping first encountered America through the eyes of Iowans. In 1985, he was just a mid-level Communist Party official on an exchange trip to the Hawkeye State. At a formal dinner Wednesday night, he fondly remembered his initial visit to America.

Steve Inskeep has business news.

Kellogg, the name behind many offerings in the cereal aisle, will now have its name on cans of Pringles. It has purchased the potato chip brand from Procter & Gamble for $2.7 billion.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning.

What's the best way for Mitt Romney to stop Rick Santorum?

For the answer, we went to someone who has done it before.

Democratic strategist Saul Shorr helped Bob Casey defeat then-Sen. Santorum, R-Pa., in a landslide in 2006. Santorum lost by 18 points.

But Shorr says that was a general election; in a Republican primary, Romney will have a much harder job.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Congress appears to have avoided another showdown over the payroll tax reduction that has been pumping billions of dollars back into the economy. There may even be a deal ahead on jobless benefits and payments to Medicare doctors.

The last time Congress extended the payroll tax holiday was in December, when it passed a two-month extension tied to two other measures. One extended unemployment benefits, and the second fixed a formula by which Medicare doctors are paid. The Medicare fix would stop big cuts in reimbursements for doctors.

Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne have business news.

Israel says Iran is behind a string of bombing attempts in three cities abroad. And it says Israelis are the targets. Details are still emerging from attacks this week in India, Georgia and Thailand. Steve Inskeep talks David Ignatious, a columnist for "The Washington Post," about the series of attacks that Israel is blaming on Iran.