This blow comes hard on the heels of a decision by the Labour Party to drop legal efforts to oust Pat Lally from his job as Lord Provost (Lord Mayor) of Glasgow council, and end action against other council members who were accused by an internal Labour inquiry of abusing their positions.
The lack of supporting testimony -- and the existence of contrary testimony -- will be a hard blow to England's attempted defense.
But it would be a blow to the hard-core European supporters who descend in droves on circuits like Monte Carlo throughout the season.
The jail sentence dealt Mr Anwar's political career a particularly hard blow, since it prevents him from holding office for five years after his release.
Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said the raids had dealt "a hard blow to the most powerful and ruthless Italian criminal organisation, " French news agency AFP reported.
U.S. allies in the region already "struggle with their populations' perceptions that they are merely instruments of the U.S. government and do not have their citizens' best interests at heart, " and releasing the images "would likely deal a particularly hard blow" to American efforts in those countries, he stated.
This makes it hard to blow the whistle on corrupt officials, because the bribe-giver has also broken the law.
"Someone is trying very hard to blow this crisis up, " he said.
The Mediterranean has suffered a triple blow: low-tech industries hit hard by globalisation, cost competition from ex-communist members of the EU and the loss of their habitual escape valves of inflation and devaluation.
"If it's not really hard, if it might not blow up, it's not for us, " says Weeks.
Talk about hard water, but these bottles will blow holes in walls (as you can see in the video).
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After a hard day's work, many Sydney locals blow off steam at pub trivia, a popular group activity where the prizes can be substantial.
Which is, of course, at least as hard as predicting which way the wind is going to blow.
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It is also a blow to the Women's Tennis Association, which has worked hard to introduce incentives and regulations to reduce the number of withdrawals from its events.
"Losing Amjad for 2007 is a significant blow for the county but we must now focus our attention on working hard with Amjad on his rehabilitation so that he can return to full form and fitness as soon as possible, " chief executive Paul Millman said.
BBC: SPORT | Cricket | Counties | Kent | Kent paceman set for long absence
However, the early goal was a huge blow to what is clearly still a side with brittle confidence and whilst they battled hard they never recovered from falling behind.
Those firms are working hard to strip down their cost bases by shedding employees and minimising the risk of trading blow-ups over the next year.
The auto industry has fought hard to curb an increase in fuel economy standards, and the Senate bill is considered a blow to automakers.
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