1.   A discouraging sign was the dozens of fires eating through houses in a Serb and Gypsy neighborhood in Mitrovica.

2.   He added that German public opposition to abandoning the deutsche mark for a European currency is a discouraging sign.

3.   Sarcasm from the bench is almost always a discouraging sign.

4.   Yet, in a discouraging sign for its struggling neighbors, China is doing its best to keep the benefits to itself.

5.   He said the fact that the full delegations had not met since Wednesday morning should not be taken as a discouraging sign.