Inside the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton: A well-reported piece by New York Times, including former Egypt hands Ben Hubbard and David Kirkpatrick, looks at Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s November “anti-corruption” drive, a topic into which few Western media outlets have taken a deep dive.

“Businessmen once considered giants of the Saudi economy now wear ankle bracelets that track their movements. Princes who led military forces and appeared in glossy magazines are monitored by guards they do not command. Families who flew on private jets cannot gain access to their bank accounts. Even wives and children have been forbidden to travel. … This large sector of Saudi Arabia’s movers and shakers are living in fear and uncertainty. During months of captivity, many were subject to coercion and physical abuse, witnesses said. … the opaque and extralegal nature of the campaign has rattled the very foreign investors the prince is now trying to woo.”

Next in your reading queue: Nicholas Parasie and Egypt’s Summer Said write for the Wall Street Journal that MbS’ decision-making power reaches deep into companies, noting that since the November crackdown, “the government has quietly taken control of the country’s largest construction company, Saudi Binladin Group, and the Middle East’s biggest private broadcaster, MBC Group, people familiar with the takeover said. It is now assuming veto power over investment decisions by the kingdom’s most colorful business personality, Prince al-Waleed bin Talal.”