A populist, pro-Russia ex-premier claims victory in Slovakia’s parliamentary elections

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — A populist former prime minister and his leftist party have won early parliamentary elections in Slovakia, staging a political comeback after campaigning on a pro-Russian and anti-American message, according to almost complete results.With results 99.2% from some 6,000 polling stations counted by the Slovak Statistics Office early Sunday, former Prime Minister Robert Fico and the leftist Smer, or Direction, party lead with 23.3% of the votes.