New Delhi, Apr 25: The Congress on Saturday attacked senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh for his latest claim that BJP''s primeministerial candidate L. K. Advani had opposed the decision to free terrorists during the Kandahar hijack crisis.

Talking to reporters here, party spokesperson Rajiv Shukla termed Jawant Singh''s attempt to defend Advani as a "complete farce" and said that he was "unnecessarily blaming" former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Berlin  - German legislators banned secret paternity tests Friday, setting a fine of up to 5,000 euros (6,500 dollars) for men who swab a baby's saliva and send it for DNA testing without telling the mother.

The new offence is part of a new statute on genetic tests which has been 10 years in the making because many of the ethical issues are so controversial.

The legislation adopted by the Bundestag lower chamber of parliament also bans testing of embryos to discover their sex or physical characteristics. The legislation does permit prenatal testing for medical purposes.

Mumbai, Apr 24: Samajwadi Party (SP) General Secretary Amar Singh on Friday said his party would support Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar as Prime Minister.

“The NCP is expected to win at least 15 of 21 seats in Maharashtra. Nobody can become Prime Minister with support of 15 MPs. But Pawar is one such person who has friends and supporters in all political parties. The SP will extend support to Pawar as Prime Ministerial candidate,” Singh said during a roadshow here.

Nairobi  - A prominent Islamist opposition leader Friday called on African Union peacekeepers to leave Somalia before he would consider joining a coalition government.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys returned to Somalia on Thursday after two years in exile, raising hopes the conflict-hit African nation's new government could succeed in restoring a semblance of order.

He returned home as donors pledged 213 million dollars to support the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia and boost the police force and judiciary.

Munich  - Germany's government has told Hypo Real Estate (HRE), the biggest German casualty of the world financial crash, that it will obtain 90-per-cent control of the bank by way of an equity issue.

HRE disclosed the move in a board statement Friday from its head office in Munich.

Berlin would ask the shareholders at a meeting on June 2 to vote for an increase in equity from just under 700 million euros (925 million dollars) at present to 6.3 billion euros, with the German state pumping in all the new funds.

Ahmedabad, April 24: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Shourie on Friday said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi should become the Prime Minister after party’s prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani.

“In my personal opinion, the next Prime Minister should also be elected from Gujarat after Advani becomes the Prime Minister after ongoing general elections,” Shourie told a press conference here.

Arun Shourie further said that Gujarat has made rapid development under Modi’s leadership, which made him the best candidate for PM’s post.