Estonia MPs reject nominee

TALLINN - Estonia's fragmented parliament rejected President Lennart Meri's nominee for prime minister, increasing the prospect of early elections. Siim Kallas, president of the country's Central Bank and ardent proponent of free-market economics, was rejected by a vote of 55 to 40, with five abstentions. President Meri had nominated Mr Kallas after the Prime Minister, Mart Laar, one of the former Soviet bloc's leading reformers, lost a vote of confidence last month. AP