Putin suffers blow in Russian parliament election
Vladimir Putin's ruling party suffered a big drop in support in a parliamentary election on Sunday and was not certain even of holding on to a majority of seats, an exit poll showed.
The poll announced on state television showed Putin's party, United Russia, would win the election to the State Duma lower house with 48.5% of the votes cast, compared with 64.3% in 2007. (Reuters)
