SEATTLE - Representatives from Boeing Co. and the machinists union met with a federal mediator Thursday as the clock ticked on an unusual two-day contract extension after union production workers soundly rejected a contract offer and voted to strike.

LONDON – Within hours of arriving here for the Summer Games, a couple of jet-setters ran into a two-time Olympic basketball star.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel, under international pressure, is considering a 48-hour halt to its punishing four-day air campaign on Hamas targets in Gaza to see if Palestinian militants will stop their rocket attacks on southern Israel, Israeli officials said Tuesday. Any offer would be coupled with a threat to send in ground troops if the rocket fire continues.

AVONDALE - Responding to reports from neighbors of hearing cries for help, Avondale police found some 55 suspected illegal immigrants in an apparent drop house.

Movie fans with a creative itch should take a look at the Almost Famous Film Festival's "48 Hour Challenge." The brainchild of Valley videographer Jae Staats, Almost Famous challenges participants to write, shoot and edit an original short film in just 48 hours.

Aspiring DeMilles, wannabe Spielbergs, you've been served. The 48 Hour Film Project is coming to the Valley on the weekend of Friday, July 20.

Remember, what, a week ago, when we were up in arms because a naked Nicollette Sheridan was up in Eagles receiver Terrell Owens’ arms in the introduction to ‘‘Monday Night Football’’?

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday gave Saddam Hussein a 48-hour deadline to flee Iraq or face a U.S.-led invasion. ‘‘The tyrant will soon be gone,’’ Bush vowed as 250,000 American troops stood poised to strike.

DENVER - A Denver woman who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the starvation death of a 7-year-old boy has been sentenced to 48 years in prison.

MANILA, Philippines - The death toll from a powerful typhoon that cut across the northern Philippines rose Friday to at least 48, with dozens of people missing in floods and landslides, officials said.

Shane McCullen rushed for 127 yards and three touchdowns in about three quarters of work to lead Apache Junction past visiting Page 48-0 in 4A-II play Friday night.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide bomber demolished a mosque packed with hundreds of worshippers attending Friday prayers near the Afghan border, killing at least 48 people and injuring scores more, in the bloodiest attack in Pakistan this year. The bomber struck at the climax of the service, as the mosque leader was starting the communal prayer, witnesses said.

GRAMMATIKO, Greece - A Cypriot plane full of vacationers slammed into a hill north of Athens on Sunday after at least one pilot lost consciousness from lack of oxygen, killing all 121 people aboard - more than a third of them children.

If the May 16 election plays out the way the Tribune’s recent poll predicts, then Mesa’s two museums could be facing an uphill battle in their efforts to stay open longer.

An Arizona inmate who died after spending nearly four hours in the desert heat was left in an outdoor holding cell for twice as long as she should have been, the state prisons director said Wednesday.

December 2, 2004

Sloppy plates of hot wings and nachos are easy to spot on happy hour menus, but finding carefully prepared plates of gourmet grub on the cheap takes some hunting. Here are the five best places for bite-size fine foods at a hefty discount:

LAS VEGAS - Mandalay Resort Group directors have said yes to MGM Mirage's $4.8 billion cash buyout in a deal that would unite two of the world's biggest gambling companies and bring some of the most famous Las Vegas Strip properties under a single owner.

NEW YORK - Wall Street goes into the new week in an upbeat mood, with investors growing more confident that the economy and the financial markets are heading toward a second-half recovery.

If there was a record for handing out food boxes, Mesa’s Paz de Cristo would surely be in the running. The community center provided nearly 800 of them Tuesday in just three hours, including a Thanksgiving turkey and all the trimmings for East Valley families who would otherwise go without.

Rhodes Junior High School students and parents — including those of the late Sean Casey — could not persuade the Mesa City Council on Monday to reduce the speed limit in front of the school at all times.