SERBIA

A former rebel leader was elected Kosovo's prime minister, and he vowed that the province is only weeks away from independence from Serbia.

Kosovo's parliament elected Hashim Thaci, 85-22, to head a coalition government that will try to steer the province through a declaration of independence, a course supported by the United States and some European governments, but fiercely opposed by Serbia and Russia.

"It's an issue of weeks and Kosovo will be an independent, sovereign and democratic country," Thaci said. He said no move would be made without the approval of the U.S. and key European nations.

Kosovo has been under United Nations and NATO control since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 ended a Serb crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians.

PAKISTAN

Suicide attack kills 20, mostly police

A suicide bomber attacked police officers outside the High Court in the Pakistani city of Lahore today, killing 20 people, a city official said.

"Twenty people have been killed and 60 wounded. Most of the victims are policemen. It was a suicide attack," said senior city government official Mian Ejaz.

Wounded people were crying for help, a witness said. He also saw a severed head, possibly that of the bomber.

ISRAEL

Reservist tried to sell secrets to Iran

An Israeli army psychiatrist was convicted of trying to sell military secrets to Iran, Russia and the Islamist group Hamas, a court official said.

In a plea bargain, Maj. David Shamir, a 45-year-old reservist, told Tel Aviv District Court that he contacted "foreign agents" with the intent to pass on information about Israel's wartime evacuation and medical plans, the official said.

Iran and Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip, are avowed enemies of the Jewish state. Shamir could face up to 25 years in prison at his sentencing Jan. 17.

CHINA

Officials held in death of bystander

Chinese officials detained four people over the beating death of a man who had recorded a clash between villagers and authorities, state media said.

Wei Wenhua, 41, was driving by Wanba, a village on the outskirts of Tianmen in Hubei province, on Monday and stopped when he saw villagers squaring off against 50 urban inspectors, his family and state media said.

After Wei took out his cellphone to record the demonstration, officials turned on him, the New China News Agency said.

The agency cited Tianmen's vice mayor as saying that those under investigation included a leading city bureaucrat.

From Times Wire Reports