News Trump threatens Fed chair with criminal investigation over $2.5bn renovation Jerome Powell, chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve – the body that sets interest rates in the US – has hit back at threats of criminal…
News ‘Massive upgrade’ underway at British High Commission in Cyprus Work has started on the new British High Commission offices at its existing site in Nicosia, Cyprus’ capital, with Cypriot company Atlas Pantou acting as main contractor. The Commission described…
Trends Big changes to payment rules in Hong Kong: 5 things to know From fast-track adjudication to no more pay-when-paid, Hong Kong is serious about keeping cash flowing in construction, but there are pitfalls for contractors. The Construction Industry Security of Payment Ordinance…
News US shutdown will hurt construction, contractors warn Employers’ group the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) has warned that the US federal government shutdown, now in its 13th day, could undermine construction projects across the country. It…
News Aecom, Clark lead Trump’s $200m White House ballroom revamp Donald Trump’s White House says it will build a standalone, 90,000-sq-ft ballroom able to accommodate 650 people, replacing the current 200-capacity venue situated in the White House’s East Room. Clark…
News India tightens rules on project lending amid big defaults India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has said it will require lenders to keep money in reserve equal to 1% of the value of loans given to…
News Belgium’s parliament votes overwhelmingly for nuclear U-turn Belgium’s parliament voted overwhelmingly last week in favour of a bill that reverses a law enacted 22 years ago that mandated an end to nuclear power generation, Brussels Times reports.…
News Denmark to probe benefits of small nuclear reactors Forty years after the Danish parliament banned the building of nuclear power plants, Denmark is interested again. Its energy minister Lars Aagaard told newspaper Politiken that the government would assess…
News Vietnam revives million-home pledge with mass housing contract The Vietnamese government has picked Hanoi-based conglomerate Vingroup to build 500,000 affordable housing units, half of the million units the government promised by 2030 four years ago. In 2023 it…
News ‘Fiscal bazooka’: Germany approves €500bn infrastructure fund Germany’s parliament the Bundestag yesterday voted 513-207 in favour of a €500bn emergency fund to tackle the country’s crumbling infrastructure, relieving builders and sending growth forecasts for Europe’s biggest economy…
News Vietnam aims to supercharge growth with nuclear, rail schemes Vietnam’s National Assembly today approved raising the country’s growth target for this year to at least 8%, up from 6.5%, and backed infrastructure projects including a railway to China and…
News All eyes on Trump for $7.5bn Portland-Vancouver bridge Oregon is hoping to begin work in September on the long-delayed bridge over the Columbia River, but local politicians worry about President Trump withholding pledged federal funding, Oregon Public Broadcasting…
News ‘DOGE’ job cuts will hurt energy infrastructure and housing, senators say US senators are demanding answers from the Trump administration over what they say are damaging consequences for energy infrastructure and housing after deep and sudden staffing cuts at government departments…
News China building ‘doomsday fortress’ 10 times bigger than Pentagon China is building a military complex on the outskirts of Beijing that will be 10 times bigger than the Pentagon – until recently the largest office in the world, the…
News Budapest and Orban face off over $12bn ‘mini-Dubai’ Budapest city council is locked in a power struggle with the national Hungarian government over the development of a derelict industrial area near the city centre. The government of Viktor…
News ‘Eat quickly and sleep urgently’, Vietnam PM tells workers on sluggish airport job Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has rounded on contractors building the country’s $16bn Long Thanh International Airport, demanding that they stop gossiping and eat “quickly” and sleep “urgently”, newspaper…
News Tokyo mandates solar panels on new buildings from April Tokyo’s government has ruled that beginning in April, detached new-builds above a certain size should be fitted with photovoltaic panels and thermal insulation. This rule will apply to about 50…
News Far-right German party says it will tear down ‘windmills of shame’ The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party says she will tear down wind turbines if she becomes chancellor, Bloomberg reports. Alice Weidel called them “windmills of shame”…