LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Hastings, the war correspondent whose unflinching reporting from Afghanistan led to the resignation of a top U.S. army general, has died in a car accident in Los Angeles, according to his employer and family.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers have a message for those who want the party to soften its emphasis on social conservatism in hopes of reaching a wider national audience: Not so fast.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys in the George Zimmerman murder trial are set for the next phase of jury selection.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's trade deficit rose nearly 10 percent in May to 993.9 billion yen (nearly $10.5 billion), highlighting the challenge Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces in revitalizing manufacturing as industries increasingly shift production offshore.

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — FBI agents plan a third day of digging Wednesday in suburban Detroit for the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared 38 years ago.

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.

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. ...

BOSTON (AP) — A former enforcer for James "Whitey" Bulger is expected to face more tough cross-examination by Bulger's lawyers when he returns to the witness stand for a third day.

By Mathieu Bonkoungou OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - Mali signed a ceasefire deal with Tuareg separatist rebels on Tuesday, paving the way for government troops to return to the northern, rebel-held town of Kidal before a presidential election next month. At the heart of a region plagued by poverty and Islamic militancy, Mali won a 3.25 billion euros Western aid package last month aimed at shoring up democracy and helping it recover from a coup and an al Qaeda insurgency. ...

MAIDUGURI (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants opened fire on a school in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri on Tuesday, killing nine students, witnesses and a medical worker said, the second deadly attack on schools in three days. Witness Ibrahim Mohammed said he was taking exams in a classroom at Ansarudeen School when gunmen stormed the building, opening fire at random. "I saw five students sitting the exams killed on the spot. Four others were killed as they were entering the school premises," he said by telephone, still shaking with fear. ...

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A new law in Libya that bans anyone linked to Muammar Gaddafi from government, regardless of their part in toppling the long-time leader, is arbitrary, vague and likely to violate civil and political rights, the United Nations said on Tuesday. U.N. special envoy to Libya, Tarek Mitri, told the U.N. Security Council that while it was "undeniable" the law had significant political support, the implementation of it risked further weakening Libya's already shaky state institutions. ...

ABUJA (Reuters) - A French sailor was freed on Tuesday after being captured by pirates last week from his ship off the coast of Togo and taken to Nigeria, a military commander said. Pirates attacked the oil products tanker Adour on June 13, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Togo. General Bata Dembiro, a commander in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta region, said the Nigerian navy and French marines stormed the vessel after the hijackers seized it, but they took Benjamin Elan hostage to enable them to escape. They released the other 14 crew, he said. ...

By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzanian police fired teargas and warning shots on Tuesday to disperse thousands of people protesting against a weekend bomb attack on an opposition campaign rally, eyewitnesses said. Supporters of the Chadema opposition party gathered in the northern city of Arusha to mourn the three people killed and the more than 50 people injured there in Saturday's blast, they said. The latest violence in Tanzania threatens to taint the image of east Africa's second biggest economy ahead of a visit by U.S. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Worry and speculation have consumed investors since Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke to Congress last month about the Federal Reserve's drive to keep long-term interest rates at record lows.

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency says more than 45.2 million people were forced to flee homes last year, an 18-year high mainly due to wars in Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — The International Committee of the Red Cross urged a military judge Tuesday to refuse a request to open its confidential communications with U.S. officials about conditions at Guantanamo Bay to the lawyers for the prisoners charged in the Sept. 11 terror attack.

MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James saved a championship reign, canceled a celebration.