1.   Although Avis stood up to competition from Hertz and other car-rental companies, its ESOP came under financial stress.

2.   And Sharpton, Mason and Maddox came under fire for what critics said was a racially inflammatory, self-aggrandizing sprint to judgment.

3.   Another came under pressure from his law partners and from his wife, who threatened to divorce him.

4.   A team of the observers came under fire near here Friday as fighting continued sporadically.

5.   Careers were destroyed as one longtime agency officer after another came under suspicion.

6.   However, as Dole racked up wins in other states and Buchanan came under withering attacks for being too extreme, his popularity sank.

7.   It also got caught up in civil lawsuits, careened into Bankruptcy Court and came under criminal investigation, all the while attracting plenty of publicity.

8.   The potential swing votes came under intense lobbying pressure from technology-driven companies, among them Hewlett-Packard Co. and Intel Corp., and other interest groups.

9.   A Swedish businessman, whose multimillion-dollar pension came under fire, has lost his job as a spokesman for a U.N. program promoting ethical business practices.

10.   Also, Russian troops came under attack three times Monday in Chechnya, but no injuries were reported, Interfax said.