1.   A glum, muted Eric Roberts, in his first TV series, heads a special unit of FBI agents who tackle such thorny cases as terrorist threats.

2.   Classmates remembered him wandering in late for a study group and rapidly rattling off solutions to a thorny case before dashing off to the water.

3.   Delbanco has been conducting old-fashioned grand rounds on thorny cases and publishing the resulting treatment decisions in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

4.   Since Dutch guidelines only deal with patients capable of making a lucid request, authorities have not yet formulated clear-cut policies to tackle these thorny cases.

5.   US Secretary of State Warren Christopher meanwhile found the thorny case unexpectedly thrust onto his agenda on an inter-American tour.