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Pakistan's parliament elects Nawaz Sharif as prime minister, his third term
• ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistan's parliament elected Nawaz Sharif as prime minister on Wednesday, marking a historic transfer of power in a country that has undergone three military coups.
• Now Sharif faces the monumental task of leading the country of 180 million people out of its sea of problems, including widespread power outages and militant attacks. During a speech to parliament, Sharif focused on how he'd right the country's ailing economy but also called for an end to CIA drone strikes against militants in Pakistan's tribal areas.
• Sharif received 244 votes in the 342-seat parliament, returning him to the prime minister's office for an unprecedented third time. Sharif, who was deposed in a military coup in 1999, will later Wednesday be sworn in by the president.
• During the speech to lawmakers, Sharif emphasized that fixing the country's economy -- specifically the blackouts, unemployment and corruption -- was his top priority.
• "I will do my best to change the fate of the people and Pakistan," he said.
• ___
Court-martial of Bradley Manning takes on clandestine feel as secrecy, security play role
• FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) -- Pfc. Bradley Manning's court-martial over the leak of hundreds of thousands of classified documents has been all about secrecy and security, and his trial has taken on a cloak and dagger feel, too.
• Large parts of the proceedings are expected to be closed to the public. Many documents have been withheld or heavily redacted. Photographers were blocked from getting a good shot of the soldier and even some of Manning's supporters had to turn their T-shirts inside out.
• Military law experts say some of it is common for a court-martial, while other restrictions appear tailored to the extraordinary nature of the case, which has garnered an outpouring of support from whistleblowers, activists and others around the world.
• "I think the judge is very concerned about not turning this trial into a theater, into a spectacle," said David J.R. Frakt, a military law expert at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a former military prosecutor and defense lawyer. "I cannot (Continued on page 26)
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