Tom Howell Jr.

Foxconn, a major iPhone supplier, suspends operations in China due to coronavirus surge

A key supplier for Apple iPhones suspended operations Monday in Shenzhen after the Chinese city imposed a lockdown to control a surge in coronavirus cases.

March 14, 2022

Mayors in D.C. and NYC seek help in finding the killer of homeless men

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and New York City Mayor Eric Adams late Sunday pleaded for the public's help in identifying the suspect in shootings that killed two homeless men and wounded three others in their cities.

March 14, 2022

Biden praises Finland as a strong partner to NATO, as Nordic country mulls membership

Finland is a strong partner to NATO even if it is not a member of the western military alliance, President Biden said Friday in a sit-down with President Sauli Niinisto that focused on Europe's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian and geopolitical consequences.

March 4, 2022

White House: Assassinating Putin not a position of U.S. government

The White House on Friday joined the ranks of those in Washington who aren't thrilled with Sen. Lindsey Graham writing that someone in Russia needs to assassinate President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

March 4, 2022

Biden touts new Siemens jobs, new standards for “Buy America” products

President Biden and Siemens USA said Friday the company will create 300 new jobs in California and Texas in a $54 million expansion of its manufacturing facilities as the White House pushes to bolster domestic production and reduce American reliance on foreign powers for electronics and other products.

March 4, 2022

NYC lifts school mask mandate, proof-of-vaccine rules on restaurants, gyms, entertainment venues

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is nixing a mask mandate on city schoolchildren and the rules that had required restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues to check for proof of COVID-19 vaccination at the door.

March 4, 2022

CDC saddled with tough new job: Regaining Americans’ trust after wobbly response to COVID-19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suffers from a trust deficit and plummeting approval numbers two years into a COVID-19 crisis, after early missteps confronting the pandemic and guidance that has been late in coming or has been too confusing.

March 4, 2022

Surgeon general tells Big Tech firms to turn over data on bogus COVID-19 information

President Biden's surgeon general wants Big Tech companies to turn over information on how prevalent COVID-19 misinformation is on social networks, search engines, messaging systems and e-commerce sites, and who is consuming it.

March 4, 2022

Airbnb ceases operations in Russia, Belarus over Ukraine invasion

Airbnb said it is ceasing operations in Russia and Belarus over their incursion into Ukraine as the home-rental company focuses on aiding war refugees pouring deeper into Europe.

March 4, 2022

Fire out at key Ukrainian nuclear plant that’s been seized; no radiation released

Russian forces have seized a nuclear plant in Ukraine that caught fire from extensive shelling, although the blaze was put out early Friday, authorities said.

March 4, 2022

Russia advances in Ukraine’s south as U.S. widens sanctions net

Russian and Ukrainian officials tentatively agreed to create "humanitarian corridors," but they failed to reach any major cease-fire Thursday as Russia's military pushed deeper into Ukraine, battling to control a key electricity-producing hub in the south and gaining ground toward severing the country's access to the Black Sea.

March 3, 2022

Biden announces sweeping sanctions on Putin’s inner circle of oligarchs

President Biden said Thursday he is directly targeting Russian oligarchs with ties to President Vladimir Putin and their family members in a ratcheting up of sanctions against the Kremlin's inner circle for the invasion in Ukraine.

March 3, 2022

White House says blocking Russian oil would increase prices, rules out no-fly zone in Ukraine

The White House said Thursday that President Biden is still not considering a no-fly zone over Ukraine and warned that blocking Russian oil imports would result in higher prices for consumers.

March 3, 2022

Biden and Quad leaders discuss Ukraine, humanitarian assistance

President Biden discussed the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine with the Indo-Pacific partnership known as the Quad on Thursday and the leaders agreed to meet in person in Tokyo in "the coming months," the White House said.

March 3, 2022

Zelenskyy says the world has to get through to Putin to stop the war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said his countrymen are not afraid of anything, but he wants peace, and he appealed to the world to get tough on Moscow before more civilians are massacred.

March 3, 2022

Senate votes to ditch vaccine mandates on health workers

The Senate voted Wednesday to get rid of President Biden's vaccine mandate on health workers at places that receive federal funding in a political messaging move ahead of the midterm elections.

March 3, 2022

Volkswagen stops production in Russia, cuts off vehicle exports

Volkswagen said Thursday it will cease operations in Russia until further notice, citing "extensive disruption" from the war in Ukraine.

March 3, 2022

Russian convoy headed for Kyiv is stalled, U.K. intelligence says; Putin’s troops seize Kherson

The main body of a long column of Russian forces advancing to Kyiv remains more than 18 miles from the center of the city and has been delayed by "staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion," according to a British intelligence update Thursday.

March 3, 2022

U.S. reliance on Russian oil hits record high; Biden pressed to ease clampdown on U.S. energy

President Biden moved Tuesday to check Russian President Vladimir Putin's energy leverage, releasing strategic oil reserves as U.S. petroleum imports from Russia hit a record high and frustration mounted over the administration's domestic fossil fuel crackdown.

March 1, 2022

Russia escalates in Ukraine as global opposition mounts

Violent explosions rocked Ukraine's two largest cities Tuesday as Russia dramatically escalated its invasion in the face of hardening global resolve against the war and calls by the Biden administration for Moscow to be held accountable for the "crimes" its military forces are carrying out in the nearly week-old invasion of its neighbor.

March 1, 2022