Oil edges up after Israel strikes Gaza, while truce talks continue

Oil prices ticked up early on Tuesday after Israel struck Rafah in Gaza while negotiations for a ceasefire with Hamas continued without resolution. Brent crude futures were up 46 cents, or 0.55%, at $83.79 per barrel at 0010 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 46 cents, or 0.59%, to $78.94 a … Read more

BlackRock to open a Saudi investment firm with $5 billion from PIF

The BlackRock logo is displayed at the company’s headquarters in New York City on Nov. 14, 2022. Leonardo Munoz | Getty Images Asset manager BlackRock will launch an investment platform in Riyadh with the help of a $5 billion anchor investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. The announcement … Read more

Saudi Arabia says all NEOM megaprojects will go ahead as planned

Saudi Arabia’s economy minister rejected recent reports that the kingdom’s $1.5 trillion NEOM megaproject, a futuristic desert development on the Red Sea coast, is scaling back some of its plans. “All projects are moving full steam ahead,” Faisal Al Ibrahim told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Monday at the World Economic Forum’s special meeting in Riyadh. … Read more

Saudi Arabia’s first alcohol store aims to tackle booze smuggling

Saudi Arabia’s first alcohol store has opened in the diplomatic quarter of its capital Riyadh, accessible to non-Muslim diplomats.  While it only affects a select group, it’s a big change for the highly conservative Muslim kingdom, where alcohol has been banned since 1952 after a Saudi prince murdered a British diplomat in a drunken rage. … Read more

Saudi Arabia opens first-ever alcohol store, accessible to a select group

Spirits on display in a UK bar in Cardiff, United Kingdom. Matthew Horwood | Getty Images News | Getty Images Saudi Arabia has opened its first alcohol store in the diplomatic quarter of its capital Riyadh, two sources told CNBC. The news, which has not been officially confirmed by the Saudi government, marks a major … Read more