ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A heat wave hitting Alaska doesn't rival the blazing heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas, but to residents of the 49th state, the weather feels like a stifling oven — or a tropical paradise.

By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he will not leave the sanctuary of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London even if Sweden stops pursuing sexual assault claims against him because he fears arrest on the order of the United States. In an interview with Reuters and others to mark the one-year anniversary of taking refuge in the cramped diplomatic building, Assange said he remained hopeful he might be able to leave but offered little evidence to suggest he would be finding new living quarters anytime soon. "I wouldn't say I wouldn't leave," he said. ...

By Tom Perry and Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's tourism minister tendered his resignation on Tuesday over President Mohamed Mursi's decision to appoint as governor of Luxor a member of a hardline Islamist group blamed for slaughtering 58 tourists there in 1997. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil did not accept the resignation of Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou, who remains in the post for now. However, the move pointed to a split in government over an appointment that one critic called "the last nail in the coffin" of the tourism industry. ...

"After this Kermit Gosnell trial, (and) some of the horrific acts that were going on, the vast majority of the American people believe in the substance of this bill, and so do I." — House Speaker John Boehner, after the Republican-led House passed a far-reaching bill to ban almost all abortions after 20 weeks.

ASHLAND, Ohio (AP) — A woman told authorities she was held captive for more than a year by three people who forced her to do housework, raided her bank account and menaced her with snakes and pit bulls.

By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton BERLIN (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will unveil plans for a sharp reduction in nuclear warheads in a landmark speech at the Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday that comes 50 years after John F. Kennedy declared "Ich bin ein Berliner" in a defiant Cold War address. A senior U.S. administration official said Obama, on his first visit to the German capital as president, would signal his desire to cut deployed atomic weapons by up to one third below the level achieved in the last "New START" treaty with Russia. "The U.S. ...

By Kwasi Kpodo ACCRA (Reuters) - China is determined that its relations with Ghana will not be undermined by the arrest of some 200 Chinese illegal gold miners in a crackdown by Ghanaian authorities, a senior Beijing Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday. The arrests are a sensitive issue for China, which would want to defuse any issue that could stoke popular resentment against its citizens doing business in Africa or threaten its expanding trade relationship with the continent. ...

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities dropped charges on Tuesday against eight Russian sailors suspected of trafficking arms, their lawyer said, but another seven will face trial. The 15 Russian sailors were charged with illegally bringing weapons into Nigeria last year, after Nigerian authorities intercepted a ship on October 23, saying they had found several guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. The court case has raised tensions between Nigeria and Russia, whose Foreign Ministry has spoken out against the charges. ...

The image was stark — a silent, solitary figure standing in passive defiance to the Turkish prime minister's demand for protesters to clear Taksim Square in central Istanbul.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for an attack in Afghanistan that killed four American troops just hours after the insurgent group announced it would hold talks with the U.S. on finding a political solution to ending the nearly 12-year war in the country.