Saudi 'Davos in the desert' opens with region on war footing 

General view of the venue as Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud attends the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Oct. 29, 2024.

Global business leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a glitzy investor forum as conflict shakes the region and skepticism mounts over the Gulf kingdom's most ambitious development projects.