It felt as if a rope had been wound around his forehead and was being steadily tightened.

President Vladimir Putin has steadily tightened his grip on the news media here since taking office in 2000.

But Beijing has steadily tightened its grip on Hong Kong since it reverted to China in 1997.

Mr. Milosevic has steadily tightened his grip on Serbia, boasting that his was "the policy of the hard hand."

Since then, the Government has steadily tightened the screws on dissent.

Since becoming president, Mr. Chávez has steadily tightened his hold on power.

But since the Balkan wars of the 1990s, Germany, like most European countries, has steadily tightened its criteria for political asylum.

"In the absence of international pressure, China has steadily tightened the noose on all forms of dissident activity," said the group, which opposed the Clinton decision.

Since 1990 the law has been steadily tightened to limit the number of immigrants each year.

Modesty had steadily tightened her grip on R-section since that first day.