1.   Indeed, with the smell of litigation in the air, this agreement came at a good time for all concerned.

2.   The agreement came a full year before the labor contract was due to expire.

3.   The agreement came as Republicans on the Finance panel forged a consensus on tax cuts that will eventually be part of their balanced-budget plan.

4.   The agreement came as the case was going to trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Torrance.

5.   The agreement came just as Major League Baseball was investigating the Mariners and the Reds for improperly allowing Goldberg to speak to the Reds without a trade in place.

6.   The plea agreement came as Lewis was standing trial for murder in Atlanta in the stabbing deaths of two players outside a Super Bowl party last January.

7.   Hundreds of delegates waiting in the convention hall lobby hugged each other with glee when the news came the agreement was clinched.

8.   The agreement came as fighting raged for an eighth day in Grozny, the Chechen capital, between Russian troops and separatist fighters.

9.   The agreement came as the United Nations reported that the Croatian army has gone back into Bosnia, possibly signaling increased fighting that could derail U.S. peace efforts.

10.   The meeting and subsequent agreement came amid widespread concern of an all-out war between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan.