At least 591 tonnes of illicit gold worth about $74 billion entered the UAE in 2024, including 453 tonnes from African producers and 137 tonnes from countries under international sanctions, accounting for 42% of the country’s total gold imports, SWISSAID reports. Despite 2023 regulations tightening due diligence, only 2 of 52 reviewed Emirati refineries fully apply the new rules, with most still relying on intermediaries and weak traceability. SWISSAID urges reinstating the UAE on the FATF grey list, tougher and public penalties, stronger customs controls, and full disclosure of mined-gold suppliers, warning Swiss refiners—importing 420 tonnes from the UAE in 2024—of elevated sourcing risks.

IMechE is urging the UK government to introduce policies that make large‑scale industrial material reuse commercially viable, moving beyond downcycling towards a circular economy for steel, concrete and other construction inputs. Proposals centre on fiscal incentives and procurement rules that favour secondary materials, alongside clearer standards for reusing structural components and process by‑products from heavy industry. For civil and geotechnical projects, this could shift design practice towards deconstruction‑ready detailing, traceable material passports and more rigorous assessment of reused elements’ mechanical and durability performance.

UK defence planners are developing contingency plans to protect critical national infrastructure in the event of future conflict, following parliamentary questions on the vulnerability of power grids, transport networks and communications hubs. An MP raised specific concerns about the growing integration of artificial intelligence into CNI control systems, including automated grid management and traffic signalling, and the risk of hostile cyber or physical attacks exploiting these dependencies. Civil and structural engineers may face tighter resilience requirements, more redundancy in control architectures and closer coordination with defence and cyber-security agencies.