31.   Pressure persists on women to give birth to boys.

32.   Some weakness persisted on Thursday.

33.   The drug is easily detected using conventional urine tests, prompting IOC vice president Dick Pound to question the intelligence of athletes who persisted on using steroids.

34.   While gridlock persisted on Congress, scandals followed one after the other in politics.

35.   Finally, Solana will ask the Kremlin not to freeze its relations with NATO entirely even if disagreements persist on the enlargement question.

36.   Traders said selling pressure would persist on the stock market if the dollar continues its slide against the yen next week.

37.   The fighting picked up during the night and sporadic shelling persisted on Saturday in the Rwandan capital.

38.   The mandate of UNAVEM III is scheduled to end next February, but problems in implementing the Lusaka peace protocol persist also on the political front.