China's Feb manufacturing eases on tighter credit

SHANGHAI (AP) -- China's manufacturing boom slowed further in February as authorities tightened controls on credit to cool inflation and factories eased output, especially of food and textiles.

The state-affiliated China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Tuesday that its purchasing managers index, or PMI, dipped to 52.2 last month, from 52.9 in January and 53.9 in December.

Despite declining for three months, the reading has remained above 50, the benchmark for expansion, for two straight years.

Govs to feds: Avoid causing states any more pain

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Their states on the brink of financial catastrophe, governors pleaded Saturday for the divided federal government to avoid doing anything that would hamper the tenuous economic recovery back home.

Their message to Washington: prevent a government shutdown, abstain from spending cuts that dramatically will affect states and end even preliminary discussions about allowing states to declare bankruptcy.

"Anything that Congress does that will undermine our recovery is quite troublesome to us," said Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, head of the National Governors Association, as she opened the bipartisan group's winter meeting. "We're asking for cooperation."

Warren Buffett remains optimistic about US future

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Billionaire Warren Buffett wants Americans to be optimistic about the country's future but wary about borrowing money and the games public companies play with profit numbers they report.

Buffett said in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders Saturday that he still believes America's best days are ahead.

"Commentators today often talk of 'great uncertainty.' But think back, for example, to December 6, 1941, October 18, 1987 and September 10, 2001," Buffett wrote, referring to the days before the Pearl Harbor attack, a stock market crash and terrorist attacks in the U.S. "No matter how serene today may be, tomorrow is always uncertain. Don't let that reality spook you."

Psst. No shutdown during a 'government shutdown'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Social Security checks would still go out. Troops would remain at their posts. Furloughed federal workers probably would get paid, though not until later. And virtually every essential government agency, like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, would remain open.

That's the little-known truth about a government shutdown. The government doesn't shut down.

And it won't on March 5, even if the combatants on Capitol Hill can't resolve enough differences to pass a stopgap spending bill to fund the government while they hash out legislation to cover the last seven months of the budget year.

Iranian warships arrive in Syria, witness says

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- A witness said two Iranian warships docked in Syria on Thursday, completing a voyage that has raised tensions with Israel during a time of upheaval in the Middle East.

The ships arrived at Syria's Latakia seaport, after sailing through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean - the first such trip in at least three decades. A witness confirmed the ships' arrival, but asked that his name not be used because of the sensitivity of the issue.