1.   New York City Comptroller Alan Hevesi quietly dropped his controversial financial adviser amid intensifying political rivalry with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

2.   Oakley Inc. said it plans to start making athletic shoes, intensifying its rivalry with Nike Inc., which competes with Oakley in the market for premium sunglasses.

3.   Rugova refused, intensifying the rivalry.

4.   That reality has intensified a rivalry that has often been dormant.

5.   But India and Pakistan intensified their rivalry this month, conducting a series of tests of long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

6.   Looking ahead to South Carolina, where Forbes is not a factor, Bush and McCain intensified their rivalry with an exchange of bitterly personal ads.

7.   The disclosure intensified the rivalry between hard-line and moderate factions in the Islamic government.

8.   The revelation that staffers at the ministry were behind the killings intensified the rivalry between hard-line and moderate factions in the Islamic government.