Project Vault will create a US$12 billion US critical minerals stockpile, combining US$1.67 billion in private capital with a US$10 billion Export-Import Bank loan to buy and store materials for automakers, tech firms and other industrial users. Following a Section 232 probe covering the full USGS critical minerals list plus uranium, the administration found imports threaten national security but chose negotiated price floors and trade mechanisms over tariffs. Forthcoming US–Mexico and US–EU–Japan action plans, under the new FORGE framework, will define which minerals are prioritised, how any border-adjusted price floor is calculated, and how rules of origin or downstream products are treated.

Delays at the Building Safety Regulator’s Gateway 3 stage are linked by law firm Irwin Mitchell to 44 undecided schemes and 5,594 completed higher-risk residential units remaining unoccupied, with one case waiting 550 days against an eight‑week target. Of 158 Gateway 3 applications in 2023, 55 took more than three months for a decision, raising concerns over cashflow impacts on developers and handover timing for residents. The BSR disputes the interpretation, stating no new-build higher-risk building that passed Gateway 2 has yet applied for Gateway 3 and that current cases are mainly transitional legacy projects with significant safety issues.

MPs on Parliament’s transport select committee are questioning whether the Railways Bill’s proposed Passengers’ Council will have any real enforcement powers to deliver a fully accessible national rail network. Concerns centre on the council’s ability to compel infrastructure managers and train operators to retrofit step-free access, tactile paving and compliant boarding interfaces across thousands of stations and platforms. For designers and asset owners, the outcome will influence how strongly accessibility standards are mandated in future station upgrades, platform works and rolling stock procurement.