1.   A government spokesman described the rise in inflation as a temporary blip.

2.   Yasuo Fukuda, the government spokesman, yesterday denied that the government planned any measures to offset this problem.

3.   A government spokesman announced that the hostages had been released.

4.   A South Korean government spokesman described the preconditions as absolutely preposterous and unacceptable.

5.   The reports were denied by a government spokesman.

6.   A government spokesman declined to comment upon reports linking the resignation with the Ursus bankruptcy.

7.   A government spokesman in Germany said that the agreement represented a positive impulse in the present critical phase.

8.   A Hungarian government spokesman has warned that they would probably be killed at the airport if they were returned to Mongolia.

9.   The number of cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy among cattle has continued to rise, despite repeated assurances from government spokesmen that the disease would soon decline.

10.   A government spokesman refused to comment on the report, but Mr Patten denied that he had presented Beijing with an ultimatum.