TEHRAN (AP) -- An Iranian court has convicted an American man of working for the CIA and sentenced him to death, state radio reported Monday, in a case adding to the accelerating tension between the United States and Iran.Iran charges that as a former U.S. Marine, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati received special training and served at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for his alleged intelligence mission. The radio report did not say when the verdict was issued. Under Irani

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The United States will respond if Iran tries to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Sunday, saying such a move would cross a “red line.”“We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz,” Panetta told CBS television. “That’s another red line for us and that we will respond to them.”Panetta was seconded by Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chief

LONDON (AFP) ― British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday he would block any attempt to introduce an EU-wide financial transaction tax because he fears it will harm jobs and prosperity in Europe.Cameron said countries such as France pushing for the introduction of such a levy were welcome to go ahead and introduce it within their own borders.But implementing a tax in the European Union when countries in the rest of the world were not bound by it would have a negative effect on jobs and pro

BEIRUT (AP) ― The Arab League demanded Sunday that the Syrian government immediately stop all violence and allow more monitors in, as activists reported at least 10 more civilians, including two teenagers, were killed by regime forces.Fierce clashes in the south between government troops and military defectors left 11 soldiers dead, activists said. The Arab League also called on other armed parties to halt all bloodshed, an apparent reference to the defectors.Qatari Foreign Minister Sheik Hamad

EXETER, New Hampshire (AFP) ― Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney, leaving little to chance ahead of the New Hampshire primary, brought out the party’s big guns on Sunday to help him woo voters.New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, one of the party’s brightest stars, home-state favorite Sen. Kelly Ayotte and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty all turned out to rally support for Romney before Tuesday’s vote.“He actually knows how our economy works,” Ayotte said of the millionaire ventur

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Six Israeli Arabs have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Christmas Eve killing of a prominent Christian leader in Jaffa by a man reportedly wearing a Santa suit, police said Saturday.Lawyer and accountant Gabriel Cadis was fatally stabbed on Friday after a parade in

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Obama administration is expelling Venezuela’s consul general in Miami after allegations surfaced that she discussed possible cyber-attacks on U.S. soil while she was stationed at her country’s embassy in Mexico.The State Department said Sunday that it had declared the diplomat, Livia Acosta Noguera, persona non grata and given her until Tuesday to leave the country. Spokesman Mark Toner said the Venezuelan government was notified of the decision on Friday, giving her 72 hou

BEIJING (AP) -- The body of a Tibetan monk who died after setting himself on fire was paraded through the streets in northwestern China, a report said Monday, in the latest in a series of self-immolation protests against Chinese rule.U.S. broadcaster Radio Free Asia said hundreds of angry Tibetans forced police to hand over the remains of the 42-year-old monk, named Sopa, then carried them through the streets in Dari county in Qinghai province.It said the monk died Sunday morning after drinking

TOKYO (AP) ― Japan says it will soon require atomic reactors to be shut down after 40 years of use to improve safety following the nuclear crisis set off by last year’s tsunami.Concern about aging reactors has been growing because the three units at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan that went into meltdown following the tsunami in March were built starting in 1967. Among other reactors at least 40 years old are those at the Tsuruga and Mihama plants in central Japan, which were b

PARIS (AFP) ― The eurozone’s debt-wracked economies came under renewed pressure on Friday as bad economic data undermined leaders’ attempts to reassure markets that an end to the crisis is in sight.Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti met France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris as the single currency bloc’s second and third biggest economies sought to head off doubts about their deficit reduction plans.The pair announced a mini-summit with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel on Jan. 23 but also