IN BRIEF : Scandal threatens Lithuanian PM

Vilnius - The defence and foreign ministers of Lithuania resigned, saying they could no longer work with the Prime Minister, Adolfas Slezevicius, who has been implicated in a banking scandal.

Linas Linkevicius, the Defence Minister, and Povilas Gylys, the Foreign Minister, submitted their resignations to President Algirdas Brazauskas, who has not yet accepted them. The ruling Labour Democratic Party decided that Mr Slezevicius could stay on, despite revelations that he withdrew funds from his account at the country's largest private bank several days before it failed last month. AP