WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday denied reports of discontent between Washington and NATO allies over Afghanistan, a day after a newspaper quoted him criticizing NATO’s counterinsurgency skills.

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN – A bomb exploded in a crowded Shi’ite Muslim prayer hall in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Thursday, killing four people and wounding several, a government spokesman said.

BELGRADE – Serbia votes on Sunday in a presidential election pitting a pro-Western liberal against a nationalist in a vote seen as a plebiscite on Belgrade’s place in the world as it prepares for the loss of Kosovo.