1. Death sentence

    An Iranian court has convicted* an American man of spying for the CIA and sentenced him to death, state radio reported on 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.

    2. Uranium enrichment

    Iran has begun a uranium enrichment* program at a new underground site well protected from possible airstrikes, a leading hardline* newspaper reported on Sunday.

    Kayhan daily, which is close to Iran’s ruling clerics, said Tehran has begun injecting uranium gas into sophisticated* centrifuges* at the Fordo facility near the holy city of Qom.

    3. Cancer-free president

    Argentine President Cristina Fernandez didn’t have cancer after all.

    After having some of Argentina’s leading cancer surgeons* completely remove her thyroid gland*, tests showed no presence of any cancerous cells.

    4. Musharraf faces arrest

    Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will be arrested in connection with the assassination* of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto if he returns to the country, a government prosecutor said on Saturday.

    Hours earlier, Musharraf told a Pakistani news channel that he would come back later this month to contest the next parliamentary elections, which could be held later this year.

    5. Hot air balloon tragedy

    A hot air balloon burst into flames and crashed in New Zealand on Saturday, killing all 11 people on board in the country’s worst air accident in more than three decades.

    Police said the balloon appeared to have clipped* power lines and caught fire before crashing into farmland near Carterton, about 80km northeast of Wellington on New Zealand’s North Island.

    6. Presidential immunity

    Yemen’s Cabinet on Sunday approved a law granting President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and anyone who has worked under him, immunity* from prosecution* for any crimes committed during his 33-year rule.

    The decision came as a surprise to many in Yemen, who believed that a power transfer deal he signed in November granted him and his family immunity from prosecution for the killings of protesters, but would not extend to cover his 33-year rule and anyone who worked in government.

    7. Mysterious disease

    Scientists are set to launch a series of investigations after previous ones failed to identify the cause of a mysterious disease that has killed over 100 people and left over 2,000 others infected* in several districts of northern Uganda.

    The disease which was first reported in September 2009 has since been dubbed “nodding disease” because it leaves its victims nodding.

(SD-Agencies)