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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.

Let's assess where the presidential race now stands. Mitt Romney made it through last night with three wins and no surprises, in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

MONTAGNE: Rick Santorum won nowhere but isn't giving up. In a moment we'll ask NPR political correspondent Mara Liasson how much longer this race can go on.

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DAVID WELNA, BYLINE: I'm David Welna in Mars, Pennsylvania. If there was bad news for Rick Santorum last night from the primary results, his supporters who flocked to a suburban hotel ballroom didn't want to know about it.

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WELNA: Santorum told them only half the game has been played so far, and that it was good to be back in this stronghold of conservative voters, just 20 miles from where he grew up.

Hearing about golf these past couple of years has turned into some sort of dual universe. On the one hand there is the real world, like: "Smith and Jones Tied for Lead in Cat Food Open."

But then, in more detail, the larger shadow story reads: "Tiger's Putter Falters, Trails By 12 Strokes."

Golf has become like fantasy football or Rotisserie Baseball. Only, imagine if everybody has the same guy — Tiger Woods — on his team. No other golfers seem to exist, except possibly The Ghost of Jack Nicklaus.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In Britain, scandal has plagued the Murdoch family and its News Corp. media conglomerate. And today, another blow. Under pressure, Rupert Murdoch's son, James Murdoch, is stepping down as chairman of British Sky Broadcasting, also known as BSkyB. This occurs against the backdrop, of course, of the phone hacking and police bribery scandal that has focused heavily on two Murdoch tabloid newspapers. NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik has been covering all of this and he joins us now to sort this out. Good morning, David.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And that brings us to our last word in business, flying cars. Finally, they're here. Well, almost here. We're not exactly in Jetsons' territory quite yet. But a company in Massachusetts says its prototype flying car, called the Transition, completed its first flight and will be ready for sale within the next year.

The two-seat vehicle soared to 1,400 feet in its maiden voyage. The car - can we call it that - is expected to cost $279,000, and 100 buyers have already plunked down their deposits.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning, I'm David Greene. A Florida woman is putting her car in park after 576,000 miles. Rachel Veitch bought her Mercury Comet, new, in 1964. The car has been through 18 batteries and it's outlasted three marriages. Rachel even appeared on "The Tonight Show" with the vehicle. Now, her failing eyesight is forcing her to hang up her keys. She told Fox News she is not giving that car to her family, because they won't take care of it like she did. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Now a word about the media in China - it is heavily controlled by the government. That reality was clear on Saturday when new restrictions banning commenting were imposed on two Twitter-style websites. This followed online rumors about a military coup in Beijing. The government says the rumors aren't true. And today, the restrictions were finally lifted, but the government certainly made a point about who's in charge.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The nation of Mali is in turmoil. Within two short weeks, the apparently stable West African democracy has gone from preparing for presidential elections to a military coup. Neighboring countries are imposing a total embargo, demanding the coup leaders step down. Add to the mix a separatist rebellion in the north that has captured the fabled desert city of Timbuktu. From Mali's capital, Bamako, NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

Writer Lawrence Sheets once described the Soviet Union as an ill-fitting, stained glass mosaic. That is certainly not the image any Westerners had as they watched the Soviet collapse in 1991.

LAWRENCE SHEETS: We saw the Soviet Union as a monolith, through a few symbols like Red Square or men in fur hats, empty store shelves - these sorts of things.