Budapest - Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany called Sunday for parliament to dissolve itself so that new elections can be held to end a government crisis.

Gyurcsany called for a vote on Monday, but it was unclear if Parliament Speaker Katalin Szili, like the premier a member of the Socialist Party (MSZP), would put it on the legislature's agenda.

The prime minister said it was important for him to know how the party viewed the crisis triggered by the pull-out of the Liberal Party (SZDSZ) from his ruling coalition in April.

Gyurcsany's government has been without an overall majority since the withdrawal of the SZDSZ.

The next regular elections in Hungary are not due until 2010.

Budapest  - Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany announced Monday that his Socialist Party (MSZP) will hold an extraordinary party congress on September
27 to try to tackle the government crisis, the Hungarian MTI news agency reported Monday.

The congress will decide whether Gyurcsany will remain as prime minister in a minority government, following the failure of efforts to build a new coalition with the Liberal Party (SZDSZ).

Last week the SZDSZ thwarted Gyurcsany's efforts to reconstitute the governing coalition by rejecting government reform proposals.

Budapest - Road accidents involving alcohol are down by one- fifth in Hungary since tougher drunk-driving penalties took effect in January, the government statistics agency said Thursday.

Budapest - McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen claimed his first Formula One Grand Prix win Sunday after Ferrari's Felipe Massa was forced to retire as he appeared to be coasting to victory.

Vienna - The Mexican company Cemex, one of the world's largest cement makers, is selling its building materials subsidiaries in Austria and Hungary to Austria-based construction company Strabag, both companies announced Thursday.

Strabag, one of Europe's leading construction groups, will buy 100 per cent of Cemex' stone, gravel and concrete operations in these two countries for 310 million euros (485 million dollars), Cemex announced in a statement.

Pending approval by market supervisory authorities and Strabag's board, the revenue from the sale will be used to reduce Cemex' debt, the Mexican company said.

Berlin/Budapest - The Hungarian central bank left interest rates on hold at 8.5 per cent Monday as a strong national currency helps to bear down on inflationary pressures in the country.

The decision by the Budapest-based national bank to leave its key rate unchanged for the second month in a row was in line with analysts' forecasts.

But announcing the move, the bank's monetary council warned that "Hungarian economic growth has remained subdued and inflation has been falling at a slow rate over recently."

It went on to express concerns that inflation expectations potentially are becoming stuck at a high level with the global rises in food, commodity and energy prices adding to the upside risks to inflation.