NICE, France: A Russian billionaire who failed to complete a deal to buy one of France's most beautiful houses also lost his deposit on March 1, to the tune of €39 million (RM180 million).

Mikhail Prokhorov had made several bids to buy the sprawling villa Leopolda de Villefranche-sur-Mer before owner Lily Safra accepted a price of €390 million in 2008.

SYDNEY: Australian retail sales rebounded sharply in January while approvals to build new homes continued to point to a boom in construction this year, adding to the case for a rise in interest rates later on March 2.

EDINBURGH: Luxury-home prices in central London jumped 17% in February from a year earlier, the biggest gain in almost two years, as more buyers competed for a dwindling number of properties, Knight Frank LLP said.

IJM Land Bhd
(March 1, RM2.10)

The Government is currently evaluating a proposal to build another highway linking the northern and southern parts of peninsular Malaysia, said The New Straits Times in a report today (March 2).

* Proposed highway is to complement the existing North-South Expressway (NSE) - currently owned and operated by PLUS Expressways Bhd.

PETALING JAYA: The Borneo Convention Centre (BCCK) (pictured) in Kuching, Sarawak, is poised to boost Malaysia’s growing appeal as the preferred destination for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE).

KUALA LUMPUR: United Malayan Land Bhd (UM Land) hopes to roll out two new projects with a total gross development value (GDV) exceeding RM600 million (in Kuala Lumpur and Iskandar Malaysia, Johor) this year.

JAKARTA: The search and rescue (SAR) operation for victims of last week's landslide at the tea growing area of Desa Tenjolaya, Pasirjambu, Bandung, West Java, has been officially stopped on March 1.

LONDON: Property investor NewRiver and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing have created a joint venture to acquire UK retail property which has bought its first portfolio for £49 million (RM253.83 million).

The closed-end NewRiver Retail Investments LP JV's deal capacity is more than £250 million, including leverage, NewRiver said in a statement on March 1.

JEDDAH: Jeddah needs almost a million housing units over the next 20 years, says a strategic plan prepared by the Jeddah municipality.