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A pigeon that nuzzled too close to another bird on a high-voltage line Wednesday got zapped into eternity and likely sparked the four-alarm brush fire that scorched several acres on San Jose's Communications Hill, PG&E officials said Thursday. San Jose fire Capt. Scott Kouns said the cause of the fire that blackened some 15 acres and the skies above before it was extinguished two hours later officially remains under investigation. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and an outbuilding was burned. But Jennifer Zerwer, spokeswoman for Pacific Gas & Electric, said utility crews found a downed 12-kilovolt power line and a...

President Obama sharply criticized Republicans on Tuesday for following a “familiar script” to “block healthcare reform.” The president, seeking to prod the Democratic-controlled Congress to show significant progress on healthcare reform before the August recess, directed blame at the GOP for the stalled legislation. Obama blasted the "familiar script" of Republicans who "have openly declared their intention to block healthcare reform."

Iranian riot police, armed with tear gas and backed by helicopters, forced protestors off the streets Saturday as the massive protests against last week’s elections appeared to weaken. Nineteen protestors and policemen were killed Saturday, bringing the week's death toll to 38. Unconfirmed reports placed the number killed at Saturday at 150. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top Muslim leader, accused “dirty Zionists" and “Zionist media” for being behind charges that the results of the election were rigged. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner two hours after the voting stations closed a week ago on Friday. His opponent, Mir...

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky's embattled junior senator is blaming GOP leader Mitch McConnell for losing Arlen Specter to the Democrats and costing the party Senate seats. Sen. Jim Bunning has been at odds lately with McConnell, Kentucky's senior senator. McConnell hasn't publicly asked Bunning to retire but hasn't endorsed him for re-election next year. Bunning says he's still in the race but Republican leaders have been sending not-so-subtle messages that he should retire rather than face a strong Democratic challenge.

LONDON (AFP) – Outgoing US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said that a failure to address the rise of emerging markets and resulting imbalances was partly to blame for the global financial crisis, according to an interview published Friday. Paulson told the Financial Times that imbalances between fast-growing nations which save, such as China, and those who spent were at the root of the problem. He said that in the years leading up to the crisis, savings from nations such as China and oil exporters -- at a time of low inflation and booming trade and capital flows -- exerted downward...

<p>As reported in the news today by multiple sources, Democrativ presidentail candidate, Barack Hussein Obama, blaims the GOP and the adminstration and its war fighting policies for Osama Bin Laden, the Al Quida leader behind the 911 attacks, still being alinve.</p> <p>Well, Hussein, this really cuts the cake.</p>

ROME - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe defended land policies blamed for devastating his country's agricultural sector, asserting at a U.N. food summit Tuesday that the West was trying to cripple the nation's economy. Mugabe's presence at a summit addressing high global food prices sparked protests from some world leaders. He is blamed for the economic collapse of a country once considered a regional breadbasket and Zimbabweans increasingly are unable to afford food and other essentials. Zimbabwe is not subject to broad sanctions affecting ordinary citizens. Western sanctions are targeted instead at the president and several dozen close associates. Mugabe nonetheless...

Hillary Clinton blamed her defeats by Barack Obama in caucuses around the country in part on MoveOn.org, the liberal activist group that was founded in 1998 to tell Congress to "move on" from its push to impeach Clinton's husband.

SACRAMENTO The Democratic leader of the state Senate on Thursday said lawmakers have reached an impasse in negotiating California's overdue budget and blamed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for not doing more to broker a deal with his fellow Republicans. The comments by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata came as lawmakers in the Assembly were scheduled to begin a late-night floor session to debate the budget plan. "The (budget) bill going up tonight is a sign that we are at an impasse, and only the governor can come in and make a deal," Perata said in an interview. He "has not...

Two Cuban army deserters have been captured after trying to hijack a passenger plane to flee to the US, according to officials in Havana. A government statement said they killed an army officer as they tried to take control of the airliner. Armed with AK-47 assault rifles, they seized a bus before driving it towards the Boeing 737, when police opened fire, says one source. The two reportedly went AWOL from their army base on Saturday along with another man, who Havana says had since been captured. Cuban officials have held the United States responsible for the attempted hijacking. They...

America’s most inept mayor is at it again. Seems like it’s taking him too long to turn NOLA into the Chocolate City of his dreams but he knows why. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin has suggested that the slow recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina — which has prevented many black former residents from returning — is part of a plan to change the racial makeup and political leadership of his and other cities. “They are studying this model of natural disasters, dispersing the community and changing the electoral process in that community.” That’s right, boys...

SACRAMENTO — Saying that Californians have "lived in denial" about the crisis in the state's prisons, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday complained that apathy in the electorate is to blame for the lack of will in the Capitol to address the corrections system's overcrowding and rising costs. ... Schwarzenegger said the prison problem is not "sexy," because it does not affect people's lives directly, as schools or transportation issues do. --snip-- Schwarzenegger has proposed $10.9 billion in new borrowing to expand the prisons, and wants to reexamine the state's penal code to see if sentences for some crimes are too...

LANSING, Mich. - A campaign mailing from the Michigan Republican Party blames Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the state corrections director for a crime spree that resulted in the deaths of three people. The brochure has a photo of Patrick Selepak, who pleaded guilty to killing Melissa and Scott Berels of New Baltimore and Winfield Johnson of Genesee County's Vienna Township in February. The headline says: "This violent criminal was mistakenly released into your community." "Governor Granholm and her state prison director. If they can't do the job, why are they still on the job?" the brochure says. Selepak had...

HARARE, Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe opened a new legislative year Tuesday with a speech to Parliament blaming economic problems on the U.S., Britain and other Western critics of his human rights record. Zimbabwe is in a state of economic collapse, suffering from the world's highest inflation rate — more than 1,000 percent — and shortages of all basic goods. A quarter of its 16 million people has emigrated since 2000 and millions more are dependent on aid. "My tribute goes to the gallant people of Zimbabwe for continuing to exhibit great fortitude despite the prevailing economic challenges which are...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The U.N. humanitarian chief accused Hezbollah on Monday of "cowardly blending" in among Lebanese civilians and causing the deaths of hundreds during two weeks of cross-border violence with Israel. The militant group has built bunkers and tunnels near the Israeli border to shelter weapons and fighters, and its members easily blend in among civilians. Jan Egeland spoke to reporters at Larnaca airport in Cyprus late Monday after visiting Lebanon to coordinate an international aid effort. On Sunday, he toured the rubble of Beirut's southern suburbs, a once-teeming Shiite district where Hezbollah had its headquarters. During that visit,...

ROSTOCK, Germany - The United States blamed Syria and Iran on Wednesday for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants and the ensuing violence. The White House called for the immediate and unconditional release of the two soldiers. "We condemn in the strongest terms Hezbollah's unprovoked attack on Israel and the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers," National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said as President Bush flew here for a visit. He said Hezbollah had also launched rocket attacks on civilian targets in Israel as part of its offensive. "This is a terrorist attack and it is...

HOUSTON - The automated signature machine did it. Attorneys for Kenneth Lay suggested bank loan documents containing terms he allegedly violated actually were signed by an automatic signature device in the Enron Corp. founder's office and not by him. Lay went on trial Thursday on one count of bank fraud and three counts of making false statements regarding personal banking issues. The trial, expected to wrap up as early as Tuesday, got under way the day after jurors began deliberating the nearly four-month-long fraud and conspiracy case of Lay and former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling. Lay is charged with...

The University of California's procedures for reporting executive pay are "wholly unacceptable" and must be overhauled, a task force said Thursday. More financial oversight and public accountability is needed after reports showed UC gave executives millions in bonuses and other perks while student fees were raised to offset funding cutbacks, according to findings presented to UC's governing Board of Regents. The report pointed to a university culture of secrecy, further complicated by vague policies and lack of oversight. The report blamed President Robert C. Dynes and other leaders for failing repeatedly to fully disclose executive packages to regents and said...

Mine Owner Blames Lightning for Sago Blast Wednesday March 15, 2006 12:31 AM By VICKI SMITH Associated Press Writer MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - An explosion that killed 12 workers at the Sago Mine likely was caused by a massive lightning strike that ignited methane gas in a sealed-off area, the mine's owner said Tuesday. The company's own investigation turned up three pieces of compelling evidence of a lightning strike, all from 6:26 a.m. on Jan. 2, said Ben Hatfield, chief executive officer of International Coal Group Inc. He said weather monitors confirmed an unusually large and powerful lightning strike near...

UN team 'in danger' as inquiry blames Syria for assassination By Anton La Guardia Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 26/10/2005) The chief UN investigator into the murder of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri warned yesterday that his team's lives were in danger after it pointed the finger of blame at Syria. As Washington demanded tough action against Syria and Damascus pleaded its innocence, Detlev Mehlis, the German prosecutor leading the inquiry, said his team now faced "credible" threats. Detlev Mehlis' report suggested President Bashar as a likely plotter "It should be noted that despite all the precautionary measures, the level of...

$50 million lawsuit is being filed against Hoboken and its police department by the parents of a 16-year-old boy who drowned in the Hudson River shortly after escaping from Hoboken Police Headquarters. "He was in the custody of the police department, he was a juvenile and it was their responsibility to maintain his safety and under very suspicious and nefarious circumstances he allegedly escaped and drowned in the Hudson River," attorney Robert Bianchi said. "To this day, a year later, no one from law enforcement has had the courtesy to contact the mother or her attorney to let them know...

Britain blames Iran for soldiers' deaths By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 06/10/2005) Britain blamed Iran yesterday for a spate of roadside bomb attacks that killed at least eight British soldiers in the past six months. A senior diplomat said technology used in the devices was similar to that given by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to the Hizbollah movement in Lebanon. Troops patrol Basra after a roadside bomb attack "All of the British deaths are linked to Iranian technology," he said, abandoning the usual Foreign Office reserve. The official said Iran's motive for stirring violence in Iraq was to "tie...

WASHINGTON - Former FEMA director Michael Brown aggressively defended his role in responding to Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday and put much of the blame for coordination failures on Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. "My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional," two days before the storm hit, Brown told a special congressional panel set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the catastrophe. The storm slammed into the Gulf Coast on Monday, Aug. 29. Brown's defense drew a scathing response from Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), D-La. "I find...

HAVANA (AP) - Cuban leader Fidel Castro claimed Friday that U.S. policies were responsible for the latest tragedy to befall Cubans trying to reach American shores - 31 people believed killed in the Florida Straits. The Cuban are missing and feared dead after their overcrowded boat capsized, officials said. President Fidel Castro appeared on state-run television to point the finger at an American law that allows Cubans to apply for permanent residency if they reach the U.S., saying it encourages dangerous, illegal migration. "Lives have been lost for the last 40 years since they created that law," he said, referring...

The London bombings were fueled by oil Friday, July 8, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 AM Froma Harrop / Syndicated columnist It is oil's fault. The London bombings are almost surely al-Qaida's work, which means oil paid for them. Oil keeps the Mideast backward. It funds the madrassas that fill heads with anti-West poison. And it pays the terrorists who plant bombs on European trains and fly airplanes into American buildings. It is time we did something about oil. The United States accounts for 25 percent of the world's oil consumption. We could crush oil's power to hurt us...

Aziz blames bloody campaign to suppress the Shias on Saddam By Our Foreign Staff (Filed: 28/06/2005) Tariq Aziz, the former Iraqi politician who was one of Saddam Hussein's closest associates, blames the bloody suppression of a Shia uprising on his former boss in a video released yesterday. The footage, given out by the tribunal prosecuting members of the deposed regime, is likely to demoralise Saddam loyalists involved in the Iraqi insurgency because it contradicts claims by Aziz's lawyer that he would never betray Saddam. 68-year-old Tariq Aziz [right] appears before the special tribunal Under questioning from an investigative judge six...

An Egyptian historian claimed on Saudi television that the United States helped carry out a Vatican plot to destroy Islam by orchestrating the 9-11 attacks -- on "assignment" by the World Council of Churches. Professor Zaynab Abd Al-Aziz told Saudi Iqra TV in a May 26 interview that the decision to impose one religion over the entire world was made in the Second Vatican Council in 1965," according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, which posted a clip of the program.http://memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=708 Abd Al-Aziz claimed the Vatican's decision to "Christianize the world" included a plan, first, to "absolve the Jews...

SCOTIA, Calif. - Financially troubled Pacific Lumber Co. is the victim of its corporate owner's excesses, not increasing government restrictions on logging, according to a state water agency's controversial new study. The state Water Resources Control Board's 18-page report blames Texas-based Maxxam Inc. for shifting hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from Pacific Lumber in "subtle and complex ways," forcing the North Coast timber giant to cut trees "at rates that greatly exceed sustainable forest practices." The state report claims Maxxam has funneled nearly $725 million in Pacific Lumber earnings into its own Houston, Texas, coffers over the past...

WASHINGTON - Both political parties are to blame for the impasse on confirming President Bush (news - web sites)'s judicial nominees, says Arlen Specter, Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (news - web sites). "No one wants to back down and no one wants to lose face," Specter said Thursday in his first interview with Washington reporters since disclosing he has Hodgkin's disease. Specter will initiate this year's confirmation battles between Bush and the Democrats by holding hearings on the nominations of former Interior Department Solicitor William Myers on Tuesday, a nominee who was blocked last year, and U.S....

HINTON, W.Va. (AP) - The nation's largest lottery winner blamed his granddaughter's recent death on a drug overdose and said he wants the friends he says gave the drugs to her to be put in jail. Jack Whittaker's comments came as a medical examiner was preparing a toxicology report on Brandi Bragg, 17, whose body was found earlier this week wrapped in a plastic tarp on property owned by a boyfriend's father. "All of the problems I have had are because of my granddaughter's friends, her drug-using friends," Whittaker said. "I'm going to find them and put them in jail....

SACRAMENTO -- Accused of mismanaging a federal voting-rights program, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley disputed the allegations on Monday and blamed some problems on the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials says Shelley, a San Francisco Democrat, has failed miserably in administering California's Help America Vote Act program. HAVA was passed by Congress in 2002 in the hope of preventing a repeat of Florida's 2000 presidential election debacle. In a letter to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Shelley disputed the charges, though he made no mention of the group or its specific allegations....

TABA, Egypt - Rescuers Friday dug through the debris of a luxury hotel for victims of a series of bombs at resorts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that are popular with Israelis. At least 27 people were killed, with more than 100 wounded, and officials feared the death toll would rise. Israel's intelligence chief told Cabinet ministers Friday that the bombings at Egyptian resorts were most likely carried out by al-Qaida. The intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, made the assessment at an emergency Cabinet meeting convened a day after the deadly bombings, which wounded more than 120. Thousands of frightened...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is backing a campaign to limit lawsuits filed under the state's unfair competition law, has used that law to file suits to stop the use of his image in ads and bobblehead dolls. That makes the governor a hypocrite, said opponents of Proposition 64, the Nov. 2 ballot measure that would limit unfair competition suits. "If the governor feels it's OK to file lawsuits under this law to protect his image, why isn't it OK to file a case under the statute ... when water and air are threatened with contamination but no...

Italy blames France for Niger uranium claim By Bruce Johnston in Brussels and Kim Willsher in Paris (Filed: 05/09/2004) A row has broken out between France and Italy over whose intelligence service is to blame for the Niger uranium controversy, which led to Britain and America claiming wrongly that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy material for nuclear bombs. Italian diplomats say that France was behind forged documents which at first appeared to prove that Iraq was seeking "yellow-cake" uranium in Niger - evidence used by Britain and America to promote the case for last year's Gulf war. They say...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Army general who once ran detention operations in Iraq (news - web sites) said a "conspiracy" among top U.S. commanders has left her to blame for the abuses of Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib prison. Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who commanded the Army's 800th Military Police Brigade, said she fears more senior Army generals may escape punishment, even though they issued or approved guidelines on the interrogation of Iraqi prisoners. Karpinski said in an e-mail interview with The Associated Press that she was unfairly cited by a report issued last month by an independent panel of...

Seeking to end a searing, months-long controversy, San Jose City Manager Del Borgsdorf on Friday concluded his investigation into the city's bungled City Hall technology deal with Cisco Systems by laying all blame on three administrators who already have resigned or been demoted. ``You ought to have the confidence, and competence, at the department head level,'' Borgsdorf said. ``The standard of performance at that level was unacceptable.'' In releasing a nine-page summary of a personnel investigation conducted last month, Borgsdorf said he believed there was nothing he or his immediate deputies did wrong as the city's technology and purchasing managers...

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) said Tuesday that rising consumption and decreasing domestic production have led to high gasoline prices but also blamed his Democratic opponents and their opposition to the Bush administration's energy policies. The Bush-Cheney campaign accuses Senate Democrats of blocking a Bush energy plan that would increase petroleum drilling and energy conservation and provide new tax breaks and other incentives to spur exploration and production. "John Kerry (news - web sites) and John Edwards (news - web sites) voted no," Cheney said. "It's another area where I think there is...

Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, a key Democratic player in budget talks, on Friday blamed a band of shopping mall-heavy cities for holding up budget negotiations over the matter of protecting their bank accounts. Steinberg said he and other lawmakers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and local government groups agree that city and county treasuries must be protected in the state constitution. But he said cities, in particular those paying their bills from large sales tax bases, are asking for too much, to the possible peril of other government services, and are balking at important changes to the system through which the...

Tanya Smith is sporting a broken left arm, and she says a South Bend police officer is to blame. Police Chief Thomas Fautz said he has been reading reports of the incident, and so far he hasn't found any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the officers involved. He said he cannot provide many details about the incident since it is an open investigation, and police policy keeps him from talking about it. He did confirm that the officer injured the woman. Smith, a 25-year-old Elkhart resident, said she and a friend, Felicia Bradley, had gone to Benchwarmers early...

Giuliani describes 9/11 rescue efforts Giuliani: 'Could not conceive of the entire tower coming down' Wednesday, May 19, 2004 Posted: 1541 GMT (2341 HKT) NEW YORK (CNN) -- One day after former New York fire and police department officials drew criticism over communication problems that plagued rescue efforts during the World Trade Center attacks, the boss of both agencies has told the 9/11 commission Wednesday that the rescuers' performance demonstrated a "superb command structure." Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is speaking on the second of two days of public hearings at Manhattan's New School University looking at how the...

SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell blamed Yasser Arafat on Sunday for blocking U.S. efforts to make Palestinian security forces strong enough to end terror attacks on Israel. Winding up his latest effort to push peacemaking forward, without any apparent concrete results, Powell also criticized Arafat for a statement the Palestinian leader made Saturday to his people urging them to "find whatever strength you have to terrorize your enemy." "Mr. Arafat continues to take actions and make statements to make it exceptionally difficult to move forward" on peacemaking, Powell said at a news conference before returning...

Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, the Army general who wrote the report detailing abuses of Iraqi detainees by American soldiers, told a Senate panel today that rampant failures of leadership, training and discipline led to the violations at Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad. He said leadership failures could be traced as high as the brigade commander: Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who was in charge of the 800th Military Police Brigade, which oversaw the prison during the time the abuses were committed. "Failure in leadership from the brigade commander on down, lack of discipline, no training whatsoever, and no supervision"...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Corn syrup and other refined foods may be much to blame for the huge increase in type-2 diabetes in the United States over the past few decades, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. A study of nearly 100 years of data on what Americans eat show a huge increase in processed carbohydrates, especially corn syrup, and a large drop in the amount of fiber from whole grains, fruits and vegetables. It parallels a spike in the number of cases of type-2 diabetes, caused by the body's increasing inability to properly metabolize sugars. "We are seeing this big jump...

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - Americans would not be paying high prices for gasoline if the Congress had passed President Bush (news - web sites)'s proposed energy package three years ago, a White House spokesman said Tuesday as the administration faced criticism from Democratic rival John Kerry (news - web sites). In a thinly veiled criticism of Kerry, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said, "Some have advocated higher gas taxes. ... The president remains firmly opposed to increasing gas taxes." The Bush campaign has accused Kerry of proposing a 50-cent a gallon gas tax increase. Kerry was quoted once...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The family of a brain-damaged boy who received methadone instead of an anti-hyperactivity drug has asked for millions of dollars in sanctions against Walgreens. Attorneys for Joshua Dunbar made the request Friday, after a mistrial was declared when a store pharmacist testified that a prescription that Walgreens said proved it could account for all the methadone in its Espanola store was forged. Lawyers for the Dunbar family on Friday gave the court affidavits from jurors who said they had been prepared to return a verdict of perhaps $350 million or more in damages against Walgreens before the...

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Gary Aldrich, former FBI agent and best-selling author, accuses the Clinton administration of failing to "connect the dots" to prevent the September 11 terrorist attacks in his new book, "Thunder on the Left." His latest book is a follow-up to his blockbuster about the Clinton White House, "Unlimited Access" that detailed, among other things, a disdain for established security protocols by the Clinton administration that Aldrich claims had disastrous results. In a chapter titled, "Go Ahead and Blame Clinton - I Do!", Aldrich writes that the attacks were "a continuation of an assault on the United...

MILLBRAE -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry blasted efforts to recall Gov. Gray Davis and said President Bush should call on state Republicans to halt the campaign. The remarks came during a campaign stop here Friday, ahead of the President's visit to Burlingame later in the day to raise money for his 2004 re-election drive. "Republicans are making an effort to recall that is like the monkeying that went on with the 2000 election," Kerry said referring to the controversial presidential election that year. "Just because you are upset with a budget doesn't mean you change your governor." Sen. Kerry,...

Iran blames Americans for failure of 'thaw' talks By Alan Philps in Baghdad (Filed: 26/05/2003) An attempt to thaw relations between America and Iran - estranged for the past 24 years - has broken down, complicating US efforts to stabilise the Middle East and form a democratic government in Iraq. The dialogue collapsed after the May 12 suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia, with American officials accusing Iran of harbouring al-Qa'eda terrorists allegedly involved in the attack. Washington is now considering "an aggressive policy of trying to destabilise the Iranian government", according to the Washington Post. The two countries had been...

<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California Gov. Gray Davis criticized the Bush administration and the Republican-led Congress today for failing to reimburse states for their homeland security costs.</p> <p>Target-rich California alone is spending more than $500 million a year on increased security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Davis said. During the recent national upgrade to alert level ``orange,'' the California Highway Patrol spent more than $1 million on extra patrols and precautions over a two-week period, he said.</p>

The Meretz party suffered a drastic setback in Tuesday's election, with exit polls indicating that the left-wing standard bearer may have lost as many as half of its seats in the Knesset. According to the Channel 1 exit poll, widely considered the most reliable, Meretz will have five seats in the next Knesset, down from the current 10. Channel 2, which relied on phone interviews in its poll, gives Meretz seven mandates; Channel 10 gives it eight. Reacting to the news, Meretz leader Yossi Sarid announced he would resign his leadership "if this is the true result." As news of...