AP-National

C0LUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A staff sergeant who oversaw Marine training at South Carolina’s Parris Island has been cleared of criminal responsibility for the death of a 19-year-old recruit during a 2021 training exercise. The Hilton Head Island Packet reports that a military jury found Staff Sgt. Steven Smiley not guilty of negligent homicide and

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Hoping to stave off inflationary pressures on a diet staple, the Indian government is banning exports of non-Basmati white rice varieties. It’s triggering worry among the Indian diaspora in the United States that access to a food staple from home might soon be cut off.

HAMPTON BEACH, N.H. (AP) — Authorities and visitors at a New Hampshire beach say a small plane towing a banner landed in the ocean nearby. The Federal Aviation Administration says the plane, a single-engine Piper PA-18, landed about noon Saturday. Hampton Police Chief Alex Reno tells WMUR-TV that the pilot, who was the only person

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press BATH, Maine (AP) — Marine 1st Lt. Harvey “Barney” Barnum jumped to the ground when he came under fire during an ambush in Vietnam that killed his radio operator and commander. Collecting himself, Barnum realized he was now the highest-ranking officer of a rifle company he’d just joined. He called

By LEAH WILLINGHAM and KEN MILLER Associated Press Nearly two years after 10 people were crushed to death during the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival in Houston, no charges have been filed despite at least some people, including workers, expressing safety concerns about the event. Harris County prosecutors have said the circumstances of the deaths eliminate

By ZANE IRWIN and BABACAR DIONE Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal’s public prosecutor said the opposition leader has been charged with conspiracy against the state and calls for insurrections, among other offenses. This comes weeks after Ousmane Sonko was convicted on separate charges of corrupting youth and sentenced to two years in prison,

By FELIPE DANA and DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday signed a law moving the official Christmas Day holiday to Dec. 25 from Jan. 7, the day when the Russian Orthodox Church observes it. The explanatory note attached to the law said its goal is to “abandon

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bronny James plays piano in a video posted by his father, LeBron James, on Saturday, five days after the teenager went into cardiac arrest during a basketball workout at the University of Southern California. The 18-year-old plays a brief melody in front of his family, smiles and gets up without speaking

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish prime minister says that over 100 mercenaries belonging to the Russian-linked Wagner group in Belarus have moved close to the border with Poland. Mateusz Morawiecki said at a news conference Saturday that the mercenaries had moved close to the Suwalki Gap, a strategic stretch of Polish territory situated between

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer COLFAX, Iowa (AP) — In the small central Iowa town of Colfax, thousands of cyclists participating in the largest and oldest recreational bike ride in the world were stopped along its historic main street, staring ahead at a daunting climb that would lead them out of town. The hill,

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The oldest historically Black collegiate fraternity in the U.S. says it is relocating a planned convention in two years from Florida because of what it described as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration’s “harmful, racist and insensitive” policies towards African Americans. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity said this week

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Pres PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Not long ago, Marine Col. Jennifer Nash, a combat engineer with war deployments under her belt, made a vow to fellow officers as they headed to a dinner in Atlanta: She would get two new recruiting contacts by the end of the evening. She

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man whose 2-year-old daughter died after going days without food while he was passed out drunk has been sentenced to nearly 57 years in prison. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the sentence ordered Friday was the maximum that could be imposed after Jeffrey Exon was convicted in April of

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Political Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri is joining No Labels’ effort to lay the groundwork for a centrist third-party presidential ticket in 2024. Nixon gives the bipartisan organization another prominent ally amid concerns from Democrats that the No Labels campaign could unintentionally help

DHAKA,Bangladesh (AP) — Police in Bangladesh’s capital have clashed with supporters of the country’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The violence broke out Saturday as the opposition party organized sit-in protests at all the entry points to Dhaka. They demand that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down and

BY SAM MEDNICK and CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — The African Union has asked the junta that overthrew the democratically elected government of Niger to return to barracks within 15 days just as the soldiers, facing growing international pressure, met with senior civil servants to discuss how to run the West African

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Port workers in the province of British Columbia have voted to reject a mediated contract offer meant to end a labor dispute that stopped goods moving in and out of harbors, including at Canada’s busiest port in Vancouver. International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada President Rob Ashton said late Friday