41.   The dispute with the bottler comes amid intense negotiations between Pepsico and several of its independent bottlers who have not signed a new contract with the company.

42.   The decision came after two days of intense negotiations failed to produce significant progress toward a new collective bargaining agreement.

43.   The Kanadahar agreement followed two days of intense negotiations between Karzai and senior aides to Omar.

44.   The FTC vote follows weeks of intense negotiations between company attorneys and the FTC staff.

45.   The legislation, the result of weeks of intense negotiations, was drawn up rapidly on the basis of proposals from a group of opposition parties.

46.   The measure, technically known as a committee substitute, emerged after weeks of intense negotiations.

47.   The parties are in intense negotiations, the president said, and time is short to resolve longstanding issues.

48.   The order Thursday was a compromise among the Democrats, and was hammered out after weeks of intense negotiations.

49.   The rate reductions are the last major piece of a complex compromise hammered out in the past several weeks in intense negotiations between telecommunications lobbyists and FCC officials.

50.   The sides reached agreement after intense negotiations, fostered by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, that stretched from Monday into early Tuesday.