1.   At times, Mueller seemed to take pains to praise FBI agents and managers even as he acknowledged serious lapses in their performance.

2.   After an internal investigation, a humiliated Kidder and GE acknowledged intolerable lapses of supervision.

3.   Last week, Robert S. Mueller III, the director of the FBI, acknowledged lapses in his agency.

4.   Algerian authorities have acknowledged a lapse in security at Houari Boumediene Airport and promised to take unspecified action, but foreign transporters remained wary.

5.   Agencies have acknowledged lapses in information sharing and gathering but have said none of their prior information pointed directly to the hijacking plot.

6.   Deutch has publicly acknowledged his lapses and apologized.