WASHINGTON -- A noisy debate over the flawed U.S. immigration system will begin in earnest this week as senators finalize a bipartisan bill to secure the border, allow tens of thousands of foreign workers into the country and grant eventual citizenship to the estimated 11 million people living here illegally.   Negotiators warned of struggles ahead, but all involved are optimistic that it's time to make the biggest changes to the nation's immigration laws in more than a quarter-century.``Ther

VIENNA (AFP) ― With North Korea issuing apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks, Western powers have been reminded of what could happen if they fail to find a solution to Iran’s disputed nuclear program, experts say. World powers “are now even more anxious not to have with Iran a situation like the one we have with North Korea,” Oliver Thraenert, head of the Centre for Security Studies at ETH Zurich, told AFP.On Friday, Iran and the so-called P5+1 ― the five permanent members of the U

YANGON (AFP) ― China is intensifying efforts to regain influence in Myanmar as its long-held dominance founders in the face of a transformation in its former army-ruled neighbor, experts say.Dramatic reforms heralding Myanmar’s emergence from the shadow of dictatorship have astounded the West and seen the former pariah state courted by a host of international suitors.Observers say longtime ally Beijing had assumed the end of junta rule was merely cosmetic and has been left stumbling to define it

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) ― Militants killed six Americans, including a young female diplomat, and an Afghan doctor Saturday in a pair of attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday. It was the deadliest day for the United States in the war in eight months. The violence ― hours after the U.S. military’s top officer arrived for consultations with Afghan and U.S.-led coalition officials ― illustrates the instability plaguing the nation as foreign forces work to pull nearly all their combat troops out of t

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) ― A young British woman holidaying in Indian Kashmir was found dead in a pool of blood on a houseboat Saturday, police said after arresting a Dutch man on suspicion of her murder.The 43-year-old Dutch national was taken into custody as he tried to flee the scenic Kashmir valley in the foothills of the Himalayas, police superintendent Tahir Sajjad said.“We walked into a pool of blood in her room,” Sajjad said. “We found a sharp-edged knife close to her body. The young lady h

TOKYO (AP) ― The operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear plant said Saturday that it was moving tons of highly radioactive water from a temporary storage tank to another after detecting signs of leakage, in a blow to the plant’s struggles with tight storage space.Tokyo Electric power Co. said about 120 tons of the water are believed to have breached the tank’s inner linings, some of it possibly leaking into the soil. TEPCO is moving the water to a nearby tank at the Fukushima Dai-chi plant ― a proc

ISTANBUL (AFP) ― U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Turkey on Sunday to discuss Syria’s civil war and the Middle East peace process as well as to bolster the Turkish-Israeli rapprochement brokered two weeks ago by Washington. The top U.S. diplomat was due to meet later Sunday with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, before traveling to Israel and the West Bank. He would “encourage Turkey to expeditiously implement its agreement with Israel

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― The youngest son of prominent U.S. evangelical preacher Rick Warren has committed suicide after a long struggle with mental illness, the pastor’s church said Saturday.Matthew Warren, 27, died on Friday following years of battling depression, a statement from the Saddleback Valley Community Church said.The statement paid tribute to Matthew Warren as “an incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate young man whose sweet spirit was encouragement and comfort to many.”In a letter to

Japan will order its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, press reports said Sunday as Pyongyang was reportedly readying to fire one.The order may be issued by Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on Sunday or "in a day or two," the Yomiuri newspaper and the Jiji news agency reported.The order would not be made public so as not to alarm the public, the Kyodo news agency quoted government sources as saying.Under the order, Aegis destroyers equipped with s

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Sunday that Asia faced "new challenges" to its stability and warned no one should be allowed to throw the region into chaos as tensions mounted over North Korea.Xi, delivering a speech at an annual international forum on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, did not mention the crisis on the Korean Peninsula or China's territorial disputes with Japan and Southeast Asian nations.But he said there should be no tolerance for those who foster "chaos for selfish gai

Iran and six world powers failed to reach agreement Saturday on how to reduce fears that Tehran might use its nuclear technology to make weapons, extending years of inconclusive talks and adding to concerns the diplomatic window on reaching a deal with Tehran may soon close.Expectations the negotiations were making progress rose as an afternoon session continued into the evening. But comments by the two sides after they ended made clear that they fell far short of making enough headway to qualif

The Southern California church headed by popular evangelical Pastor Rick Warren announced Saturday that Warren's 27-year-old son has committed suicide.Warren's Saddleback Valley Community Church said in a statement that Matthew Warren had struggled with mental illness and deep depression throughout his life."Matthew was an incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate young man whose sweet spirit was encouragement and comfort to many," the statement said."Unfortunately, he also suffered from mental