Word: importance
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Europe: Before the European Union's ban on incandescent lightbulbs went into effect on Sept. 1, consumers across Europe raided stores to stockpile the familiar bulbs. Under the new rules, retailers can continue to sell what they have in stock but won't be able to buy or import more. The policy forces shoppers to switch to environmentally friendly compact fluorescent lamps, which use 80% less electricity. But fans of the traditional lights argue that the new bulbs don't glow as warmly--and that they cost more than twice as much...
China's border with Burma is a porous demarcation, with everything from tropical timber and rubies to heroin slipping across with little oversight. But August brought a more unusual Burmese import: thousands of Kokang hill-tribe members fleeing violence in their small enclave in Burma's northeastern Shan state. By late August, the U.N. estimated that some 30,000 refugees had poured across the border into China's Yunnan province, as the Burmese military routed a small rebel force that had laid down its arms for two decades before a cease-fire crumbled in early August...
Quitting khat would double the amount of household water available, says Klingler, but that may only slow the onset of crisis. The hydrologist argues that Yemen needs to revert to consuming only as much water as it collects from rains - and to import most of its food from abroad...
...people in the region is just one of many social changes that have been accelerated by travel, urbanization, education, democratization and, most of all, the explosion of information across every imaginable medium. This isn't simply Westernization - the old argument that homosexuality is yet another crass cultural import from the West has been all but discarded. But the Asian social institutions and beliefs that often stood in the way of tolerance - religious conservatism, intense emphasis on marriage and having children, cultural taboos against openly discussing sexuality - are weakening. In some parts of Asia, space is opening up for homosexuals...
...with no functional UC in place. Without the Finance Committee in session to process paperwork, many organizations have no choice but to stall business until their grant applications can be approved or denied. Similarly, student issues do not disappear from one year to the next, nor do they lack import during the first weeks of the year. While the UC president and vice president have a history of remaining on campus throughout the summer to maintain project momentum—often with great success—functionally dissolving the UC in May leaves them alone to represent an entire student...