71.   U.S. and Mexican officials said the Sonora operation had begun as an effort to to capture drug proceeds belonging to Gaxiola.

72.   U.S. and Pakistani officials had predicted for weeks that a strong backlash might occur in Pakistan once military operations began in neighboring Afghanistan.

73.   Under Air Force regulations, search and rescue operations should begin within an hour after a plane is reported overdue.

74.   While Bush administration officials declined to publicly comment on the substance of the report, the officials did not dispute suggestions that pre-combat operations have begun.

75.   Operations could begin late this year, with most of the output destined for the Vietnamese market, company Vice President Li Chi said by telephone from Taiwan.

76.   Operations will begin in February.

77.   Quoting Brig. Gen. Benjamin Msuya, commander of the operation to return the refugees to neighboring Rwanda, the independent Guardian said the search operation would begin Wednesday.

78.   Raanan Gissin, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the redeployment operation had begun.

79.   A massive search operation began Wednesday for five sailors on a New Zealand yacht caught in cyclonic winds in the Coral Sea.

80.   A Kremlin spokesman said only that the operation had begun at the Moscow Cardiological Center in western Moscow, but gave no other details.