31.   The rumours, however, sparked tension and scores of people came on to the streets.

32.   The Thai-Australian tensions were sparked by the slayings, confirmed last week, of three western hostages, including Australian David Wilson, by the Khmer Rouge.

33.   Their arrest was among a series of incidents that sparked tension in the Spratlys earlier this year and soured diplomatic ties between Manila and Beijing.

34.   This in turn could add new fuel to inflation fears, sparking tensions on the bond market and another rise in long-term interest rates, they said.

35.   Threats of legal action by the justice ministry against the UDMR sparked renewed tension between Bucharest and Budapest in January.

36.   There had been fears that the event could spark communal tensions across the whole country.

37.   It sparked renewed tension in the area, which had been generally violence-free since a state-brokered peace deal between feuding Muslims and Christians in December.

38.   Kosovo is a south Serbian province with a huge ethnic Albanian majority where Belgrade has sparked ethnic tension by transferring thousands of Serb refugees from Croatia.

39.   Lebed also urged Chechens to avoid sparking new tensions on Friday, when they mark the fifth anniversary of their self-declared independence drive.

40.   Saikia said here that the occupation of tribal lands had created a sense of insecurity and deprivation and sparked ethnic tensions.