Turkey s links with Israel, for example, have been strained by Israeli investment in Kurdistan.

This constitutional mechanism has been strained by recent events.

Nowhere has this phenomenon been stronger than in Turkey, where those military escapades have strained the two countries strategic alliance almost to the breaking point.

Instead, relations have been strained by the continuing refusal of Australia s Labour Party government to sell uranium to energy starved India for its civilian nuclear program.

DAKAR The world economic downturn and financial market tremors have strained budgets across Africa.

Brotherly tempers started to get strained.

And, for nearly a decade, China has been urged to undertake reforms to redress these economic patterns, which have undermined the welfare of ordinary Chinese and strained the global trading system.

During his reign, relations with the British became increasingly strained.

However, the date coincided with a University of Texas American football team home game, which would have strained Austin's tourism infrastructure.

In fact, in many countries, the government s capacity is already strained.

We are aware that your heart is strained by what they say .

We are aware that your heart is strained by what they say .

During the reporting period, the political situation in the country remained strained.

Despite the signing of the treaty, relations between the two countries remained strained.

Those efforts have sometimes been strained by a lack of adequate international financing for relief efforts, at other times by adverse weather or Darfur's weak infrastructure, and often by security failures resulting from armed groups' lack of commitment to the ceasefire.

Despite the relatively costless overthrow of the Qaddafi regime, America s prolonged interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq have severely strained the public s tolerance for an active foreign policy.

The recent violence in Khartoum and Juba undoubtedly strained intercommunal relations in those two cities.

As a result, the existing law is here on strained terms with an established practice.

Given the two countries long strained relations, this visit would have been remarkable at any time. But coming as it does only one month after the alarming Russian Georgian confrontation, it may offer real hope that tensions in the volatile Caucasus region can be eased.

President Barack Obama recently journeyed to Moscow in order to reset strained United States Russian ties.

In some countries, debt servicing has strained valuable resources that could otherwise be channelled to development.

There is little doubt that the series of attacks on African individuals have disgraced India in front of the international community and has strained its ties with African countries.

This has been officially admitted, so why reopen the ghastly business now, at a time when rescinding the apology would make Japan s already strained relations with China and South Korea many times worse?

The idea that the world s largest economies are merely facing a short term panic looks increasingly strained.

There was patent gloating about the German defeat everywhere, only thinly disguised behind strained expressions of solidarity.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

Such deep theoretical conflicts have real world consequences, as they impede constructive debate and cooperative action in crisis situations. Fundamental ideological divisions over the 2003 Iraq war have strained global politics for more than a decade.

Such mass migration will severely hurt already strained social relations in some countries and lead to unpredictable consequences.

Nevertheless, the rapid pace of urbanization has strained the capacity of Governments to provide adequate services to urban dwellers and the number of persons living in slums has been rising, amounting to about 900 million today.

With all the attention devoted to strained transatlantic relations, it is easy to overlook how often our preoccupations overlap.

Malawi maintained close relations with South Africa throughout the Apartheid era, which strained Malawi's relationships with other African countries.

The Appeals Chamber is bound to be strained as trials are completed by both the ICTR and the ICTY.

Dipu Moni, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, said at a news conference in the capital, Dhaka, that Bangladesh did not have the capacity to accept refugees because the impoverished country s resources already are strained.

Relations with the United States were strained in mid 2006 when Iraq criticized Israeli attacks on Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

It should be noted by way of context that political relations between the two countries were seriously strained at that time.

Until such changes occur, many challenges will fall through the cracks that exist between a strained Pax Americana and a rebalancing world.

The US Turkish partnership, badly strained by the war in Iraq, was reinvigorated by President Barack Obama s visit to Turkey in June.

A giant crane strained to lift a 12 foot high slab, yanking it back and forth like some dinosaur gnawing its prey.

Strained political relations among most of Asia s sub regions make a region wide security structure or more effective resource cooperation difficult to achieve.

The quality of mercy is not strained that is, constrained, or obligatory she tells Shylock, but rather something that falls freely, like rain.

She spoke of the strained relations between the Cayman Islands and the administering Power and of the ever increasing disparity of their interests.

Despite such differences, either would carry out policies closer to those of Bush s second term than his first. With a strained military and a struggling economy, the next president will often have little choice other than to talk.

At the Phi Phi Hill Resort, I was tucked into the corner furthest away from the television, but I strained to listen for information.

But today, the European Union is stymied by having squandered the chance to build stronger institutions when times were better and tempers less strained.

His attack on the legislation, which continued unremittingly throughout May and into June and July, further strained his already tense relationship with the government.