COLU @ CONCEPTS

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua (AP) — The most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history bore down on the islands of the northeast Caribbean late Tuesday, following a path predicted to then rake Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba before possibly heading for Florida over the weekend. At the far northeastern edge of the Caribbean, authorities on the Leeward Islands of Antigua and Barbuda cut power and urged residents to shelter indoors as they braced for Hurricane Irma’s first contact with land early Wednesday. Officials warned people to seek protection from Irma’s “onslaught” in a statement that closed with: “May God protect us all.” The Category 5 storm had maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. “I hear it’s a Cat 5 now and I’m terrified,” Antigua resident Carol Joseph said as she finished her last trip to the supermarket before seeking shelter. “I had to come back for more batteries becau...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The latest on Hurricane Irma (all times local): 10:15 p.m. Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis says his government has ordered a mandatory evacuation of islands in the southern part of the island chain because of Hurricane Irma. Minnis says the Category 5 storm poses a dire threat to the islands of Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins, Long Cay and Ragged Island. People who live on the islands will be flown Wednesday to Nassau on the island of New Providence. Minnis says it will be the largest hurricane evacuation in the history of the Bahamas. People who don’t evacuate will be at “great danger” from storm surge caused by what he called a “monster” hurricane. Minnis says emergency personnel may not be available to rescue them when the storm is at its height between Thursday and Friday. ___ 8:10 p.m. President Donald Trump has declared emergencies in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as Hurricane Irma prepares for...

BOSTON (AP) — The Red Sox staged their own impromptu Boston marathon and wearily won it, adding a game to their AL East lead on an eventful day at Fenway Park. Hanley Ramirez hit an RBI single in the 19th inning as Boston outlasted the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 in a game that spanned six hours and ended early Wednesday. It was 1:11 a.m. when Mookie Betts led off with a double and Ramirez followed with a bloop single. The AL East leaders ended a three-game losing streak. “That was a team win right there,” Ramirez said. “Sometimes it’s not going to be easy. There’s a lot of things in our way, but nothing’s going to stop us from continuing to where we want to go and what we want to be. We want to be a champion.” About 700 fans stayed until the end to see Boston win the longest game in the majors since July 2016, when Cleveland beat Toronto 2-1 in 19 innings. The Red Sox forced extra innings by rallying for two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Red Sox first baseman Mitch Morel...

The White House took a firm stance on Tuesday in outlining why an immigration program created by President Barack Obama needs to be eliminated. President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions described the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as an unconstitutional action that contributed to a surge in immigration and gang violence in recent years. They also said it hurt the economy by taking jobs away from Americans. Here is a look at the claims made by the administration and the facts: TRUMP: “The temporary implementation of DACA by the Obama administration, after Congress repeatedly rejected this amnesty-first approach, also helped spur a humanitarian crisis — the massive surge of unaccompanied minors from Central America including, in some cases, young people who would become members of violent gangs throughout our country, such as MS-13.” THE FACTS: Some  DACA  critics contend that the program signaled to Central American children that t...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s announcement on immigration has Congress staring down an election-year deadline on an issue that bitterly divides the president’s own party, and that has painfully eluded lawmakers time and again. Four years after comprehensive immigration legislation passed the Senate only to die in the House, Trump tossed to Congress the question of what to do with almost 800,000 young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. His attorney general, Jeff Sessions, announced that the administration will begin dismantling protections these immigrants were granted by former President Barack Obama, and the program will end unless Congress acts first. What will actually happen in six months absent congressional action remained unclear. Trump himself took some of the sting from his threats with a tweet issued late Tuesday, after a day of turmoil and debate, declaring that if Congress can’t act to “legalize” the Deferred Action for Chil...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has begun dismantling Barack Obama’s program protecting hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children. He declared on Tuesday that he loves the “dreamers” who could face deportation but insisted it’s up to Congress, not him, to address their plight. Trump didn’t specify what he wanted done, essentially sending a six-month time bomb to his fellow Republicans in Congress who have no consensus on how to defuse it. On Twitter Tuesday night, he wrote: “Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can’t, I will revisit this issue!” The president tried to have it both ways with his compromise plan: fulfilling his campaign promise to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, while at the same time showing compassion for those who would lose deportation protection and the ability to work legally in the...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Latest on North Korea’s nuclear test (all times local): 6 p.m. China has once again urged the U.S. and South Korea to halt the deployment of a high-tech missile defense system in South Korea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Wednesday that China remains strongly opposed to it. The U.S. military is to add more launchers Thursday to a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery that it began setting up in rural South Korea earlier this year. Geng says the THAAD system would aggravate tensions on the Korean Peninsula and jeopardize the strategic and security interests of China and other countries. ___ 5:35 p.m. South Korea says the U.S. military will begin adding more launchers to a contentious high-tech U.S. missile defense system in South Korea on Thursday to better cope with North Korean threats. Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that four launchers and construction equipment will be moved to the former gol...

CAIRO (AP) — An international rights group says Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has given a “green light” to systematic torture inside detention facilities, allowing officers to act with “almost total impunity.” In a 63-page report released Wednesday, Human Rights Watch says el-Sissi, a U.S. ally who was warmly received at the White House earlier this year, is pursuing stability “at any cost,” and has allowed the widespread torture of detainees despite it being outlawed by the Egyptian constitution. El-Sissi “has effectively given police and National Security officers a green light to use torture whenever they please,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at the New York-based group. “Impunity for the systematic use of torture has left citizens with no hope for justice.” The allegations, the group said, amount to crimes against humanity. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report. Most of the detainees are alleged supporters of the Musli...

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The International Olympic Committee just can’t get away from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The IOC is ready to put a rubber-stamp approval this month on bids from Paris and Los Angeles for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics, respectively, yet Olympic officials are once again answering questions about corruption in the bidding process, this time from 2009, when Rio surprisingly got more votes than Madrid, Chicago and Tokyo. The 2016 Rio Games were already marred by trails of corruption, and billions of public money spent and several useless white-elephant venues spread around the city. Things got worse Tuesday when police raided the home of Brazilian Olympic Committee President Carlos Nuzman, questioning him over his role in what French and Brazilian authorities say was a vote-buying scheme to land the Olympics. Police took suitcases, documents and a computer, and they displayed detention warrants to question Nuzman. “The Olympic Games were used as a big trampo...

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Pope Francis is heading to Colombia on Wednesday to try to help heal the wounds of Latin America’s longest-running conflict, bolstered by a new cease-fire with a holdout rebel group but fully aware of the fragility of the country’s peace process. During a deeply symbolic five-day visit starting Wednesday, Francis is expected to press Colombian leaders to address the social and economic disparities that fueled five decades of armed rebellion, while encouraging ordinary Colombians to balance their need for justice with forgiveness. In a video message on the eve of his departure, Francis urged all Colombians to take a “first step” and reach out to one another for the sake of peace and the future. “Peace is what Colombia has been looking for and working for for such a long time,” he said. “A stable and lasting peace, so that we can see one another and treat one another as brothers, not as enemies.” A year after the Colombian government signed the peace ...

KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh (AP) — A trawler carrying Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar capsized, drowning at least five people, as the country’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi blamed a misinformation campaign for fueling a crisis that the U.N. says has now pushed more than 125,000 refugees into Bangladesh. Residents of Shah Porir Dwip fishing village recovered five bodies from the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday, hours after the boat capsized around midnight, said police official Yakub Ali. It was not immediately clear where the boat began its journey, or if the passengers had been among some 450 detained by Bangladeshi border guards and ordered Tuesday to return to Myanmar. While some border guards were letting refugees across the borders, others were sending them back. Faced with a mounting crisis and a lack of space and basic supplies, Bangladesh said it will set up a new camp to accommodate Rohingya refugees who have arrived from Myanmar since Aug. 25, many walking for days...