#decades-ago

#decades-ago

The killing of a powerful governor in Darfur, in western Sudan, has heightened worries that fighting between the country's warring military factions is pushing a region blighted by genocide two decades ago into a new ethnic civil war.Since April, Sudan's military has been battling the Rapid Support Forces, a well-armed paramilitary group that until recently was part of the national armed forces.

The message at an Arab-China business forum hosted by Saudi Arabia this week was not particularly subtle, as hundreds of Chinese officials and executives gathered beneath giant chandeliers, smiling for selfies and snacking on organic dates.If you want a trusted partner in the world one of the best partners in the world it's the People's Republic of China, Mohammed Abunayyan, the chairman of a Saudi renewable energy company, declared from the stage, to resounding applause.

Mild signs of a potential willingness to modernise have been observed in some of central London's establishment clubs in the past few weeks, led by the announcement that, after a wait of 166 years, women will finally be allowed to become members of Pratt's.The decision by the owner of Pratt's has been met mostly with resigned acceptance by the club's membership, which includes at least a dozen MPs, and has triggered renewed discussion of possible reform at the remaining hardcore handful of gentlemen's clubs that refuse to admit women.

Silvio Berlusconi may have polarized Italy during his decades in the media and political spotlight, but the initial reaction to his death at 86 on Monday was marked by unity and praise, even if sometimes grudging.Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose government included Mr. Berlusconi's party as a coalition partner, described him as one of the most influential men in Italian history.