51.   But the once-salutary law has helped turn the country into a haven for the laundering of proceeds from drug trafficking, kidnapping, and gambling.

52.   But Senate critics claim that opposition now is mounting as an historic vote nears on whether to bring three former Warsaw Pact countries into NATO.

53.   But this would risk having both main parties take to the streets with their supporters in protest, which could throw the country into chaos.

54.   But while U.S. officials deny any intention of using the threat of sanctions to press other countries into production cutbacks, bargaining is definitely under way.

55.   Communal and separatist conflicts have turned some regions of the country into battlegrounds.

56.   Crime had turned some areas of the country into armed camps.

57.   Curbs on press freedom come as little surprise in Angola, where a long-running civil war has ground the country into misery.

58.   Dividing the country into two would allow both George W. Bush and Al Gore to get to be president.

59.   Djindjic, however, admits that his gamble could plunge the country into worse instability.

60.   Economic calamity plunged the country into a decade of devastation and despair, leaving millions with little or no means to support themselves and their families.