51.   International officials backed opposition demands for more democracy and said the standoff between Milosevic and protesters was bringing Serbia toward a crisis.

52.   International officials backed opposition demands for more democracy and said the standoff between President Slobodan Milosevic and protesters was bringing Serbia toward a crisis.

53.   Officials backed off on proposals for a fixed minimum two-year sanction for serious drug offenders.

54.   Senior Serbian officials back a Serb peace plan that keeps the province firmly within the republic.

55.   State education officials backed off their original tougher wording after the NJEA objected.

56.   The crash was initially blamed on rebels, but officials have backed off from those claims and raised the possibility that it was an accident.

57.   The crash was initially blamed on rebels, but officials later backed off from those claims.

58.   The union demanded that the company drop the lawsuits and the government officials backed the demand.

59.   Top Bosnian Serb officials backed away from confrontation Monday over two international rulings that prompted a rash of resignations and protests in the Serb half of Bosnia.

60.   Vice President Dick Cheney and Pentagon officials backed the approach.