31.   The authorities have been hardening their stance over the protests, which they have attempted to ban, citing disruption to traffic.

32.   The authorities have been hardening their stance over the protests, which they say block traffic.

33.   The comments marked a return to optimism from Syria, which had hardened its stance against Israel over the weekend by accusing its leaders of negotiating in bad faith.

34.   The Commission has hardened its stance by warning that it would take any country which ignored the request to the European court of Justice.

35.   The former charge that he has hardened his stance on Europe to appease the latter, who have the power to sink his fragile parliamentary majority.