By Tim Gaynor PHOENIX (Reuters) - Convicted killer Jodi Arias asked jurors on Tuesday to spare her the death penalty and sentence her to life in prison for killing her ex-boyfriend, reversing statements she made after her conviction that she preferred death to incarceration. "I made many public statements that I would prefer the death penalty to life in prison. Each time I said that, though I meant it, I lost perspective. Until very recently I could not have imagined standing before you all and asking you to give me life ... I thought I would rather die," Arias said. ...

By Marcus George DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian authorities barred two potentially powerful and disruptive candidates from running in next month's presidential election on Tuesday, ensuring a contest largely among hardliners loyal to the clerical supreme leader. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a veteran companion of the Islamic Republic's founder, a former president and thought potentially sympathetic to reform, was denied a place on the ballot by the Guardian Council of clerics and jurists, state media said. ...