1.   Environmentalists have joined with racing enthusiasts and the Utah Film Commission, which makes extensive use of the flats, in an unusual alliance aimed at their preservation.

2.   And though the political battle is only now warming up, unusual alliances are being struck.

3.   Berlusconi, a media tycoon, has formed an unusual alliance in his campaign for prime minister.

4.   A coalition of business groups joined the administration to lobby for MFN, and that proved enough to overcome opposition from an unusual alliance of conservatives and liberals.

5.   Consequently, an unusual alliance of manufacturers and environmental groups has formed to tackle the problem.

6.   Designed for flood control, the project has been blocked by an unusual alliance of environmentalists and cost-conscious congressional Republicans.

7.   Environmental groups, in an unusual alliance with the utilities, have pushed the idea of allowing companies to pass along some of the costs of closing old plants.

8.   Grappling with their first major piece of legislation this year, House members found themselves falling into a series of unusual alliances.

9.   Gingrich should rejoice, if not in the Lord, in the unusual alliance.

10.   He has formed an unusual multiracial alliance of plant workers, farmers and environmentalists to stand up to the powerful industry.