Deadlock

The countdown to the NFL's approaching labor agreement deadline has the feel of an old James Bond movie in which the bomb that blows up the world ticks off the final seconds. And if the two sides in the football dispute don't come to an agreement by tomorrow night, it just could be the end of the NFL world - at least as fans have come to know it. Yesterday talks broke off between NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw on an extension of the collective bargaining agreement between players and the league.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A minibus packed with explosives detonated near a busy market last night, killing at least 21 Iraqis and wounding 29, the most lethal attack in the capital in more than two months. The explosion targeted a mostly Shiite Muslim area in the religiously mixed Dora district, which is widely seen as among Baghdad's most dangerous areas. On the heels of a suicide bombing Monday in the Shiite district of Kadhimiya, it marked an end to a period of relative calm that had followed a series of deadly suicide bombings in early January.

KHARTOUM, Sudan -- In a rare political snub of one of their own, African leaders deadlocked yesterday on Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir's bid to take over the chairmanship of the African Union. After meeting in closed session for most of the day at their annual summit, feuding heads of state in the 53-nation African body referred the issue to a special committee. The group could announce a decision as soon as today. While el-Bashir could still end up with the post, the reluctance of his colleagues to elect him during the opening day of the two-day Khartoum summit was an embarrassing setback for the military leader, who was the only candidate openly vying for the chairmanship.

WHILE IT'S clear Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. would like to appoint his friend and former colleague, Del. Kevin Kelly, to a vacancy on Allegany County's District Court bench, the local judicial nominating commission has judged him unfit for the job. Nominating commissions aren't required to reveal their votes or reasoning. But the purpose of the 13-member nominating commission - nine of whom are appointed by the governor - is to determine which candidates are qualified. They've spoken. It's time to move on. Admittedly, the situation is rife with political intrigue.

BEIJING - Negotiators in the North Korean nuclear program talks decided yesterday to meet at least one more day in hopes of breaking a deadlock with North Korea, even as discussions began about what might be salvaged if this round of talks ends without an agreement. The outcome of this fourth round of nuclear talks appears to rest solely with North Korea, which continues to resist agreeing to a draft joint statement of principles that would move the disarmament talks forward. The other five nations in the talks - the United States, Russia, China, South Korea and Japan - have essentially agreed to the draft.

A committee of Democratic officials charged with selecting a replacement for the late Del. Tony E. Fulton was deadlocked last night in a tie vote for two contenders, leaving the decision on replacing the Baltimore legislator in the hands of Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. After two hours of public interviews and at times bitter talks, the committee voted 2-2 - with one member absent - for former City Councilwoman Catherine E. Pugh and Wendell Rawlings,...

WITH THE strong rejection of the European Union constitutional treaty by two founding member states last week, the effort to strengthen the integration of the 25-member union appears deadlocked. Many commentators claim that further integration is impossible, expansion to new states foreclosed and the security of the euro currency system threatened. While it may prove impossible for this constitutional treaty to be saved, the heads of government have some important issues to consider when they gather for a summit as the European Council on June 16 in Brussels.

WASHINGTON -- On the face of it, the 2004 presidential campaign is going down to its final days close enough to feed widespread speculation about the possibility of deadlock and perhaps prolonged litigation. Each party has legions of lawyers at the ready. But some astute political professionals believe either President Bush or Democrat Sen. John Kerry could win a comfortable -- perhaps even one-sided -- margin in the Electoral College if not the popular vote. This could happen, they suggest, if even a minor development in the news of the day or the campaign reaches a small bloc of voters whose commitment to their candidate is tentative.

APPLETON, Wis. - Sen. John Kerry harshly criticized President Bush yesterday for failing to snare Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, determined not to back down from a central argument in his campaign even after the emergence of a new videotape from the al-Qaida leader. During campaign stops neither candidate specifically mentioned the bin Laden tape, though Bush told a TV interviewer on Air Force One that if the terrorist leader were trying to influence the election, he would not succeed.

WASHINGTON - Family members of Sept. 11 victims sharply criticized the Bush administration, congressional Republicans and the Pentagon yesterday for the deadlock on legislation that would establish a national intelligence director, a key recommendation of the 9/11 commission. Mary Fetchet, of New Canaan, Conn., whose son died at the World Trade Center, said the victims' families were "not willing to allow the administration, the Department of Defense, or individuals who are their messengers to stand in the way of making our country safer," a reference to House Republicans she said were stalling the bill.