For startups, a contract with a Saudi megaproject like Neom's The Line can be game changing.

But — behind the dollar signs — human rights concerns over the project mean tough questions for the companies that choose to work with it.

More: sifted.eu/articles/europ…

🎟️ NEW: Next Tuesday, we've got a workshop all about how to investigate companies' finances with @siftedeu senior reporter Freya Pratty. We'll cover how to find company records & what to look for, confidentiality, cultivating sources, legalities & more. 🔗 tickettailor.com/events/journor…

🚗 Cazoo in administration — so what went wrong?

'The worst timed IPO in history', a $630m debt burden sitting on the stock and a business model many questioned.

A piece we wrote last year on the company's woes:
sifted.eu/articles/cazoo…

🎧Last week I joined Prashant Rao and Richard Delevan is delevan.bsky.social to discuss, among other things, my reporting from the UAE and climate tech deployment in the Gulf. Listen here👇
news.wickedproblems.uk/p/climateweek-…

Here it is: leaked Dubai property data lifts the veil on how criminals, politicians, and sanctioned people have taken advantage of lax regulations to pour huge sums into the city's villas and high rises #DubaiUnlocked with Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project occrp.org/en/dubai-unloc…

Telegram has launched a pretty intense campaign to malign Signal as insecure, with assistance from Elon Musk. The goal seems to be to get activists to switch away from encrypted Signal to mostly-unencrypted Telegram. I want to talk about this a bit. 1/

Latest dispatch from the UAE: hoards of European VCs are hunting for Gulf investors.

'Any fund that tells you that they're not raising from here, it’s because they didn't manage; it’s not because they haven’t tried,' says one. sifted.eu/articles/europ…

Saudi forces were ‘licensed to kill’ to evict villagers for NEOM - the futuristic, eco-city - an ex-intelligence officer told us.

We spoke to former execs who called it a climate disaster and a UK company who pulled out of a £100m contract in The Line.

bbc.co.uk/news/world-mid…

I've been travelling around the UAE meeting the European climate techs heading to the country.

Can the region's rush to adopt environment hacking tech at scale make a difference, as it continues to pump out large amounts of oil and gas? 👇
sifted.eu/articles/europ…

UK Gov has told Deliveroo and Uber Eats to make direct checks on riders’ immigration status.

IWGB union says the gov's claims — that migrants are undercutting wages and risking public safety — are scapegoating:

on.ft.com/3UIAEti

Thousands of job losses expected as Getir quits Europe and US:

sifted.eu/articles/getir…

Inside Opus: a “highly vetted network of rising leaders” launched in London but — as the lure of the Gulf grows — now setting up in Dubai (with the backing of Princess Beatrice 💎 and the UK gov)

sifted.eu/articles/opus-…

🫠

Iraqi father in legal first against BP over son's death bbc.in/3QeFE60

I'm in the UAE for the next few weeks to report on European tech companies' relationship with the country and wider region.

✉ If anyone's based in Dubai or Abu Dhabi; has thoughts on the Europe-Gulf relationship; or tips on things to cover please get in touch: [email protected]

😶

'At its heart, greenwashing is about wasting time, time that we can never get back'

Ben Franta at #ijf24

An investigative journalism venture - coordinating with an investment firm - is using market forces against a company trying to reopen an oil pipeline off Santa Barbara: HUNTERBROOK hntrbrk.com/sable/