Olmert Announces Resignation

Scandal-plagued Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced today that he will step down. "This was not an easy decision," he said. Olmert, who faces criminal corruption charges, must now submit his resignation to President Shimon Peres, but he may remain as a caretaker prime minister for weeks or even months as a new government is formed, Reuters reports. Olmert's likely successor will be Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who has replaced him as Kadima party leader.
(More Ehud Olmert stories.)