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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Boeing announced a surprise deal with its machinists' union yesterday. It tentatively extends the workers' contract for four years. The company also promises to build a new version of its popular 737 in union-friendly Washington State.

From Seattle, NPR's Martin Kaste reports.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: The International Association of Machinists also got pay raises and more pension benefits. Local president Tom Wroblewski calls it a new day.

Next week, leaders of the euro area countries will gather in Brussels in an effort to take a bigger step toward ending the region's sovereign debt crisis. They hope that by agreeing to tougher penalties for countries that break the euro area's budget rules, they can entice the European Central Bank to do more to stem the crisis.

But the question is whether the eurozone countries are willing to give up control of their budgets.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with cheaper cholesterol drugs for many Americans.

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INSKEEP: The drug maker Pfizer has lost the patent on its drug Lipitor. The patent expired in the United States yesterday. And on the same day, regulators granted an Indian company approval to sell a cheaper, generic version of the cholesterol drug in the U.S. market.

At a high school in Scranton, Pa., Wednesday, President Obama exhorted Republicans in Congress to extend the pay roll tax cut. He said putting money in the pockets of working people is more important than partisan politics.

The West Drainage Ditch is the name of the creek that runs through Kalona, Iowa. Not the most appealing name, but a local newspaper editor is exploring plans to change the name. The city council has embraced the idea of putting the naming rights up for auction on eBay.

Medicare has announced that it will pay for primary care providers to counsel obese patients on losing weight and maintaining the weight loss. Medicare will pay doctors, nurses and physicians' assistants to help plan weight loss programs.

Penn State students attended a forum on campus Wednesday night to discuss the child sex abuse scandal. Former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is charged with abusing eight boys over a 15-year period. A new accuser, who is not part of the criminal case, has filed a lawsuit alleging Sandusky abused him more than 100 times and threatened his family to keep him quiet.

Steve Inskeep talks to Gene Sperling, head of the president's National Economic Council, about extending the payroll tax cut. The Obama administration is pushing Congress to extend the cut before it expires at the end of the year.