71.   Faced with soaring crime rates, provincial authorities launched a draconian crackdown on crime Friday involving roadblocks and house-to-house searches.

72.   Federal authorities launched a massive operation aimed at removing thousands of diamond prospectors from an Indian reservation deep in the Amazon rainforest, officials said Friday.

73.   French authorities have launched an investigation.

74.   French authorities launched a huge dragnet, sending out helicopters, heat-seeking cameras and hundreds of armed men with dogs to hunt him down.

75.   He fled Britain, where he had been living, after authorities launched proceedings to deport him for alleged wartime atrocities.

76.   He said authorities have launched an informative campaign to warn the population of the land mines in the area.

77.   Health authorities have also launched a drive to spray chemicals to kill mosquitoes that carry the Japanese encephalitis virus.

78.   Health authorities have also launched a drive to spray chemicals to kill mosquitoes that carry the disease from pigs to humans.

79.   In an unusual move for a government, Singapore authorities launched a web site Monday to encourage Internet surfers to abandon vulgarities and be more courteous.

80.   In Damascus, Syrian authorities launched a campaign of TV and newspaper ads appealing for donations in support of the Palestinian uprising.