61.   The purpose of the meeting will be to begin preliminary discussions on a new contract for Valentine.

62.   The retailer said it has held preliminary discussions with investment bankers to discuss what type of securities it may try to sell.

63.   The White House said Wednesday that preliminary discussions with Republican leaders about resolving the budget impasse have been suspended, at least for the moment.

64.   There also have been preliminary discussions about not holding the winter meetings, which could further muddle the free-agent picture.

65.   They said preliminary discussions with the agency had been encouraging.

66.   Venardos said the Big Three networks held preliminary discussions about rotating coverage during the preliminary hearing.

67.   Piniella backed out after preliminary discussions with the Reds on Tuesday, choosing instead to sign a three-year extension with the Seattle Mariners.

68.   A military delegation headed by armed forces commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung is to head to Moscow at the end of June to open preliminary discussions.

69.   Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel-Meguid will start a series of preliminary discussions with the Arab foreign ministers on Friday and Saturday, Hamid said.

70.   And many ministers will likely have a preliminary discussion of possible designs of the new notes and coins.