21.   The proposals have so far received a cautious welcome from government ministers.

22.   Government ministers are fairly evenly divided on this issue.

23.   Government ministers have been responding to the challenge thrown down by their former colleague.

24.   His shares were placed in a blind trust when he became a government minister.

25.   Austerity measures introduced to combat the continuing economic crisis included cutbacks in the financial privileges enjoyed by government ministers and civil servants.

26.   For the first time no government ministers were included, and only Gorbachev and Ivashko remained from the old politburo.

27.   Some government ministers maintained, however, that no new concessions had been made.

28.   It emerged that large cash payments had been made to four government ministers in return for relinquishing their portfolios.

29.   In a government reshuffle in February three central and eight state government ministers were replaced.

30.   In January ETA itinerant commandos had killed three soldiers, a policeman and a former government minister in four attacks in Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia.