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one-man rule tempered by boycott calls and violence in the country's restive east.
• The voting for a 200-seat legislature is being held amid intense regional, tribal and ideological rivalries. However, lines began to form outside polling centers more than an hour before they were scheduled to open in the capital Tripoli. Policemen and army soldiers were guarding the centers, searching voters as well as election workers.
• "I have a strange but beautiful feeling today," said dentist Adam Thabet, waiting outside a polling center in the capital Tripoli. "We are free at last after years of fear. We knew this day was coming, but we were afraid it could take long to come."
• Libya's election is the latest fruit of Arab Spring revolts against authoritarian leaders. It is likely to be dominated by Islamist parties of all shades, a similar outcome to elections held in the country's neighbors Egypt and Tunisia, which had had their own, though much less bloody, uprisings.
• There are four major contenders in the race, ranging from a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated party and another Islamist coalition on one end of the spectrum to a secular-minded party led by a Western-educated former rebel prime minister on the other.
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US declares Afghanistan major non-NATO ally; Clinton calls the move 'a powerful commitment'
• KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The Obama administration on Saturday declared Afghanistan the United States' newest "major non-NATO ally," an action designed to facilitate close defense cooperation after U.S. combat troops withdraw from the country in 2014 and as a political statement of support for Afghanistan's long-term (Continued on page 24)
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