Budapest - Former economy minister Grodon Bajnai was voted into the post of Hungarian prime minister in a parliamentary vote Tuesday which at the same time expressed no confidence in Ferenc Gyurcsany, voting the socialist premier out of office. Immediately after the vote Bajnai, who has no party affiliation, said he would be reshuffling the cabinet and bringing in experts who were also free of party affiliations to take over the key finance, economy, social welfare and energy ministries.

Bhatinda (Punjab), Apr 14: Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani for his reported statement that he was not aware of the release of militants in exchange for Indian hostages during Kandahar plane hijack episode in 1999.

London - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday wrote personal letters to opposition political figures named in emails at the centre of a smear row which caused the resignation of one of his top advisors. Damian McBride, a former aide to Mr Brown in 10 Downing Street, quit his job over the weekend, after emails he sent in January suggesting possible smears of the top Conservative politicians were leaked to an internet blogger.

Asuncion, Paraguay - Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo publicly admitted Monday that he fathered an illegitimate who is now 2 years old, in the wake of a legal complaint filed by the boy's mother. "It is true that there was a relationship with Viviana Carrillo, I take every responsibility that might derive from that event, admitting to being the boy's father," Lugo said in a press conference at the government palace in Asuncion.

The boy was conceived while Lugo was a Roman Catholic bishop and therefore under a vow of celibacy.

Kochi (Kerala), Apr 13: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday called Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh a `night watchman' who was making way for the next PM.

"Manmohan Singh is acting as a night watchman paving way for the member of Nehru-Gandhi family to the Prime Minister seat. He will have to vacate once the Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi gets prepared himself for the post of PM," Prasad told reporters here.

Prasad blamed the Prime Minister for price rise and unemployment problem.

Silchar (Assam), Apr 13: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani for releasing the terrorists during Kandahar hijack episode in 1999-2000.

"Even the Parliament was attacked during Advani's tenure as Union Home Minister. The BJP and other communal parties who alleged that Congress encourages division should remember that Congress has never allowed secessionist forces to thrive and will never allow it in future," Sonia Gandhi said while addressing an election rally here.