Despite ongoing financial difficulties hindering the development of Neom, Saudi authorities are pushing on with a highly sensitive part of the megacity in the utmost secrecy. The plan is to create a vast air defence system for the territory in the north-west of the kingdom.
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Corporate Intel French start-up Comand AI is co-developing a military data fusion platform with Ukraine's specialist in the field, Griselda. The Franco-Ukrainian alliance could prove strategic for the field of military artificial intelligence.
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Cybersecurity A Public Investment Fund's probe completed last spring found evidence of financial trickery and over-spending at Neom. In response, the Saudi government has decided to enlist the support of outside investigators in the region. Sources close to the work say the true scale of spending on Western firms is much larger than has been reported.
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The French foreign ministry is putting together the team that will soon move into its reopened embassy in Damascus to begin work with Syria's new rulers. The Kurdish issue has not been forgotten.
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Back-door diplomacy The Office of the Director of National Intelligence remains committed to releasing its findings on the hidden wealth of Chinese leaders. But with the US president planning to meet Xi Jinping shortly, the report's publication poses a dilemma for the White House and will test its relationship with the spy agencies.
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Back-door diplomacy 
