11.   The alliance with Nikon was announced last year after Nikon executives expressed confidence the technology could be successfully commercialized.

12.   Treasury officials today criticized a debt-ceiling bill proposed by Republican leaders and expressed limited confidence that they will be able to make the payments due next Wednesday.

13.   U.S. and WHO officials interviewed expressed confidence in the thoroughness of their draft plans for a pandemic.

14.   A businessman based in Australia, Shukor said he decided to return home to invest in Malaysia and expressed confidence the economy would recover.

15.   A European Union official expressed confidence Wednesday that common ground can be found with Southeast Asian nations over contentious labor issues by early next year.

16.   Bmi believes this arrangement violates EU competition law and expressed confidence that the European Commission would support its attempts to inject more competition on the routes.

17.   Branson and his colleagues, all wearing silver jumpsuits, expressed confidence in the trip, estimating it could last from eight days to nearly three weeks.

18.   Both sides, unsurprisingly, expressed confidence that China would emerge from the current economic crisis in Asia with no permanent damage.

19.   But both want to fight each other, and all involved expressed confidence the fight could be made.

20.   But Toubon urged patience and expressed confidence in investigators, who are contending with vague eyewitness accounts and unauthenticated claims of responsibility.