Finland Government

The Finnish Communist Party elected an almost all-new Politburo on Sunday after the old leaders gambled away at least $4.7 million, trying their hand at capitalistic speculations last year. The party's Central Committee, meeting in Tampere, 125 miles north of Helsinki, replaced three of four Politburo members after last year's failed attempt to save the party's economy by investing in a fashion store and a string of harness racers.

The Finnish Communist Party elected an almost all-new Politburo on Sunday after the old leaders gambled away at least $4.7 million, trying their hand at capitalistic speculations last year. The party's Central Committee, meeting in Tampere, 125 miles north of Helsinki, replaced three of four Politburo members after last year's failed attempt to save the party's economy by investing in a fashion store and a string of harness racers.

Finnish Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa's Social Democrats kept a narrow edge over the conservative National Coalition Party in parliamentary elections. But the results showed a shift to the right, and conservative leader Ilkka Suominen said his party now deserves a top Cabinet post. Computer projections by state television indicate that Sorsa's party will have 56 seats in the 200-member Parliament, a net loss of one. National Coalition candidates are expected to win 53 seats, a gain of nine.

Finns began voting in a two-day presidential election, with incumbent Mauno Koivisto expected to win another six-year term. An election-eve opinion poll showed Koivisto, a Social Democrat, with 52% of the vote. His closest rival, Conservative Prime Minister Harri Holkeri, had 17%. Koivisto, 64, won power in 1982 when his predecessor, Urho Kekkonen, retired after 25 tumultuous years in office.

A Soviet cruise missile flew over Norway and then turned back toward the Soviet Union, crossing Finnish airspace, the Norwegian Defense Ministry said today. A ministry spokesman said the missile was spotted last Friday in northern Norway close to the Soviet border before it crossed over Finland. Government sources said Norway, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, will likely protest the violation of its airspace in the strongest terms.

Separatists in Aceh province are ready to drop their 30-year struggle for independence from Indonesia in return for some degree of self-rule, a spokesman said. The Free Aceh Movement and the government are holding peace talks in Helsinki, Finland. Self-government "is the main thing on the table," rebel spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah said.

Best known for deciding whether medications are safe and effective, the Food and Drug Administration is weighing whether to crack down on plain old salt, which doctors say is harmful in the quantities most Americans consume. At a hearing today, the agency will begin collecting expert testimony on the role excess salt in the diet plays in causing high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes.

With snow-cloaked cities in winter and birch forests glowing in the summer midnight sun, Finland is a vision of beauty and calm. The picture-book gloss hides a grim fact--the country's 5 million people have the highest rate of deaths from violent crimes in Western Europe. Late-night strollers and moviegoers have little to fear on quiet city streets. The violence mostly happens indoors, within families or among friends.

It's a scene easy to visualize. Two boys are trying to take piano lessons while their younger brother makes a pest of himself. The irony is that the kid brother will grow up to be the professional pianist. The others will become a chemist and a software programmer. But another irony is at work here.