Et Cetera

Fed up with the failing economy, Lithuanians handed their former Communist leaders a surprise victory in the first parliamentary election for the tiny Baltic nation since it won independence last year. The conquest of the newly formed Democratic Labor Party, headed by moderate ex-Communist Algirdas Brazauskas, dealt a bitter blow to the nationalist Sajudis party, which had heroically spearheaded Lithuania's break with Moscow and hastily set off on a path of economic reform. Brazauskas has promised to slow the pace of change and improve relations with Russia.