For the moment, let’s say we’re not buying the official, nothing-to-see-here story the White House is dishing about the gaping hole being ripped into the lawn outside the Oval Office. Let’s say we suspect the construction crews that have been dipping their backhoes into the most secure soil in the free world are doing something more complex than mere utility work. Read full article > >

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In the nation’s capital, underground is where it’s at

A move by Congress may allow members of the board that oversees Reagan National and Dulles International airports to be removed by their appointing bodies and increase the size of the panel, which is supervising the construction of the Metrorail extension to Loudoun County . Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) has pushed for legislation that would expand the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority from 13 to 17. Under his plan, Virginia would get two new appointments and Maryland and the District would each get one additional member. Read full article > >

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Transportation bill would expand board of Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

TOKYO — North Korea has made rapid progress on the construction of a new nuclear reactor, with work nearly complete on the outside walls of the reactor building, according to an analysis of recent satellite images. Because the reactor building hasn’t yet been loaded with sensitive nuclear equipment, the plant might not be operational for two or three more years, one analyst said. But the accelerated pace of construction, coming one year after North Korea disclosed the plant publicly, lends credence to Pyongyang’s claim that it has the materials and know-how to build nuclear plants on its own. Read full article > >

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N. Korea makes fast progress on construction of nuclear plant

A report presented at a planning commission meeting in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday had plans for something that, at first, seems unspectacular — the construction of a “one-story 8,084 square foot commercial building with 75 feet of street frontage.” But while the applicant on the report is listed as ASB/Blatteis Promenade Holdings, the plans included something that looks an awful lot like an Apple store. The mock-ups have Apple’s hallmark glass exterior, blond wood tables and galactic-themed screensavers on the monitors that line its walls — though we know that all those design features are easily duplicated . Read full article > >

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New Apple store? Glass storefront proposed in Santa Monica

Hundreds of Amazonian Indians in Bolivia begin a long march against the construction of a road through their rainforest homeland.

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Bolivia Indians in road protest

On a recent Friday morning, Jason Powell went to the Capitol to photograph not the politicians, the architecture or even the tourists. He went to photograph a photograph. The scene taking a second turn in front of the lens was one worth revisiting 70 years later: a bevy of beautiful California girls dressed to represent the state’s fruit crops. They smiled from the Capitol steps, in a photo discovered in the recesses of the Library of Congress online photo archive. The caption identified them as a “cornucopia” participating in a 1939 publicity event with Sen. Sheridan Downey to spur the construction of a highway from San Diego. Powell printed it, took it to the Capitol and stood there amid tourist commotion, trying to figure out exactly where those California beauties posed. Read full article > >

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Vintage photography Web sites offer a chance to ‘time travel’

JERUSALEM — Israel’s interior minister gave final authorization to build 1,600 apartments in disputed East Jerusalem and will approve 2,700 more in days, officials said Thursday, detailing a plan that could complicate diplomatic efforts to dissuade Palestinians from declaring statehood at the United Nations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office knew the construction plans were moving ahead, Interior Ministry spokesman Roi Lachmanovich said. An earlier approval for the 1,600-apartment project badly embarrassed Netanyahu and caused a diplomatic rift with the U.S. because it coincided with a visit to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden. Read full article > >

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Israel to approve 4,300 new apartments in disputed East Jerusalem

The American role in Afghanistan is drawing to a close in a manner paralleling the pattern of three other inconclusive wars since the Allied victory in World War II: a wide consensus in entering them, and growing disillusionment as the war drags on, shading into an intense national search for an exit strategy with the emphasis on exit rather than strategy. We entered Afghanistan to punish the Taliban for harboring al-Qaeda, which, under Osama bin Laden’s leadership, had carried out the Sept. 11 attacks. After a rapid victory, U.S. forces remained to assist the construction of a post-Taliban state. But nation-building ran up against the irony that the Afghan nation comes into being primarily in opposition to occupying forces. When foreign forces are withdrawn, Afghan politics revert to a contest over territory and population by various essentially tribal groups. Read full article > >

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How to exit Afghanistan without creating wider conflict

There has been considerable buzz among Redskins fans in recent weeks about the removal of thousands of seats from the upper deck of one end zone at FedEx Field. Some people initially saw the seatless expanse of gray concrete during a stadium tour, when photos were posted on a message board owned by the franchise. Then 52,000 concert-goers got a full view of the construction area when country star Kenny Chesney played at FedEx on Saturday night. Redskins officials mostly have been mum, at least publicly, with team spokesman Tony Wyllie saying that an announcement would be coming shortly. On Monday, more details emerged. Read full article > >

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Redskins adding party decks to FedEx Field

Everything about Brightsource’s Ivanpah solar plant is big, from Google’s investment to its land footprint Basin and Range Watch , a desert conservation group, has posted a series of photos of the construction site at Brightsource’s Ivanpah power plant in the Mojave. Yesterday, Google announced that the company would invest $168 million in the Brightsource plant, making the solar thermal project the largest investment Google’s ever made . I’ve argued before that the global challenge of climate change may require changes to the way we think about environmentalism , particularly the protection of what we call wilderness. But whatever one may think about the role of big solar plants in the desert, it’s clear from these photos that plants like Ivanpah will cause massive alteration of the land, with all the attendant negative effects for the ecosystem that would imply. In the photo below, you can see the Molycorp rare earth metal mine with the Brightsource plant in the distance. They appear to be of comparable size. Images: Basin and Range Watch/Erin Whitfield.

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Aerial Construction Photos of Huge, Google-Backed Solar Power Plant

A total of 205 workers are made redundant at Dumfries building firm R&D Construction after administrators were brought in.

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Construction firm sheds 200 jobs

Israel approves the construction of hundreds of homes for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, after the murder of five members of a settler family.

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Israel approves new settler homes

Israel has approved the construction of hundreds of settler homes in the West Bank, the prime minister’s office said Sunday.

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Israel Approves Settlement Construction

New England antiques reconstructed into rugged totes Deep in the antique stores and flea markets around the Eastern Seaboard, Alice Saunders scouts materials to create Forestbound , her line of hand-made totes, purses and carry-alls. She makes each bag out of salvaged items that imbue them with a sense of history, interpreted by Saunders’ own distinctive aesthetic. “I’m about to finish up my spring special collection, which is based around a blacksmith’s leather apron from the 1930s,” says Boston-based Saunders. “All of the bags will incorporate straps or buckles constructed out of this particular apron, and the styles are inspired by what I envision a blacksmith from that era would have used.” In addition to her personal spring collection, Saunders is also currently working on a small collection of four bags for Terrain , Anthropologie’s home and garden shop. The bags are ruggedly woodsy, her style influenced by an outdoorsy New England childhood as well as a sense of nostalgia. “I think a lot about canvas and leather bags that would have been used eighty years ago, and how I can recreate that in a way that’s practical for everyday use,” she explains. Anthropologie’s interest in her bags, as well as an upcoming collaboration with Brooklyn’s Digby & Iona , would probably make most people consider expanding operations. But Saunders is determined to keep her business small. “Creating a bag based around that day’s finds is the whole reason I’m so passionate about what I do. I’m definitely going to try my best to always find my own materials and be responsible for all of the construction.” In addition to larger collections for Anthropologie and other retailers, Saunders also sells her bags online . Prices vary depending on size and material, but start around $26 for a utility pouch to $300 for a leather carryall.

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Forestbound

The pound rises to its highest level against the dollar in three months, buoyed by growth in the construction sector.

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Pound rises on construction data