Last week, that vision collided with the brutal realities of the Middle East — a swirl of allegations that Crown Prince Mohammed’s family ordered the murder of a Saudi journalist in Turkey. The ensuing furor has tarnished the future king’s reputation and left his conference in tatters, as foreign investors confront the dark side of his Arabian dreams. The grisly, if unconfirmed, reports about the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, have prompted a growing list of attendees and sponsors to bail out of the Riyadh meeting. By week’s end, The New York Times and every other major Western news media organization, except Fox Business Network, had canceled its participation. The chief executive of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, was the most dramatic withdrawal.

Source: New York Times October 13, 2018 16:27 UTC