Word: africas
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Born as a low-pressure trough off the coast of Africa, fed by a combination of heat, moisture and atmospheric instability, Gilbert grew in size and force as it moved westward across the Atlantic. On Saturday, Sept. 10, about 225 miles southeast of the Dominican Republic, it was officially designated a hurricane when its winds exceeded the required 74 m.p.h. It sideswiped Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Sunday before reaching a raging fury over Jamaica on Monday. In Kingston the sky darkened and turned slate blue, as winds tore into the unprotected tropical island. Streets became rivers...
...tragedy came amid a week of turmoil -- and a few gestures of amity -- in strife-prone southern Africa, a region of guerrilla conflicts and racial hostilities. John Paul had arrived in Lesotho via a circuitous route. Bad weather forced his chartered Air Zimbabwe jet to veer from Maseru and land at Jan Smuts Airport in Johannesburg. The unscheduled stop was a public relations windfall for South Africa, which had been pointedly excluded from the Pope's five-nation tour. While John Paul did not kiss the ground at the airport, as is his custom on first visiting a country...
Botha ordered 100 lunches and several bottles of South African wine for the papal entourage and settled back to discuss the latest developments in southern Africa. While he and the Pope chatted, government officials hastily arranged for a motorcade to take the papal party on the 300-mile journey to Lesotho, a black-ruled kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa. "We consider it a privilege to assist the Holy Father," said an obviously elated Botha. "We are known for our hospitality...
Just miles from the airport, an embarrassing standoff was unfolding between the government and three antiapartheid leaders who escaped from custody earlier in the week. The three, who were being held without trial under South Africa's 27-month-old state-of-emergency laws, slipped away from guards while receiving physical therapy at Johannesburg Hospital. After making their way across the city, they took refuge in the U.S. consulate on the eleventh floor of the bustling Kine Center, a popular shopping and office complex...
Botha also pledged South Africa's help in restarting Mozambique's giant Cahora Bassa hydroelectric-power dam project, whose transmission lines have been repeatedly sabotaged by the Renamo insurgents since the facility was built in 1975. That promise showed both neighborliness and self-interest, since the dam's chief customer will be South Africa. Altogether, the encounter may have reflected a new willingness on the part of Pretoria to pursue conciliatory policies toward its black neighbors abroad while continuing to crack down on opponents of apartheid at home...