MELBOURNE: An Australian company has been awarded the contract to clean every window on the world's tallest building -- Dubai's Burj Khalifa.

The company, Cox Gomyl, will use muscle-power and machines to keep the windows on the building clean.

The Burj Khalifa, which was officially opened on Jan 4, stands at 828m high and has 200 storeys.

SEOUL: South Korean banks are expected to continue to rein in household lending in the first quarter in line with government efforts to control the property market, the central bank said on Jan 5.

SYDNEY: Sales of new homes in Australia rose only slightly in November as gains for detached houses were offset by a lack of finance for multi-unit projects, an industry survey showed on Jan 5.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) said sales rose 0.3% in November, following a 6% drop in October. Sales of detached houses increased by 0.8% while unit sales dropped 4.9%.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime country house prices in the UK rose on the average by almost 2.3% in the fourth quarter of 2009 but 2.6% lower than they were at the beginning of the year, according to the 4Q2009 results from Knight Frank Prime Country House Index.

KUALA LUMPUR: Colliers International has been appointed by order of the owner to offer an en bloc building, No 52 D’Aguilar Street (picture) in Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong, for sale by public tender.

The tender will be close at 12pm on Feb 9, 2010.

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Equities Research has upgraded the property sector to overweight as it believes concerns over the 5% real property gains tax (RPGT) are "overblown" and provide investors a window of opportunity to pick up property stocks on the cheap.In a research note issued on Monday, Jan 4, it upgraded the sector from Trading Buy to Overweight and upgraded all developers to Outperform.It s

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian hotel operators are expected to enjoy positive numbers this year after the hospitality industry picked up in the second half of 2009 with a majority of four- and five-star hotels in the Klang Valley seeing occupancy rates hitting 80%.

LONDON: A gust of wind howls around Battersea Power Station, an industrial wasteland by the Thames whose coal-fired furnaces were once used by the Bank of England to burn millions of pounds worth of banknotes.

A couple of tourists who have ventured off the beaten track around Buckingham Palace stand on tiptoe as they strain to photograph the gargantuan structure over a high screen.

DUBAI: Started at the height of the economic boom and built by some 12,000 labourers, the world's tallest building opens on Monday Jan 4, 2010 in Dubai as the glitzy emirate seeks to rekindle optimism after its financial crisis.

KUALA LUMPUR: The new royal residence along Jalan Duta here is 70% complete and is on track to be completed by November 2010, according to an official with the Public Works Department.