11.   Private citizens offer humanitarian aid to Iraq on Sunday in a growing effort to ease hardships caused by seven years of U.N. sanctions.

12.   A top U.S. official on Friday promised to spur donor countries into fulfilling pledges to the Palestinian Authority and ease economic hardship aggravated by Israeli restrictions on day laborers.

13.   But his government has failed to curtail allegations of graft, while Western-style economic reforms have yet to ease hardships.

14.   But Vahi said he would also try to ease the hardships the reforms have brought, which he said have hit people in the countryside the hardest.

15.   Rashid said Iraq would like its export quota under the deal increased to ease the hardships wrought by the international sanctions.

16.   Private citizens offer humanitarian aid to ease hardship of sanctions.

17.   Suu Kyi also accused the government of doing little to ease economic hardship and said the introduction of a new high-denomination banknote could fuel inflation.

18.   The smuggling benefits Serbian authorities by easing the hardship that should come from sanctions, and it seems to have at least tacit official approval.

19.   Yeltsin has said he is trying to fine-tune the reforms to ease the hardships they have brought many Russians.

20.   Israel said Wednesday it would maintain its crippling blockade of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, turning a deaf ear to Palestinian appeals to ease their hardship.