News In Brief

New prime minister named in Jordan

King Hussein of Jordan appointed Interior Minister Ahmed Obeidat, a former intelligence chief, as prime minister Tuesday, replacing Modar Badran, who resigned, official sources said. Mr. Obeidat, who was intelligence chief eight years, had been interior minister since 1982.

Mr. Badran, who became prime minister in 1980 and again in '81, resigned a day after Jordan's parliament met for the first time in a decade and passed a constitutional amendment allowing elections to be held.