The World

10 ESSENTIAL STORIES

By Harriet Barovick, Ishaan Tharoor, Alexandra Silver, Claire Suddath, Frances Romero, Kayla Webley and Josh Sanburn Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

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    U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates met his Chinese counterpart in Hanoi on Oct. 11 in a bid to dial down growing tensions between two of the world's most powerful militaries. China froze defense links with the U.S. earlier this year after Washington agreed to a $6.4 billion arms deal with Taiwan, a traditional American ally that Beijing claims is a renegade province. In recent months, both sides have conducted naval exercises that were deemed provocative by the other.

    * | What They're Inspecting in Los Angeles: On Oct. 12, Los Angeles County adopted an ordinance that, if passed, would subject its 9,500 food-truck operators to the same A-B-C letter-grading system as traditional restaurants. Currently, mobile food trucks and carts are inspected at least once a year, but they do not receive a letter grade to display, making it more difficult for customers to know their official quality. The new rules will also require vendors to submit their street routes to allow for surprise inspections. Los Angeles is cited as the birthplace of the U.S. gourmet-food-truck boom.

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