EU budget chief becomes Lithuania's first woman president

The European Union’s budget chief will become Lithuania’s first woman president after a landslide victory in an election overshadowed by the Baltic country’s ailing economy.

Preliminary official results last night showed Dalia Grybauskaite, the EU budget commissioner, had 69% of the vote with more than 95% of ballots counted. The election commission said the preliminary turnout was 51%, just enough to avoid a run-off.