The move, which took place against the backdrop of reforms being brought in by Mikhail Gorbachev, was characterised as a cosmetic gesture aimed to create the illusion of change rather than a Bulgarian version of glasnost and perestroika.

Does that mean bike riders are going to be driven out of the city in another cosmetic gesture?

You see, by trying to deal with the problem with surface, cosmetic gestures without acknowledging to themselves the real issues, they've actually made things worse instead of better.

The Reagan Administration minimized three announcements by the Nicaraguan Government as "cosmetic gestures of compliance" with a Central American peace plan.

Was the original sale of Osama's shares just a ruse, these lawyers wonder-perhaps a cosmetic gesture to deflect American scrutiny of Osama's fortune?

The Reagan Administration today dismissed the Nicaraguan Government's announcements that it would allow the reopening of opposition newspapers and radio stations, calling them "cosmetic gestures of compliance" with a Central American peace plan.

Hence, the State Department last week dismissed Nicaragua's steps as "cosmetic gestures."

She added, "Even in the last two weeks, even as he made cosmetic gestures in the direction of compliance, his forces committed some of the worst atrocities of the war."

The Belarusian authorities have made some progress, which is commendable, but we hope that they will initiate a process of democratisation and not simply make some temporary cosmetic gesture.

All right, they've made a cosmetic gesture on AIDS drugs.