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”…
News Skanska to build $240m government facility in Oslo Skanska has signed a contract worth $240m with the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction (Statsbygg) to build the second largest building in Oslo’s new government quarters. The 26,800 sq m…
News ‘Rebuild quickly’: California governor waives rules to speed reconstruction California governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order intended to speed up reconstruction and reduce price gouging once the Californian wildfires are extinguished. The order will suspend aspects of…
News Ho Chi Minh City to spend $40bn to clear blocked streets Ho Chi Minh City will need a budget of more than $40bn to build seven urban railways by 2035, according to the city’s Transport Department, as reported by the Vietnam…
News ‘Crumbling bridges’: German builders raise alarm over budget limbo Industry representatives in Germany have warned that prolonged budget uncertainty brought about by the collapse of the country’s government is putting vital transport infrastructure at risk. “We are extremely worried,”…
News Germany will have to invest €120bn to make public buildings carbon neutral by 2045 Germany will have to spend €120bn if it is to make its public buildings carbon neutral by 2045, according to a report commissioned by the German Energy Agency (DENA). The…
News Cost of Pakistan’s M6 motorway nearly triples to $1.7bn The cost of Pakistan’s M6 motorway between the cities of Sukkur and Hyderabad has nearly tripled in six years as a result of “mismanagement and inordinate delays by the federal…