21.   Poland imposed extra duties on used cars in March, causing similar backups at the German-Polish border as importers rushed to beat the deadline.

22.   Rep. Gary Condit, dogged by scandal since the disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy, just beat the deadline Friday to file for re-election next year.

23.   Several thousand government, Serb and Croat troops withdrew from their front-line trenches and bunkers on Sunday, beating a deadline to create buffer zones between the forces.

24.   The announcement, applauded by immigrant groups, came a day after illegal immigrants flocked to Immigration and Naturalization Offices to beat the deadline.

25.   The announcement, applauded by immigrant groups, came a day after illegal immigrants flocked to Immigration and Naturalization Service offices to beat the deadline.

26.   The Hawks and Timberwolves beat the deadline by several hours.

27.   The Thrashers beat a deadline at midnight Wednesday for signing a player under contract to a European team.

28.   There is an outside chance that if progress is made this week in Tokyo officials could try once again to beat the deadline while they are in Singapore.

29.   They issued thousands of claims, beating a deadline they told no one else about.

30.   The years of strict curfew were a time without nighttime dating, of racing home to beat the deadline.