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Russia's presidential election is on Saturday. The projected winner will be the current prime minister — and former president — Vladimir Putin, the subject of a new biography, The Strongman. Author Angus Roxburgh is a longtime journalist who served briefly as a public relations advisor to the Kremlin. He joined Morning Edition's David Greene to discuss the complicated figure who dominates and defines Russian politics.

Interview Highlights

On Putin's ability to manipulate others

Owning a food truck may sound like fun – it's a free wheeling, superhip, and low-cost way to experiment with food service. But increasingly food truckers are finding that they're up against some unfriendly realities of city streets, namely a shortage of parking spots.

That's why many, like Nida Rodriguez, who steers the helm of The Slide Ride, a Chicago truck that dishes out gourmet mini sandwiches, are now focused on catering events from office parties to weddings.

A British photojournalist hurt during the government shelling of Homs is now safe in Lebanon, his employer told Reuters.

Reuters adds that The Sunday Times said Paul Conroy was in "good shape and good spirits."

Conroy was hurt in the same incident that killed two other journalists, including his colleague Marie Colvin and Frenchman Remi Ochlik. There is no word whether French journalist Edith Bouvier, who is also hurt, is still in Syria.

In a final burst of campaigning in Michigan Tuesday, embattled GOP front-runner Mitt Romney complained that rival Rick Santorum was making automated phone calls to Democrats and urging them to vote against Romney in the Republican race. (Although only declared Republicans can vote in the party primary, voters can change their affiliation to cast a ballot.)

Soon millions of people will shop for health insurance on their own.

The health care overhaul requires nearly everyone to have health insurance, after all, and employer coverage has been slowly, steadily declining.

Like baseballs in a batting cage, the controversies that divide us just keep on coming. Fast and unpredictable.

Last month it was the flap over the Susan G. Komen foundation and its move to cut financial support of Planned Parenthood. The resulting imbroglio dredged up deeply held convictions among Americans about women's health issues and "cause marketing" that, in this case, has resulted in profits for companies promoting breast cancer awareness and research through pink and omnipresent product tie-ins.

Less than a month ago, it seemed inconceivable that Mitt Romney would have to fight for his political life in his home state of Michigan.

But fast-moving economic changes, the candidate's verbal stumbles and event venue blunders, and the ascent of flamethrower social conservative Rick Santorum have left Romney sweating to eke out a win Tuesday in Michigan's Republican presidential primary, where the latest polls show a tight race.

The Commerce Department says a drop in spending on transportation and business equipment contributed to a 4 percent decrease in manufactured durable goods in January.

The decrease follows three consecutive monthly increases, including a 3.2 percent increase in December.

The AP reports:

With the latest polls showing a dead heat in Michigan, the leading Republican presidential candidates are taking swipes at each other just hours before voters will head to the polls.

The latest spat between former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is over a Santorum "robocall" campaign that targets Democratic voters.

Almost one year ago, the Fukushima nuclear disaster nearly led to a global catastrophe, if not for the efforts of a small group of engineers, soldiers, and firemen, who risked their own lives in the days after the disaster to prevent a complete nuclear meltdown.

A second student has died as a result of injuries he received during yesterday's shooting rampage at a Chardon, Ohio school.

Russell King Jr., 17, was pronounced dead early this morning. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

"Russell was described by students as a sociable kid who got along well with people.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. A touch of Paris has arrived in L.A. Angelinos, like Parisians, can now enjoy fine dining with their pet dogs. The Health Department has deemed dogs perfectly safe as eating companions. Effective immediately, canines will be welcomed in the outdoor seating areas of restaurants. But pet dogs will be denied some elements of standard restaurant service. For one thing, dining does not include sitting on a chair. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Gean Brown Jr. was installing pipes in an attic in Spring Hill, Kan., and somehow he lost his wallet. He never expected to see it again. More than three decades later, Brown received a call last week. The current owner of that house had found the wallet.

If primaries and caucus victories are still all about media attention and momentum, then, yes, it's critical who wins Michigan's statewide vote Tuesday. All the more so if that winner is not Mitt Romney, who grew up there and whose dad was governor in the 1960s.

But as to collecting actual delegates for the actual GOP nomination? Tuesday's vote in Michigan probably will not matter much at all.

Israeli officials say they won't warn the U.S. if they decide to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, according to one U.S. intelligence official familiar with the discussions. The pronouncement, delivered in a series of private, top-level conversations, sets a tense tone ahead of meetings in the coming days at the White House and Capitol Hill.

David Greene has business news.

Privacy protections on Internet browsers are anything but ironclad. Companies circumvent them routinely. Most people know they are being observed online but figuring out how is complicated.

Ford is betting technology can help relieve traffic congestion around the world. In a speech Monday, Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said the company is investing in systems that will bypass traffic jams, locate parking spots and communicate with other vehicles to avoid accidents.

The senior police official investigating wrongdoing by journalists in London says there was a culture of illegal payments at the Sun tabloid to create a network of paid informants across the British government. The Sun is the second tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp to be the focus of wrongdoing.