Word: importance
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...dance over the prison sentences awarded to two leading film stars, Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan. Serious news anchors have weighed in on what a calamity the prison terms will be for the actors, their families, the film industry and the nation at large, while stories with perhaps more import - the possibility the government could collapse because of the controversial U.S.-India nuclear deal, sa, or terrorist bombings in the southern city of Hyderabad - have been relegated to second or third slot in the lineup. It's a bit reminiscent of another big democracy's obsession with movie stars...
...cities. Inflation is not just a domestic concern, either. Because China supplies so much of the world's manufactured goods, higher costs on the mainland tend to show up on store shelves at Wal-Mart and other major retailers around the world. The U.S. Commerce Department says prices for imports from China rose at a 4.1% annual rate during the first half of 2007. That was the fastest pace since the U.S. began tracking Chinese import prices in 2003, and was well above the current U.S. inflation rate of about...
...city has slowly usurped Kobe, Japan, as Asia's leading pearl trading post, helped in part by a red-tide disease that destroyed most of Japan's major pearl farms in the 1990s. Hong Kong also enjoys its proximity to China's pearl farms, and the absence of import taxes. Annual trade shows now not only bring buyers from around the globe for China's freshwater jewels, but also auctions for the products of the world's largest saltwater producers, Australia's Paspaley and Tahiti's Robert Wang. Hong Kong is now the world's fourth largest exporter of fine...
...economic stress felt by the majority of Iranians. The sharpest indicator of their potential to spark unrest came in recent riots at gas stations in many parts of Iran, following the regime's move to ration gasoline to prepare for the still distant possibility of sanctions on its import. (Although Iran is one of the world's largest oil exporters, its own refining capacity is so poor that it is forced to import gasoline.) Tehran would obviously also prefer to avoid a frontal confrontation with the vastly technologically superior U.S. military. So, the U.S. and its allies are not without...
...government is not responsible for imported products; the companies that import them are. If a firm buys the cheapest products and imports them to the U.S., the firm should place its honesty and reputation on the line. If a company sells a questionable product, it should be held responsible in court, and any risk to the public should be prosecuted quickly. Our safety is in the courts, not in a governmental agency. George Tyler, Delton, Michigan...