Fitzgerald Ranked During Leak Case  —  U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald was ranked among prosecutors who had "not distinguished themselves" on a Justice Department chart sent to the White House in March 2005, when he was in the midst of leading the CIA leak investigation that resulted …

Up in Smoke at the High Court  —  So maybe this is why all those figures in the Supreme Court friezes are wearing togas.  —  As Ken Starr told the nine justices yesterday why a student's "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner didn't qualify as free speech, the whole bunch of them sounded one toke over the line.

Russia Gives Iran Ultimatum on Enrichment  —  Russia has informed Iran that it will withhold nuclear fuel for Iran's nearly completed Bushehr power plant unless Iran suspends its uranium enrichment as demanded by the United Nations Security Council, European, American and Iranian officials said.

G.O.P. Candidates Confront Immigration Politics  —  Immigration, an issue that has divided Republicans in Washington, is reverberating across the party's presidential campaign field, causing particular complications for Senator John McCain of Arizona.  —  The topic came up repeatedly …

Obama more liberal than Kucinich, analysis reveals  —  WASHINGTON - The most liberal member of Congress running for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination isn't Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.  —  It's Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.  —  And the Republican candidate who's grown less conservative over his years in Congress?

The abandoned cub who faces death sentence  —  A fluffy polar bear cub called Knut, who has become a media celebrity, should be given a lethal injection according to German zoologists, who say he has become too dependent on humans.  —  Their controversial claims have provoked a public outcry …

"U.S. Out of Iraq Now" Anti-War Rally  —  These photos were taken by zombie at the "U.S. Out of Iraq Now" anti-war rally sponsored by ANSWER in San Francisco on Sunday, March 18, 2007.  —  The rally — which started at the Embarcardero and continued down Market Street to Civic Center …

Climate scientist sees cover-up  —  A NASA scientist who said the Bush administration muzzled him because of his belief in global warming yesterday acknowledged to Congress that he'd done more than 1,400 on-the-job interviews in recent years.  —  James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute …

Betraying their base — the Democrats can do it too  —  IT'S IRONIC.  Republicans by most accounts got trounced in the last election because they "lost their way."  The latest cover of Time magazine even has a picture of Ronald Reagan crying like that American Indian from the old anti-pollution ads of the 1970s.

Saddam's former deputy hanged in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein's former deputy was hanged before dawn Tuesday, the fourth man to be executed in the killings of 148 Shiites following a 1982 assassination attempt against the former leader in the town of Dujail.

Material Shows Weakening of Climate Reports  —  A House committee released documents Monday that showed hundreds of instances in which a White House official who was previously an oil industry lobbyist edited government climate reports to play up uncertainty of a human role in global warming or play down evidence of such a role.

Yeas & Nays: Tuesday, Mar. 20  —  WASHINGTON - Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday.  Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com .  —  DeLay: The view from outside  —  Tom DeLay has a new book out, "No Retreat, No Surrender."