Saudi lands USD 50 bn worth of new projects at investment conference despite boycott: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman secured USD 50 bn worth of new investment yesterday on the opening day of his ‘Davos in the Desert’ conference, according to Reuters. Those include 25 new oil and gas agreements with players such as Total, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Total, where Saudi Aramco signed 15 MoUs worth USD 34 bn. This came despite the fact that top global executives and officials boycotting the three-day conference in light of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.

Are US sanctions in the offing for Saudi? The US gas revoked visas for the 21 suspects and promised this would “not be the last word on this matter.” President Donald Trump said that he would have Congress decide “how best to punish the kingdom for the killing inside its Istanbul consulate,” referring to the incident as the “worst [coverup] in the history of coverups.’”