Thaksin's in-law elected new Thai prime minister

Thai parliament on Wednesday elected Somchai Wongsawat, 61, the brother-in-law of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as the new prime minister of Thailand. Lawmakers voted 298-163 in favor of Wongsawat, who was education minister and is married to Thaksin's younger sister. The prospect of a prime minister related to the disgraced, deposed Thaksin was unlikely to disperse anti-government protesters who had been camped at the prime minister's official compound since Aug. 26. Thaksin was deposed in a 2006 coup and is currently in exile in London, where he fled to escape corruption charges at home.