They noted that both the education package and the overall budget remained vulnerable to unexpected last-minute disputes.

Those talks did not take place as scheduled on Thursday because of a last-minute dispute about where they would be held.

But today the same people said that a last-minute dispute had arisen over whether a state official would add his name as a guarantor or only as a witness, delaying signing of the five-page agreement.

A last-minute dispute over tiny details delayed the signing.

In church services, as in recitals, they regularly pulled stops for each other; people who saw them in concert were often amused at their good-humored last-minute disputes over just what stops to use.

The last-minute dispute within Mr. Kohl's coalition rose over an American proposal handed to Defense Minister Gerhard Stoltenberg of the Christian Democrats in Washington last week.

High-stakes negotiations aimed at finishing a treaty to curb global warming collapsed today after a tense all-night bargaining session foundered on last-minute disputes between European and American negotiators.

Before it became law today, the bill spent much of Thursday tied up by a last-minute dispute over a provision concerning creation of the oversight board.

And after some last-minute disputes, Aetna agreed this week to give the couple a check.

The last-minute dispute will delay a vote of the pact until Friday at the earliest, or Saturday.