51.   More Sprint shareholders flocked to area courts Tuesday in an attempt to block the merger.

52.   Nader said the group wants the FTC to block the merger.

53.   Nevertheless, the U.S. agency found no evidence to support blocking the merger.

54.   Norfolk Southern is suing Conrail and CSX in federal court in Philadelphia to block the merger and sought a temporary restraining order against the poison pill.

55.   Northwest has the right to block any merger of Continental, and to ally itself with Continental in various ways.

56.   On a second front, the European Commission reportedly is also preparing to block the merger because the combined company would control too much Internet traffic.

57.   Reno warned last week that unless the companies and regulators reached an agreement by Monday morning that the department would go to court to block the merger.

58.   Several senators raised the idea of blocking the merger legislatively, or retaliating with a passenger-rights bill.

59.   That move would give the FTC roughly two weeks to reach an agreement or take court action to block the merger.

60.   That would trigger a two-week countdown that effectively forces the FTC to cut a deal or file a lawsuit to block the merger.