Does the "no limits" relationship have limits?

Russian President Vladimir Putin is embarking on his first foreign trip since his splashy inauguration to a fifth term in office, and his destination is no surprise: China.

The two-day state visit beginning Thursday is expected to be heavy on pomp and ceremony, with effusive toasts and carefully ...Read more

DETROIT — Pro-Palestinian protesters said Wednesday they had "decorated" the front lawn of University of Michigan Board of Regents Chair Sarah Hubbard's home with "scenes of genocide in Palestine" and taped documents listing demands for divestment from Israel to the door of her home, along with those of the seven other regents.

Police arrived...Read more

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Democrats in the Missouri Senate broke the record for the longest filibuster in the chamber’s history on Wednesday while blocking a vote on a plan to make it harder for voters to amend the state constitution.

The group of nine Democrats has spent more than 46 hours straight halting the legislation in the General ...Read more

MIAMI — A Fort Lauderdale man whose estranged wife has been missing in Spain since early February was charged with kidnapping her in a federal grand jury indictment filed by prosecutors on Wednesday.

The indictment accuses David Knezevich, 35, of traveling from Miami to Madrid to kidnap his wife between Jan. 27 and Feb. 5. The wife, who is ...Read more

BALTIMORE — A day after a preliminary report revealed new details about what happened in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after a vessel strike, members of Congress peppered officials behind the federal response with questions about the ship’s power outage, the safety of other bridges and how to pay for a new bridge....Read more

BALTIMORE — At what is slated to be the last bill-signing ceremony of the year, Gov. Wes Moore will sign sweeping juvenile justice legislation Thursday morning, signaling a win for prosecutors and law enforcement who say crime among Maryland youth is out of control.

The legislation will create oversight to ensure the Department of Juvenile ...Read more

CHICAGO — More than a decade after the killing of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton put a national spotlight on Chicago’s entrenched problem with gun violence, Illinois prosecutors worked to salvage a conviction against the alleged shooter before the state’s highest court in Springfield.

Pendleton, an honors student and majorette who performed...Read more

MIAMI — A European investment manager accused of laundering millions of dollars through Miami’s banking system that prosecutors say was stolen from Venezuela’s government in a vast corruption scheme pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court.

Luis Fernando Vuteff, 53, was convicted in Miami of playing a supporting role in a money laundering ...Read more

NEW YORK — Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters walked out of New York University’s main graduation ceremony at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday amid persistent antiwar demonstrations at the Greenwich Village school.

The NYU Palestine Solidarity Coalition, a coalition of various student groups, had promoted an “autonomously planned” walkout on...Read more

New York police are searching for a man they allege punched Emmy-winning actor Steve Buscemi in Manhattan last week.

Police named 50-year-old Clifton Williams as the suspect behind the alleged assault that left the "Boardwalk Empire" and "The Big Lebowski" star's left eye bloodied and bruised, The Times confirmed Wednesday. Police responded ...Read more

ATLANTA — Conservative activists are preparing to question the validity of thousands of Georgia voter registrations this summer, an election-year effort under the state’s new voter challenge law.

The coming wave of voter eligibility challenges will seek to disqualify voters who appear to have moved from Georgia, building on 250,000 ...Read more

ATLANTA — Paige Alexander, the CEO of the Carter Center, shared that former President Jimmy Carter is “at home, enjoying peanut butter ice cream and getting the food he wants any time he wants it.”

Alexander gave the update to the hosts of “Politically Georgia” on Wednesday.

“It’s 15 months of hospice at this point, and he is ...Read more

ATLANTA — President Joe Biden said he has accepted an invitation from CNN for a June 27 debate in Atlanta against former President Donald Trump, setting the stage for a potential summer showdown in a pivotal battleground state.

“Over to you, Donald,” Biden said in a statement confirming the debate, which would be held at the cable network...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The alleged sexual abuse of three Rosemead High School students between their freshmen and senior years by a trio of coaches and teachers is at the heart of a negligence lawsuit filed against the educators and their employer, the El Monte Union High School School District.

The plaintiffs, who are identified in the lawsuit just ...Read more

A second teenage suspect pleaded guilty to murder charges Wednesday for his role in a spree of Jefferson County rock-throwing attacks last year that targeted seven drivers and killed 20-year-old Alexa Bartell.

Nicholas Karol-Chik, 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder and a crime of violence ...Read more

A second teenage suspect pleaded guilty to murder charges Wednesday for his role in a spree of Jefferson County rock-throwing attacks last year that targeted seven drivers and killed 20-year-old Alexa Bartell.

Nicholas Karol-Chik, 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder and a crime of violence ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill to renew a series of key taxes that fund the state’s Medicaid program, ending a months-long dispute with a group of hard-right lawmakers who sought to block the renewal.

The legislation, called the Federal Reimbursement Allowance or FRA, would keep the state’s Medicaid ...Read more

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was being treated for “life-threatening” injuries after being shot in what the nation’s Interior Ministry described as an assassination attempt.

Fico, 59, was attacked after a government meeting in the town of Handlova some 165 kilometers (100 miles) northeast of the capital Bratislava. The premier was ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Citing her advocacy for social justice and environmental sustainability, Los Angeles County leaders last month declared April 30 as "Jane Fonda Day."

The backlash was immediate.

Within days, politicians and members of the Vietnamese American community sharply criticized the decision to honor the actress on the date known in the...Read more