1.   Now, six months after the Gulf crisis began, it is as though the world has solidified again.

2.   The crisis began with floods that covered one third of the countryside.

3.   The next few weeks brought more grim news, as the economic crisis began to deepen.

4.   It was the first time he had spoken to his father since the crisis began, although he had never lost him to sight, not for a moment.

5.   This process was initiated just as the economic crisis began to make itself felt in Spain.

6.   Amur Abdullah from Ilford in Essex is one of the first British adult hostages to be released from the country since the Gulf crisis began.

7.   Although Japanese officials say Hashimoto has called Fujimori regularly since the crisis began, a gap appeared between the leaders of the two countries last week.

8.   Although the South Korean won has lost nearly half its value against the dollar since the crisis began, prices of Korean products here have dropped only a little.

9.   And nearly a year after the crisis began, Asian nations were on the verge of still more destructive currency devaluations.

10.   Asian markets have been a minefield since the currency crisis began last summer.