LONDON (Feb 21): The gap between shop rents in Britain's swankiest and humblest locations is wider than ever, as wealthy international shoppers turn a national north-south divide into a chasm between the choicest parts of central London and everywhere else.

MELBOURNE (Feb 21): The Middle East subsidiary of Australian construction giant Leighton Holdings has won a A$515 million (RM1.67 billion) contract to build a luxury hotel complex in Dubai.

PUTRAJAYA (Feb 21): The Federal Court has dismissed the application by Metroplex Holdings Sdn Bhd (Metroplex) for leave to appeal to the Federal Court against the High Court's and Court of Appeal's decision that amongst others declared OSK Trustees Bhd — as trustee of Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust — the legal owner of Putra Place and that control and possession of Putra Place be delivered

PETALING JAYA: Ken Holdings Bhd and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on Feb 20 to undertake collaborative research, share expertise, as well as develop Green Technology on energy efficient design and construction in housing construction.

SHAH ALAM: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) needs to set up a housing bank, to provide financing for contributors whose housing withdrawals fall short of the purchase price of their house, said the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca).

KUALA LUMPUR: Market sentiment is expected to remain good in the week ahead following generally positive news from the US while the bailout issue in Greece has been settled.

UOB Kay Hian Malaysia head of research Vincent Khoo was upbeat on the market outlook for the week ahead as the corporate results go into full swing.

Banyan Tree brand grows with BTSP

Having warded off stinging criticism over a controversial privatisation deal involving a 75.5-acre plot of prime land in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur, developer Naza TTDI Sdn Bhd is finalising deals with various foreign investors and expects its mammoth KL Metropolis project there to kick off in 3Q2012.

The gargantuan KL Metropolis mixed-use development in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur, could face a number of challenges, says C H Williams Talhar & Wong Sdn Bhd managing director Foo Gee Jen.

There was anecdotal evidence of a rush to close deals before midnight in some corners of Singapore following the Dec 7 announcement of additional buyer’s stamp duty that came into effect the next day.