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Congressional Democrats are calling for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign over the firing of several U.S. attorneys, but President Bush affirmed his support for the embattled leader.

Compiled by Brendan McGarry

The Observer staff knows you’re busy, and you probably don’t get a chance to read the paper and watch the news every day. So we’re bringing you a weekly synopsis of the important stuff: national and international headlines that are too big to miss and the funny stuff that seems too weird to be true (we promise it is).

National Headlines

As Iraq war enters fifth year, majority of Americans feel misled

Fifty-four percent of Americans feel misled by the Bush administration’s claims that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction, according to a poll reported Tuesday by the Christian Science Monitor. Republican support for the war is also waning. Republicans who believe the war is going well have fallen from 77 percent to 51 percent over the past year. For the full story, go to the Christian Science Monitor. (http://www.csmonitor.com)

View a timeline of events in Iraq and sentiment in America.

Bush rejects Democrats’ appeals for testimony in AG firings

President Bush on Tuesday reiterated his support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and vowed to fight Democrats’ demands for his top aides to testify about their roles in the firings of eight federal prosecutors. The battle, which is being called “Attorneygate” in press accounts, could end up in court — even the Supreme Court. For the full story, go to MSNBC.com. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/)

Missing 12-year-old scout found

A 12-year-old Boy Scout was found by rescuers Tuesday after spending three chilly nights in the mountains of North Carolina, the Associated Press reported. Michael Auberry was found after a rescue dog picked up his scent within a mile of the campsite where he had wandered from his pack. Dozens of volunteers, assisted by rescue dogs and a helicopter, participated in the search. For the full story, go to MSNBC.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.comwww.msnbc.msn.com/)

International Headlines

Former Iraqi vice president hanged

Saddam Hussein’s former vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, was hanged Tuesday for crimes against humanity despite appeals by his family to stop the execution, the Associated Press reported. Ramadan was sentenced last fall to life in jail for his role in the killing of 148 Shiites in the town of Dujail in the 1980s. Saddam and two former aides have already been hanged for the crimes. Ramadan’s family unsuccessfully pleaded with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to appeal the death sentence. For the full story, go to CNN. http://www.cnn.com/

New rules allow British schoolmasters to ban veils

Schools in the United Kingdom were given the authority to ban Muslim students from wearing veils, the International Herald Tribune reported on Tuesday. Under new uniforms guidelines, school officials can ban the traditional headscarves on security, safety or learning grounds. Last month, a 12-year-old Muslim girl failed in court to overturn a ban on niqabs in her Buckinghamshire school. For the full story, go to BBC News. (http://www.iht.com/ )

Airbus’ jumbo jet arrives in NYC

The world’s biggest passenger airplane completed its maiden voyage to the United States on Monday, touching down at Kennedy International Airport to whoops and hollering from curious onlookers, the Associated Press reported. The four-engine, double-decker Airbus A380 is a true leviathan of the skies, boasting football field-length wings. It’s 239-feet-long, and can seat as many as 550 passengers, hold 81,890 gallons of fuel, cruise at 560 mph and fly some 8,000 nautical miles. One super cool feature: Instead of TV, passengers can watch a view of the plane cruising 35,000 feet above the ground from a camera mounted on the tail. For the full story, go to CNN. (http://www.cnn.com/ )

Campus News

NYU gets communist archives

The Communist Party USA has donated never-before-seen papers and photographs to New York University, The New York Times reported on Monday. The collection contains generations of party history, from founding documents and secret code words to stacks of personal letters and directives smuggled from Moscow. Good party members, for example, were instructed to avoid charity work so as to not be distracted from political duties. For the full story, go to The New York Times. (http://www.nytimes.com/)

New York AG accuses colleges, lenders of cheating students

Andrew Cuomo, New York’s attorney general, has accused colleges and high-profile student loan companies of cheating students out of better deals, the Associated Press reported last week. Cuomo alleges that colleges across the country are taking kickbacks from at least six lenders: SLM Corp. — known as Sallie Mae — Nelnet Inc., Education Finance Partners Inc., EduCap Inc., the College Board, and CIT Group Inc. The investigation includes at least 100 schools, but Cuomo, the son of the state’s former Democratic governor, Mario Cuomo, didn’t disclose names. For the full story, go to MSNBC.com. ( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ )

Police identify body found in Purdue electrical closet

Authorities identified the body found in a dormitory’s high-voltage utility room as Wade Steffey, a 19-year-old Purdue University student who went missing in January, the Associated Press reported. He was last seen Jan. 13 after leaving a fraternity party. A maintenance worker discovered the body Monday after hearing a “pinging” sound, the article stated. Police believe the teen tripped and fell onto a power transformer, killing him instantly. For the full story, go to CNN.com. (http://www.cnn.com/ )

Strange but True

Judge involved in Anna Nicole Smith case busted for smoking pot

A judge involved in the recent Anna Nicole Smith proceedings was ticketed for smoking marijuana in a Florida park, the Associated Press reported on Monday. Lawrence Korda was getting high while sitting under a tree in the Stanley Goldman Park in Hollywood, Fla. Unbeknownst to Korda, three officers were training nearby. They tested the drug and busted the judge, who was charged with a misdemeanor and ticketed to appear in court. Korda’s courtroom saw the initial fight over control of Smith’s body. The case ended up being heard by Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin. For the full story, go to NBC.com.

Genetically-modified mosquito ‘could fight Malaria’

Scientists have created a malaria-resistant mosquito that is better able to survive than its disease-carrying counterparts, BBC News reported on Monday. The modified mosquitoes showed a higher survival rate and laid more eggs. As if that wasn’t enough, the scientists even made their eyes glow green. To better count the new-and-improved bugs, they inserted the gene for green fluorescent protein into the transgenic mosquitoes. Malaria, spread by the female Anopheles freeborni mosquito, sickens 300 million people each year and causes a million deaths worldwide. For the full story, go to BBC News. (http://news.bbc.co.uk)

IT guy erases account worth $38B

A hapless computer techie accidentally deleted a computer drive in the Alaska Department of Revenue that contained $38 billion in oil revenue money intended for residents, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. Not only did he reformat that drive, he deleted the backup drive, too. And just in case he didn’t feel suicidal, the department discovered that its last line of defense had failed, also: backup tapes were unreadable. What was supposed to be routine maintenance work turned into a major problem that erased nine months worth of applicant information. More than 70 people worked overtime and weekends to reenter the data. For the full story, go to CNN. (http://www.cnn.com )

News revisited: This week’s news in years past**

March 19, 1918: Congress establishes time zones and enacts daylight savings time.

March 20, 1602: The Dutch East India Co. is established.

March 21, 1788: A great fire destroys hundreds of buildings in New Orleans, leaving much of the town in ruins.

March 22, 1933: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs a bill into law legalizing the sale of beer and wine.

March 23, 625: Battle of Uhud takes place between Muslims and Pagans in Arabia.

Source: Wikipedia