Word: hapless
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...week of demonstrations, riots and arson, residents had demanded that they be allowed to vote next month in South Africa's first all-race elections. Before bending at last to their demands, a desperate Mangope invited the hapless cross-border incursion from South Africa by thousands of armed white extremists. Expecting to fight the first great battle of a racial war, they careered down roads with guns firing, leaving as many as 12 dead...
Washington -- Retired U.S. Admiral JONATHAN HOWE, the United Nations' special representative in Somalia, has been quietly pulled out of that country by U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Howe headed last year's hapless effort to catch Somali strongman Mohammed Farrah Aidid, and even offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to his capture. At the time, Boutros- Ghali vigorously condemned Aidid and called for him to be brought to justice. Nonetheless, U.N. sources say, since Aidid is now considered a key part of peace negotiations, Boutros-Ghali has decided that Howe's continued presence in Somalia would only...
...seafood processing plant, the hapless summer employee could en up with one of the following work experiences: cleaning fish, butchering live crab or frozen fish for market, using a high pressure hose spray or offloading fish from tenders...
...their devouring egos and overweening eccentricities -- not to mention the outrageous quirks of arrogant male singers, especially tenors. But Battle is, according to many who have worked with her, impossible. Fussy, erratic and arbitrary, the headstrong soprano has infuriated colleagues and administrators and crossed swords with functionaries and hapless hoteliers across the globe. The cast of The Daughter of the Regiment applauded when it was told during rehearsal that Battle had been fired...
...depressing as life at 219 North Keystone was, equally alarming was the response from officials who sounded no less hapless than Melton. "You wonder first of all about their parents," said Mayor Richard Daley, who apparently had no trouble casting the first stone. "But how about their neighbors . . . Where are they? Why didn't they come forward?" the Illinois department of children and family services (dcfs) confirmed that it had received complaints on behalf of the children at 219 three times starting on Nov. 20 but had allowed its field workers to be turned away at the door...