21.   And now the usual trade and fishing disputes have escalated into some of the nastiest political spats in years.

22.   And more guns on the street, they argued, would lead to accidental shootings and vigilante actions and would cause minor incidents to escalate into gunplay.

23.   And then things escalated into a standoff.

24.   And what could have escalated into a night in detention, a mark on his record and a scuffle with police was averted -- at least for now.

25.   Ari shouted, and his fury escalated into a weekly storm that I began to dread.

26.   As his wife had earlier, Moon described an argument that escalated into violence when she threw a candle holder at his back and kneed him in the groin.

27.   As they head into the steamy jungle, their war of attrition escalates into the cruelest possible acts of revenge and counterrevenge.

28.   As long as the United States continues to provide public goods, envy and resentment will not escalate into the fear and loathing that spawn hostile combinations.

29.   As the relationship between him and Chao deteriorated early this year, their e-mail correspondence escalated into a fervent, at times moralistic exchange.

30.   At the same time, in almost every West Bank city, Palestinian protests escalated into violent confrontations both with Israeli soldiers and with the Palestinian police.