The incident underscored the depth of racial and ethnic animosities that torment Russia, something Mr. Putin emphasized in unusually stark terms during his hourlong meeting today with Ms. Sapunova.

Some intellectual property scholars say that "The Wind Done Gone" has the makings of a legal landmark because it raises in unusually stark terms the inherent conflict between intellectual property rights and freedom of expression.

The case is an unusually stark example of a claim that has been made from Connecticut to California: when elected officials sit on government pension boards, investment decisions can be tainted by campaign contributions.

His comments came during an unusually stark assessment of his tenure at the department and reflected his frustration with the city's failure to address a growing problem.

LOS ANGELES - If the Sundance Film Festival is a mirror of America, this year's installment depicts an unusually stark image of a broken place filled with broken people.

Mr. Neiss's suit provides an unusually stark picture of executives' going to great lengths to get their workers to give to what is billed as "The President's Dinner."

I would tell them that while the contrasts between the towns seem unusually stark, they are, I believe, typical of how most of us live: physically and spiritually isolated from one another.

As she describes it, her moral plight was unusually stark.

The candidates are presenting voters with an unusually stark choice over the kind of people they would select as federal judges.

The Pope's unusually stark imagery and unequivocal insistence on minority rights and religious freedoms in the predominantly Muslim Sudan evoked centuries of conflict between Christians and Muslims in this region.