Republicans expands political playing field

Republicans have high hopes for competing in scores of Congressional races this November as persistent economic woes and lukewarm support for President Barack Obama continue to weaken Democrats' hold on Congress.

The president and his party are determined to minimize the losses six months before the November elections. But Democrats privately acknowledge the economy and support for Obama must improve before then to avoid the defeats that could cost them control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate.

Primaries in Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina on Tuesday kick off an intense eight weeks of contested elections. There also are two special …

The stall game

Of course, George Ryan believes in the American judicial system[Michael Sneed column, Wednesday]. He believes in a system thatallows his pro bono, high-priced lawyers to file appeal after appeallong enough so that when he finally is …

AMERICAS NEWS AT 0500 GMT

TOP STORIES:

BIN LADEN-AL-QAIDA

WASHINGTON — The wealth of information pulled from Osama bin Laden's compound has reinforced the belief that he played a strong role in planning and directing attacks by al-Qaida and its affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, senior U.S. officials said. By Lolita C. Baldor and Kimberly Dozer.

AP Photos, video.

SHARK FIN BAN

SAN FRANCISCO — A California proposal to outlaw the title ingredient in shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese delicacy, has turned into a recipe for controversy in San Francisco, a city that is nearly one-third Asian and home to the nation's oldest Chinatown. By Robin Hindery.

AP Photos.

LATIN …

Bibb digs deep on latest release

VUSI MAHLASELA

ERIC BIBB

- 7:30 tonight

- Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln

- Tickets, $21-$25

- (773) 728-60000

If you were going to build the perfect acoustic bluesman, he'd probably turn out looking and sounding exactly like Eric Bibb.

Well-spoken, good-looking and sophisticated, Bibb has always seemed almost too perfect. Music comes from heart and soul, not the intellect, and Bibb's mannered, calculating approach has often come across as contrived.

Now, with the release of "Get on Board," his fourth solo album for the jazz-blues specialty label Telarc, his music maintains its usual sincere link to the …

Syrupy masquerade

On the count of three, campers, everybody sing: "We are the river ofhope/That runs through the valley of fear...." A river of syrup isabout to run through America's living rooms, ruining the rugs. Itis, as you are sentenced to learn, the official song of "Hands AcrossAmerica," another example of rightmindedness masquerading as moralaction.

About 6 million people - 1,320 per mile - are supposed to shellout $10 apiece (more if they want the T-shirt) for the privilege ofjoining hands in a transcontinental chain on May 25. This issupposed to raise $100 million for "the hungry and homeless." Thatsum is equal to eight-tenths of 1 percent of one anti-poverty program(food …

NASA to Launch Asteroid Mission Sunday

LOS ANGELES - NASA this weekend is set to launch a spacecraft that will journey to the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter, a mission that involves a rendezvous with two of the solar system's largest asteroids.

Seeking clues about the birth of the solar system, the Dawn spacecraft will first encounter Vesta, the smaller of the two bodies, four years from now. In 2015, it will meet up with Ceres, which carries the status of both asteroid and, like Pluto, dwarf planet.

"We're trying to go back in time as well as to go out there in space," said planetary scientist Christopher Russell of University of California, Los Angeles, who is heading up the mission.

…

Postseason NHL Schedule

N.Y. Rangers 4, Washington 3

Saturday, April 18

N.Y. Rangers 1, Washington 0

Monday, April 20

Washington 4, N.Y. Rangers 0

Wednesday, April 22

N.Y. Rangers 2, Washington 1

Friday, April 24

Washington 4, N.Y. Rangers 0

Sunday, April 26

Washington 5, N.Y. Rangers 3

Tuesday, April 28

Washington 2, N.Y. Rangers 1, Washington wins series 4-3

___

New Jersey vs. Carolina

Wednesday, April 15

New Jersey 4, Carolina 1

Friday, April 17

Carolina 2, New Jersey 1, OT

Sunday, April 19

…