This was the first time he finished as highest placed French rider at the Tour and it fueled hopes that he could win the race some day.

The crafts' radioactive power sources are still producing electrical energy, fueling hopes of locating the solar system's heliopause.

Those statistics fueled faint hopes that the scheduled elections could somehow reignite the fervor of the anti-Noriega coalition, which last year regularly turned out thousands of demonstrators.

With fewer than 50 days left until Election Day, as many as 40 House and 10 Senate seats are in play, fueling Democratic hopes of capturing power in November.

Fears of terrorism notwithstanding, more American students are expected to study abroad this year than ever, fueling campus-based hopes of a generation with a truly global perspective.

That decision has fueled hopes by the opponents of advertising that new restrictions are possible.

Members of both parties said that the Democrats seemed likely to retain or increase their control in the Senate, largely because of the same national forces that are fueling Democratic hopes in the House.

Still, this is the furthest any peace deal has come, fueling hopes that one of Africa's most grotesque and bizarre wars, which cost tens of thousands of lives, may finally be over.

A report in the news media said that two companies were independently trying to buy the aluminum company, which fueled hopes for a pickup in takeover activity.

The meeting between Mr. Lien and Mr. Hu on Friday fueled hopes that a broader rapprochement might be in the offing.