Ritz-Carlton Crackdown Still Haunts the New Saudi Arabia - Bloomberg

Ritz-Carlton Crackdown Still Haunts the New Saudi Arabia - Bloomberg:

"The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh, where hundreds of rich and once-powerful Saudis were detained in what the government called an anti-corruption campaign, has been a hotel again for four months. Its legacy as a jail, though, runs deep in the new Saudi Arabia. Billionaires, royals and bureaucrats remain locked up, including Prince Turki bin Abdullah and former Economy Minister Adel Fakeih, a key architect of the kingdom’s transformation plan, according to associates. Some are now in the Al-Ha’er prison, a maximum-security facility south of the capital where many Islamic militants are incarcerated.  Those released had to promise to pay huge settlements, while some were banned from travel or required to wear ankle bracelets to monitor their whereabouts, according to their associates. The fate of those still being held is unknown, including the former head of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, Amr Al-Dabbagh, and Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi. "



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Oil steady as attention turns to potential supply hike | Reuters

Oil steady as attention turns to potential supply hike | Reuters:

"Oil prices steadied on Friday ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna next week as two of the world’s biggest producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia, indicated they were prepared to increase output.

Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 was down 20 cents at $75.74 a barrel by 0750 GMT, after falling 80 cents on Thursday. U.S. light crude CLc1 was 10 cents lower at $66.79.

Both contracts hit 3-1/2 year highs in May, but have since drifted lower as U.S. crude production has risen and as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other allies look poised to increase output in their meeting in the Austrian capital on June 22-23."



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