But the Indonesian press is tightly controlled, particularly on issues regarding the President, and the official assurances did little to calm the public.

Most of us civilians accepted the official assurances that some part of Burma would be held, and so we stayed put.

Despite official assurances that the agreement will hold, some are against it.

"France has always supposed so," was the somewhat dazed answer, "but has never received an official assurance."

In Spain, few consumers seemed inclined to listen to official assurances that the one instance of the disease reported there was an "isolated" case.

Despite official assurances, there were doubts that this schedule would be met.

Despite official assurances that this was the only Ike-related death in the area, rumors spread that large numbers of people died during the storm.

That is precisely what happened in the past when the Chinese authorities gave an official assurance to that effect.

That has created widespread skepticism about air bags despite official assurances that they are an effective safety device.

As a result, despite official Japanese assurances that no big bank would be allowed to fail, one did in the fall.