Word: precious
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...addition to that speculation, there were renewed worries that the war might yet cause massive disruption In world oil supplies. Both Iraq and Iran have seen their precious refineries in flames, a spectacle that horrified countries as diverse as Brazil, India, France and Japan, which relied on Iraq for a significant portion of their imports. So far, the squeeze on most other importers has been minimal. The U.S. and 19 other member nations of the International Energy Agency hold estimated reserves equaling a 150-day supply of imports. Also, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are partly compensating...
...agreed-a decision he will never regret. Plumbing the waters around the West Indies, Gasque, 30, and Frick, 46, have discovered two 19th century ships, about $250,000 in gold, Ming dynasty china and pearls, and a seemingly worthless old wreck that may turn out to be the most precious find of all. The ship, discovered two years ago in 30 ft. of clear water 60 miles north of Haiti, is, according to a growing number of scholars, Christopher Columbus' Pinta, sister ship to the Nina and the flagship Santa Maria, which is believed to have sunk...
...Russo-Japanese war, sank 20 of the 38 czarist warships that participated in the battle of the Sea of Japan. The echoes still reverberate. Spurred anew by an old tale that Czar Nicholas II's sunken fleet had been carrying a fortune in gold and other precious metals, a team of divers six months ago reached the 8,524-ton Russian cruiser Admiral Nakhimov, in 314 ft. of water 5.5 miles off Tsushima Island, in an area between South Korea and Japan that lies well within Japanese territorial waters. They surfaced with a dull silver, footlong, 22-lb. ingot...
...also a fact that food and fuel supplies were running short in some Iraqi cities. The nightly blackouts made a flashlight a precious commodity. Baghdad experienced repeated power failures as a result of the Iranian bombings. Said a doctor in Basra: "Last week our lives were not too affected, and most people thought of this as a just and honorable war that was even kind of exhilarating. Now we are starting to find out about the hard times it can bring...
There are some interesting precious objects: a massive torque of twisted gold, brooches and harness mounts ornamented with serpentine, imbricated motifs; some large and striking ornamental pins. Clearly, the best Viking goldsmiths could stand comparison with their Byzantine or Inca counterparts. But such works are in the minority, and despite the extreme rarity of Viking artifacts and their obvious significance as historical fragments, one is left wondering why the Met devoted so much space to this show. -By Robert Hughes