Saudi Arabia is serious about building Neom, a futiristic "Line city" across the desert 105 miles long: the country's armed forces are permitted to kill anyone getting in the way and have already begun doing so. The whistleblower is a Saudi Colonel who defected to the U.K.
Col Rabih Alenezi says he was ordered to evict villagers from a tribe in the Gulf state to make way for The Line, part of the Neom eco-project. One of them was subsequently shot and killed for protesting against eviction. The Saudi government and Neom management refused to comment. Neom, Saudi Arabia's $500bn (£399bn) eco-region, is part of its Saudi Vision 2030 strategy which aims to diversify the kingdom's economy away from oil.
Hey, it's a lot of money for the western contractors helping to build it.
