Neom City

Andy Wirth and Tony Harris moved halfway across the world to help build Neom: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s futuristic new city in the Saudi desert. But what they found wasn’t the desert utopia of Neom’s marketing. Instead, they found a project bleeding cash, led by a screaming CEO, where very little was actually being built.  WSJ’s Rory Jones and Eliot Brown explain how Neom fell years behind schedule – and went billions of dollars over-budget – thanks to a culture of runaway spending and never telling the boss “no.” Hosted by Ryan Knutson.  Further Listening: - Neom, Pt 1: Skiing in the Desert  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President-elect Donald Trump's unconventional picks for his second-term team signal a shift in U.S. foreign policy. A jury awarded $42 million to three Iraqi men tortured at Abu Ghraib, holding a military contractor accountable for its role in their abuse. And, as the Trump administration signals rollbacks on climate action, the UK is stepping up with ambitious plans to combat global warming.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Megan Pratz, Lauren Migaki, Neela Banerjee, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Julie Depenbrock.
We get engineering support from Robert Rodriguez.
Our technical director is Zac Coleman.

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The PGA Tour wanted nothing to do with a rival Saudi-funded golf tour, but like Silicon Valley and the White House, it couldn’t resist the Kingdom’s influence. A sports guy (Rick Maese of the Washington Post) and a foreign policy guy (Jonathan Guyer of Vox) explain. This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Michael Raphael, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. Read more: How Saudi money returned to Silicon Valley (Vox) Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ten years ago, a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire and set off a revolution across the Middle East and North Africa. The Independent’s Borzou Daragahi says the Arab Spring never ended. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did Mohammed Bin Salman hack Jeff Bezos? Recode’s Peter Kafka returns with an update and Kara Swisher explains Saudi Arabia's impunity in the tech world. (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the moment he was named the country’s day-to-day leader, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia has disappointed the United States over and over again. Yet the Trump White House hasn’t let go of him. Guest: Mark Landler, who covers the White House for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

President Trump abruptly canceled on Thursday the highly anticipated summit meeting with Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, that was scheduled to take place on June 12. In a letter to Mr. Kim announcing his decision, Mr. Trump wrote, “The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace.” Guest: Mark Landler, who covers the White House for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

John R. Bolton, President Trump’s new national security adviser, has said that negotiations with North Korea should follow “the Libya model.” Now, North Korea is threatening to call off the planned summit meeting with Mr. Trump. What risks does the Libya model hold for Kim Jong-un? Guest: Mark Landler, a White House correspondent for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.