Month: February 2022

BEIJING (AP) — Two surveys show Chinese manufacturing grew weakly in February, hampered by supply disruptions, anti-virus controls and lackluster global demand. A purchasing managers’ index issued by a Chinese business magazine, Caixin, improved to 50.4 from January’s 49.1 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity increasing. A separate PMI issued

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Traffic jams and outdoor crowds are back in the Philippine capital and 38 other cities and provinces. Officials allowed businesses and public transport, including shopping malls, movie houses and restaurants, to operate at full capacity as COVID-19 cases continued to drop with more vaccinations. Authorities placed metropolitan Manila and 38 other

By NOMAAN MERCHANT and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Vladimir Putin is raising fears that he has become more reckless, more committed to restoring the USSR, perhaps more likely to set off a world-altering war. There’s no way to determine from a distance whether the Russian president is becoming unstable or if he

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The harsh sanctions imposed on Russia and the resulting crash of the ruble have the Kremlin scrambling to keep the country’s economy running. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, that means finding workarounds to the economic blockade even as his forces continue to invade Ukraine. Former Treasury Department

By WILL WEISSERT and PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott will face Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke after voters in Texas opened what could be a lengthy, bruising primary season. Both easily won their party’s nomination for governor on Tuesday. Abbott is in a commanding position in his bid

By YURAS KARMANAU, JIM HEINTZ, VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces have escalated their attacks on crowded urban areas in what Ukraine’s leader called a blatant campaign of terror. U.S. President Joe Biden, meanwhile, vowed to make his Russian counterpart “pay a price” for the invasion. With the

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden sat through many State of the Union speeches as a senator and vice president. On Tuesday night, he’ll deliver the address himself. The speech comes at an especially challenging time for Biden as he is weighed down by public disapproval of his handling of

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Health authorities in Guatemala say over a million doses of the Russian Sputnik coronavirus vaccine have expired, because nobody wanted to take the shot. The country’s health minister said Monday there was a “rejection” among the population toward the vaccine, even though a lot of Guatemalans remain unvaccinated. Only about 43%

By ZEKE MILLER and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Addressing a concerned nation and anxious world, President Joe Biden has vowed in his first State of the Union address to check Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus. Biden declared Tuesday night that