Russia s persistence in its self defeating occupation is surprising.

Unsurprisingly, the young are the most estranged.

Cynthia Schneider The surprising spread of Idol TV

This may seem surprising.

In this, surprisingly, there have been marked improvements in recent years.

It beggars belief that China and India are not members of the G 7.

Not surprisingly, my party is now seeking to return to power in the next election.

But that surprise was wrong headed from the start.

Yet, even if the promise is kept, will the benefit outweigh the cost? Curiously, but not surprisingly, this is not discussed very much.

Thus, the high variations among the different regions should not be a surprise since answering negatively to one question would imply 50 per cent off the total possible score.

Indeed, the share of government in employment in Scandinavia is surprising.

Most people are surprised to learn that rigorous application of formal rules of evidence to evaluate medical research and decide on the best treatments is a recent phenomenon. They might be just as surprised to learn that health policy is not yet subject to the same approach.

More strikingly, some of our hopes for a new social order also crashed against the rocks of the new rules of the game.

Not surprisingly, accession untied politicians' hands, and conflicts came to the fore.

Christianity is also growing in odd ways and in surprising places.

This phenomenon comes as no surprise to economists.

It's evoking a kind of sense of wonder, and I certainly want to understand more of this.

They are astonished at the openness of spirit of persons coming from very precarious lives.

Not surprisingly, Bush s new rhetoric stresses that he has a strategy for victory.

When I told the group that I had begun my career as a magazine fact checker, several of them grew misty eyed, as if someone had told a group of priests about his childhood as an altar boy.

And, unsurprisingly, the lack of solidarity among water haves and have nots was openly on display at the Forum.

The Government of Malawi is therefore puzzled that the Republic of China (Taiwan), which took a similar political decision, is denied membership in the United Nations.

Since his sweeping re election, he has been surprisingly modest and magnanimous.

But the reception given to the Chernobyl Forum s message has been surprisingly mixed.

Most astonishing of all is the complete reinterpretation of the African Union (AU) summit.

That did not mean that support tasks were no longer needed on the contrary, a whole new range of demands had emerged.

This is astonishing, given that highly respected, influential figures and political parties have been speaking for the opposition at international gatherings.

In the nineteenth century, this situation would not have been surprising, given low average income, widespread poverty, and lack of social security.

Typically enough, no EU country has mentioned Taiwan as a reason not to resume arms exports.

Surprisingly, for such an extensive, cynically efficient cluster of humanity, the city displayed surprising civility and solidarity during and after the attacks.

Even on marriage, many Saudis expressed surprisingly liberal views.

But look at the Doha agenda with a more detached set of eyes, and you wonder what all the fuss is about.

Given dysfunctional US fiscal policy, the dollar s resilience is surprising.

It is amazing how important contextual information is to accomplishing tasks especially the boring ones!

They could be communist, they could be liberal, they could be fascist or Islamic.

FRANKFURT On a recent trip to Germany, I was struck by two distinct narratives.

Narratives increasingly conflict and in an astonishingly open and unsettling way.

The rise of Shafiq is explainable in some areas, but raised eyebrows in others.

Most people are surprised to learn that rigorous application of formal rules of evidence to evaluate medical research and decide on the best treatments is a recent phenomenon.

I don't want revenge, but between my sadness over innocent people and friends, I don't have the ability to feel sad for a checkpoint, or for state institutions or for murderers. I am still trying to feel surprised at feeling sadness over the loss of innocents. I am unable to feel sadness for murderers who are killed, despite strongly believing that peace is the solution for this world.

What is surprising in retrospect is how wildly inaccurate Western assessments of Soviet power were.

To some extent, it is surprising that the Islamist parties did not do better, considering their success elsewhere in mobilizing the most marginalized and vulnerable in society.

According to the author, this decision is surprising bearing in mind that no application had been made for custody in favour of the grandparents, the father having sought custody for himself.

In that sense, what was surprising about Bush s re election was how thin his majority was.

Would you rather be fat and ugly or thin and sexy?