COLU @ CONCEPTS

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — While condemning North Korea over its latest nuclear test, the leaders of Russia and South Korea seemed far apart on the issue of stepping up sanctions against the country after a meeting Wednesday in the Russian port city of Vladivostok. Speaking after the meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for talks with North Korea, saying sanctions are not a solution to the country’s nuclear and missile development. Moon had urged Moscow to support stronger sanctions against North Korea, which conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sunday in what it claimed was a detonation of a thermonuclear weapon built for missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. “We should not give in to emotions and push Pyongyang into a corner,” Putin said in a news conference after the meeting, held on the sidelines of a conference on economic development of Russia’s Far East. “As never before everyone should show restraint and ref...

TOKYO (AP) — If the U.S. attacks North Korea, the world could see another nuclear war. Yet negotiations won’t work — leader Kim Jong Un won’t live up to his promises even if he were to make any. And China — if only it would help more! Those are the sentiments that have produced a collective shrug from many as they watch the North make rapid strides toward developing nuclear missiles capable of striking anywhere in the United States. But Washington hasn’t tried everything yet. Below, three experts offer ideas on how the U.S. might get out of its policy box on North Korea. And none of them require firing a shot. ___ DETERRENCE: A FAMILIAR GAME FOR U.S. Deterrence is about making sure your opponent has no good military moves. Kim Jong Un has proven to be pretty good at it. Vipin Narang, a nuclear strategy and nonproliferation expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, believes U.S. policymakers need to let that sink in. “Saying that this nuclear program ha...

HOUSTON (AP) — Bobby Jucker has had it with hurricanes. In 2008, Hurricane Ike tore the roof off his business, Three Brothers Bakery. Now, he estimates, he’s facing $1 million in damage and lost revenue from Harvey — the fifth time a storm has put his bakery out commission. He’s always recovered before. But this time, he wears the weary countenance of a man nearly broken. “This is the last time for me,” he says. “It’s emotionally draining. I just can’t do it anymore.” More than a week after Harvey poured more than 4 feet of rain on Houston, killing at least 65 people, destroying thousands of cars and leaving hundreds of thousands of families with flood-damaged homes, America’s fourth-biggest city is striving to reopen for business. Houston’s airports and shipping lanes reopened to limited traffic last week. Some workers returned to their offices Thursday or Friday. More followed on Tuesday after a long Labor Day weekend of cleanup and regrouping. With waters receded, s...

PHOENIX (AP) — Immigrants are vowing to fight to stay in the U.S. and advocates are launching campaigns including fundraisers and registration drives after the Trump administration announced it would dismantle a program that protected hundreds of thousands of young people from deportation. Immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children or whose families overstayed visas said they are veterans of setbacks in the political arena. They added that they are also accustomed to being persistent, and they pledge to do the same in this situation. The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that former President Barack Obama started in 2012. Those already enrolled in DACA remain covered until their permits expire. If their permits expire before March, 5, 2018, they are eligible to renew them for another two years as long as they apply by Oct. 5. But the program isn’t accepting new applications. Op...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Since the day he launched his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has talked tough on immigration, promising to take the kind of decisive action he accused other politicians of avoiding. This week, he waffled. Trump passed off responsibility for the fate of the 800,000 young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children to a Congress that has shown little ability to tackle politically fraught issues. He gave lawmakers six months to act, then said in a Tuesday night tweet that he would “revisit this issue” if they didn’t. He sent Attorney General Jeff Sessions out to be the face of the controversial policy, effectively ceding one of the central roles of the presidency: explaining difficult decisions to the American people. Trump addressed the move only briefly during a tax policy event at the White House, saying he had “a great heart for the folks we’re talking about, a great love.” It was the path of least resistance for a president who pr...

KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) — Residents of the Florida Keys are known for riding out hurricanes, but with Irma’s potentially catastrophic wind and rain set to crash through the low-lying island chain this weekend, not many seem willing to risk it this time. Throughout Florida, officials and residents are making preparations, but forecasts indicate the Keys could take the country’s first blow from the Category 5 storm, which was packing 185 mph (295 kph) winds early Wednesday as it crossed Barbuda. From Key Largo south to Key West, residents and officials said Irma is a storm that needs to be fled. Keys officials expected to announce a mandatory evacuation Wednesday for visitors, with residents being told to leave the next day. Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who plans to fly to the Keys on Wednesday, said a hospital in the island chain would have its patients evacuated by air. “This is not one to fool around with,” said Cammy Clark, spokeswoman for Monroe County, which contains the Keys. ...

HOUSTON (AP) — While the number of evacuees seeking refuge in Houston’s emergency shelters dwindled 10 days after Harvey struck, many people who had left by Monday still faced dire housing needs. Some returned to public housing complexes inundated with sewage and mud. More than 50,000 went to government-paid hotels, some far away from homes and schools. Others moved in with family and friends. Harvey did not discriminate, inundating exclusive neighborhoods and low-lying apartments for the poor,  and was blamed for at least 60 deaths.  Most of the evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center were lower-income, but some were from wealthier areas. Now, about 1,500 remain at the convention center, and several said they were homeless, disabled or from public housing. About 2,800 were at the NRG Center, another convention center that opened after George R. Brown reached double its original capacity. Harvey struck Texas on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane, bu...