1.  A hostile offer by another bidder probably would block such approval, although the companies might be able to restructure the deal as a purchase to avoid shareholder votes.

2.  A number of such groups sent a letter to President Clinton on Tuesday urging that he block approval.

3.  But construction has been repeatedly delayed by elitist groups employing legal minutiae and narrow concepts of architectural purity to block final approval of the project.

4.  But Democrats in the Senate who oppose the education provision could block Senate approval.

5.  Earlier this month, Berlex filed suit against the FDA, trying to block the approval of Avonex.

6.  However, it was the Republican-controlled Legislature, not Democratic lawmakers, that blocked approval of her plan earlier this year.

7.  It is dutifully, then, that the Senate leadership is blocking approval of a qualified gay as ambassador to Luxembourg.

8.  Now he threatens to sabotage open trade -- by blocking approval of the international trade accord the Clinton administration signed last April in Marrakesh, Morocco.

9.  Now the Democrats want the same authority to block approval of what they consider to be conservative ideologues.

10.  On-site storage is necessary because environmental concerns have blocked approval of a federal storage site in Nevada.