The Democratic senator said evidence suggests that Bush’s top law enforcement official, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, “was carrying out the political wishes of the president in at least some of these firings.”

Gonzales has faced calls for his resignation following news the prosecutors had been sacked, and Schumer repeated that call Tuesday.

“All the evidence makes clear that this purge was based purely on politics: to punish prosecutors who were perceived to be too light on Democrats or too tough on Republicans,” he said, adding that among the officials he hopes to hear from are White House aides Harriet Miers and Karl Rove and Gonzales himself.

By the year 2050, one billion Asians will lack water, the small glaciers of Europe will begin disappearing, large glaciers will change “drastically,” and ozone-related deaths will rise 4.5 percent in large cities. In 2050, up to six hundred million people will be hungry due to climate changes. Diseases such as Malaria and Dengue Fever “will run rampant.” Scientists predict by the year 2080, three billion Asians will lack water and as many as one hundred million people may be affected by rising sea levels.

Democratic leaders in Congress speedily announced this morning that they would conduct thorough oversight on reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation overstepped the boundaries of its authority under the Patriot Act. The head of the House Judiciary Committee warned that the potential for misconduct by the FBI “is almost without limit.”

Respected Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, who reported on military affairs, mysteriously plunged to his death from the 5th floor of his apartment building Friday, making him the 14th journalist to die under questionable circumstances in Putin’s Russia, according to statistics compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

An expert on Russian intelligence was critically injured in a shooting in front of his suburban Washington home, authorities said.

The shooting of Paul Joyal, 53, came days after he accused the Russian government of involvement in the poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. The FBI was assisting in the investigation.

Joyal was shot Thursday by two men in his driveway, police said.