The sale had been discussed by negotiators for months, but only the last-minute pressure for more money provided the incentive for the settlement.

But because of last-minute political pressure from Congress, where antipathy toward China runs high, the Administration backed away.

Brathwaite acknowledged in a radio address that last-minute pressure from international church organizations and human rights organizations had influenced his decision.

Ed Markey, a spokesman for NBC, said the network had not exerted any last-minute pressure on the starting times.

In a sign of the intense last-minute pressure being applied, Republican leaders reversed themselves on a bill involving the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Despite the last-minute pressure, the mayor refused to sign off on the plan.

(He accepted but did not make it, saying he was kept away by last-minute legislative pressures.)

It never became a reality, however, because of last-minute political pressure to keep it where it was.

What most New Yorkers are feeling today is a red-and-green alert, the last-minute pressure of the holiday season itself.

Mr. Lee's meeting with the President was scheduled only this week, after considerable last-minute pressure on his behalf from Congress.