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Zoomlion has ended its multi-billion dollar bid to acquire Terex Corporation. In a statement to customers, Ken Lousberg, Terex Cranes president, said that discussions between the two construction equipment industry heavyweights over a near US$3.3 billion deal had been terminated. Lousberg said the recently announced sale of Terex Corporation’s Material Handling and Port Solutions business segment to Finland-based Konecranes for around $1.3 billion is proceeding as planned, subject to regulatory and Konecra

Over 2,000 drivers in the UK were caught driving at speeds of 160km/h (100mph) or more with one even hitting 250 km/h (156mph). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the latter was in a BMW. Meanwhile one UK driver became so incensed by the poor road manners of others, that he fitted a police siren and blue flashing lights to his car. He started using this equipment every time he saw another driver using a phone while at the wheel. The police were less than impressed and he was charged and fined for impersonating an offi

Ethiopia is planning a series of road projects as part of its Growth & Transformation Plan. These road projects are worth close to US$128 million in total, with the plans being managed by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). Four construction companies have been awarded the contracts by the ERA. The Chinese contractor CGC Overseas Construction Group will rebuild the 60km Shambu-Backo link in a deal worth $45.7 million, providing the existing gravel road with a new asphalt surface. Local contractor Yemene Gi

The World Health Organisation has published a new report on road safety during 2015. Its global status report uses information from 180 countries and indicates that the total number of road traffic deaths has plateaued at 1.25 million/year worldwide. The annual global road fatality rate has remained roughly the same since 2007, a point worth noting considering growing vehicle numbers around the globe. Low income countries remain those of most concern for this report as in previous years. But some progress i

It’s not a new idea, the straddle bus. It dates back to the 1960s. But if a prototype bus in a pilot project in China is successful, highway engineers working on urban roads may have to throw out their design templates. Recent Chinese reports have said a prototype is being built in the city of Chengzou for a pilot project being set up on the streets of Qinhuangdao, a coastal city about 300km east of Beijing, by the end of this summer. The bus’s main body glides above the road surface at 60kph on a

Be careful where you park your car in Florence, Italy. Might be best to not leave your vehicle next to the River Arno. In this case, 20 drivers returned to their cars only to find them sitting in a 6.5m deep sinkhole next to the river. The ‘hole’ appeared after what media reports said was a water main burst that flooded the road’s substructure, dropping nearly 200m of pavement into rushing water from the ruptured pipe. Vehicles remained out of the river, thanks to a brick wall. Nobody was injured in the

A driver in Wales drove around for a day with an estimated 20,000 unwelcome passengers until the problem got to be too evident. The video shows the car of the 65-year-old grandmother, finally parked in the small town of Haverfordwest, literally buzzing with bees. Apparently, a queen bee got stuck on the vehicle and her community decided to follow the car and stick to it as well. It took two members of the Pembrokeshire Beekeepers' Association, a park ranger and some local people to coax the travelers

Roman Brecely, Slovakia’s transport minister, has said that construction of the 2km long motorway tunnel Cebrat near Ruzomberok could be resumed at the beginning of 2017. But the cost is expected to increase by around €100 million. He added that the government likely will seek European Union funding. Construction was halted a year ago over concerns about the possibility of landslides and other geological issues. For this reason, the tunnel route may alter and be an additional 1.5km longer. The tunn

A man in the UK city of Liverpool has been banned from driving for three years following an incident during which he rode a motorcycle through a busy covered shopping centre. Neither he nor his passenger were wearing helmets at the time, an offence in the UK, while he did not possess a licence for a motorcycle or have insurance for it. Footage from the CCTV cameras in the shopping centre show him happily weaving through the throng of shoppers (including several parents with small children in buggies) on his

In India an elephant in distress caused damage to numerous vehicles in the town of Siliguri in East Bengal. The animal entered the town from the nearby Baikunthapur forest and became alarmed by the throng of human activity around it. As it barged its way through the town leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, locals watched in horror from a safe distance. Experts were brought in to fire tranquiliser darts at the elephant, which was then transported to more suitable surroundings to recover from its orde