Leverage

DANDONG, China - Twice a day, long lines of trucks filled with fruit, small appliances, potatoes and rice wend their way for several blocks along Binjiang Zhonglu Street before negotiating a sharp turn onto the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge leading into North Korea. These deliveries, like the single-lane bridge over the Yalu River, are a lifeline for the impoverished communist state - and the focus of international attention in recent weeks as the United States and other countries pressure China to use its trade leverage to force North Korea back to the nuclear negotiating table.

Escalating a political feud over the Ehrlich administration's hiring and firing of key government staffers, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller this week held up appointment of dozens of nominees who need approval from lawmakers to stay in their jobs. Miller, a Democrat, wants a stronger say for his party in the appointment of two Democrats to the five-member state Board of Elections. Party leaders also say he wants to strengthen his hand for final negotiations with Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. on key bills as the General Assembly session enters its final month.

WASHINGTON - Despite American concerns about Iran's suspected nuclear-weapons program, President Bush faces powerful diplomatic and military obstacles in trying to influence Tehran's nuclear ambitions. After U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, many in Washington hoped that Iran's leaders had taken away this message: The United States was back in the Middle East and Persian Gulf in force, determined to confront governments that maintained ties with terrorists and sought to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Bettors considered it a great leap forward, and the horse racing industry considered it the next source for growth. But now, the promising world of telephone and Internet wagering has become racing's latest battleground. At the center of combat is Magna Entertainment Corp., majority owner of Pimlico and Laurel Park. Based in Canada, Magna owns 12 other tracks and a 24-hour television network devoted to racing and a betting service for account wagering. It's called account wagering because bettors establish an account with a company and then bet on races by drawing down the account via the telephone and Internet.

ONE OF THE nation's largest transit-oriented developments is taking shape along Baltimore's Howard Street, at the confluence of this region's transit lines. And at the Owings Mills Metro stop, the state plans to invest $14 million in a parking garage as part of a 46-acre mixed-use, transit-oriented project. So it's somewhat surprising that the state Department of Transportation only now is aggressively seeking bids from developers interested in building on state land at 10 MARC, bus and subway stops.

BEIJING - Diplomats from six nations began meetings here this morning about North Korea's nuclear program but at a table with so many agendas, analysts say, that the best hopes for any meaningful progress rest on the diplomacy of one country in particular: China. None of the participants - the United States, Japan, Russia, China and the two Koreas - has given any indication that the three days of talks will produce anything substantive. Beyond hopes for more talks, analysts said, the best-case scenario would be a statement at the end of the talks in which North Korea declares a willingness to end its nuclear program in the future, and the other nations declare interest in aiding Pyongyang and assuring its security.

BOSTON - Boston's unions will have a mighty sharp arrow in their collective quiver as they sit down with city officials to renegotiate their labor contracts over the next 18 months: the threat of embarrassment for Mayor Thomas M. Menino during what should be his national triumph - the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Contracts for more than 10,000 city employees will be up for renewal between now and the July 2004 convention. About 20 contracts, including those with the police, have expired.

The schedules have been released. Season tickets are on sale. Spring training is less than two weeks away. So why do baseball commissioner Bud Selig and his top management types continue to insist that the controversial contraction plan is still on the table for 2002? Surely, he has figured out that it would be all but impossible to disband two teams during spring training - that it would create more instability and uncertainty at a time when anxious baseball fans already are wondering what to expect from the resumption of labor talks in a clearly hostile economic environment.

IN HIS TWO YEARS at City Hall, Mayor Martin O'Malley has not turned Baltimore around. But he has brought some much-needed enthusiasm and energy to a city that has lost a third of its population since 1950. This was palpable last week at the lighting of the Washington Monument. Two things were striking this year: The hordes of young people, many with children, and the increasing number of private parties that were held in connection with the celebration. A holiday celebration had turned into a real social event.

THERE IS no question that Baltimore is arts rich. All across the nation there are cities struggling to achieve what we already have. Put aside the acknowledged value the arts have for improving the quality of life for Baltimore's citizens. Think of the arts simply as an asset. Are we really maximizing what this cultural richness could mean for this city, for its image, and for its economy? All over town, arts organizations are collaborating with tremendous results. The Baltimore Museum of Art and Maryland Institute College of Art's joint exhibition of local artist and MICA graduate Joyce Scott is among the highest-attended exhibitions at the BMA. The BMA and the Walters Art Museum's joint exhibition "The Triumph of French Painting" was seen by nearly 230,000 people in three American cities and another 155,500 in London.