RENOVANT

The US Secret Service is facing questions about whether its agency funds were used for White House renovation work. Lawmakers and oversight officials are seeking clarity on how the money was spent and whether the agency diverted resources from its protective mission. No details on the amounts involved or any formal investigation have been confirmed yet.

Fortune reports that many baby boomers are choosing to stay in their current homes as they age rather than move, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on renovations. The remodeling work is typically aimed at making homes safer and more comfortable for older residents, from accessibility upgrades to larger-scale projects.

The Russian city of Chelyabinsk and the nearby town of Chebarkul are being spruced up ahead of an expected visit by President Vladimir Putin. Local outlet E1.ru reports that renovation work is focused almost entirely on the officers' housing where the president is likely to stay or pass through, while residents question why other neglected parts of the cities are not being fixed up as well.

The Justice Department will not reopen a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, according to comments by Todd Blanche, who serves as Deputy Attorney General. The decision closes off, for now, a politically charged effort pursued earlier this year amid White House criticism of Powell over the Fed's headquarters renovation costs and interest rate policy. The announcement is drawing attention because of tensions between the Trump administration and the central bank.

President Trump is defending renovation and construction projects at the White House, saying the building previously had 'massive gaping wounds' that needed repair. The comments come amid public scrutiny of changes to the Oval Office and broader White House grounds, with critics questioning the scale of the work and supporters backing the president's claims about the building's condition.

With high mortgage rates and limited housing inventory making a move less attractive, many homeowners are staying put and investing in renovations instead. The trend, reported by WTAQ, suggests remodeling is becoming a preferred way to add value and adapt living space while the real estate market remains challenging.

Visitors are posting photographs from the KMSKA, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, tagging them under art and photography. The museum, which reopened in 2022 after a long renovation, remains a popular subject for art lovers sharing images of its collection and building.

Barcelona's stadium renovation continues, with new unpublished images published by Mundo Deportivo showing how work on the Spotify Camp Nou is advancing. The redevelopment of FC Barcelona's home ground is one of the biggest construction projects in Spanish football, and each visual update draws attention from supporters following the club's eventual return to the remodeled venue.

Curbed reports on a gut renovation in the Cooper Square area of the Bowery in Manhattan, framed as 'A Moon Over the Bowery'. The piece covers the architecture and design of the residential project, part of ongoing redevelopment of the historic Lower East Side corridor. Details beyond the headline are limited.

A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments over whether construction of President Trump's planned White House ballroom can continue while legal challenges play out. Opponents have raised concerns about the project's approval process, while the administration defends plans to build a large event space at the executive mansion.

Three nursing homes (Ehpad) in the Val-d'Oise department, north of Paris, are set to be renovated: in Montmorency, Gonesse and Beaumont-sur-Oise. The projects, reported by Le Moniteur, concern facilities that serve elderly residents in these towns. Attention on Beaumont-sur-Oise is growing locally as residents follow plans to modernise care infrastructure for the ageing population in the area.

Italy's Economy Ministry is open to maintaining the 65% Ecobonus deduction for energy-efficiency home improvements, according to la Repubblica. Economy Minister Marcello Salimesi's office and Infrastructure Minister Maurizio Leo stress the need to keep working on energy efficiency, signalling the deduction may survive budget discussions rather than be cut.

Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof is a trending search topic in Germany. Deutsche Bahn is pressing ahead with major line renovations in the region, describing the Berlin-Hannover route upgrade as an investment that pays off. Travellers in Saxony-Anhalt are closely following how the works affect services through Magdeburg's main station.

An internal Federal Reserve watchdog has concluded that no criminal violations occurred in connection with the costly overruns on the central bank's headquarters building renovation. The multi-billion-dollar project had drawn political criticism and scrutiny over its escalating price tag, and the finding is likely to fuel continued debate over accountability at the Fed.

Home Depot's dividend remains secure even as the US housing market stagnates, but the pace of future dividend increases could slow. Analysts and investors are weighing what a prolonged slowdown in home sales and renovation activity means for the retailer's shareholder payouts and long-term growth prospects.

Kevin Hassett, a senior adviser to Donald Trump, has called on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to step down from the Fed's board of governors, citing a report into the central bank's headquarters renovation. The renovation project has drawn repeated criticism from Trump allies over its cost, adding to ongoing friction between the White House and the Fed over interest rate policy.

Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser to President Trump, has called on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to step down from the Fed's board of governors, citing a report into the central bank's headquarters renovation. The demand escalates the White House's pressure campaign on Powell, whose term as chair ends in 2026 and whom Trump has repeatedly criticized over interest rate policy.

A 72-year-old homeowner selling a house for $600,000 faces a capital gains tax bill treating nearly the whole sale price as profit, because she kept no receipts for roughly thirty years of kitchen remodels and renovations. Without documentation, those improvement costs cannot be deducted from the taxable gain. The case is a warning to homeowners to save records of home improvements before selling.

KPMG analysis shows spending on new home construction and renovations rising sharply, while knock-down rebuild projects are falling. The shift suggests households are choosing to improve existing properties or buy newly built homes rather than demolish and rebuild, a trend with implications for builders, renovators and housing supply.

A developer self-hosting the Renovate dependency-update bot using the ghcr.io/renovate/renovate:full container image reports that the image ships with Yarn 4, while their project uses Yarn 1. The bot correctly detects Yarn 1 in the repository but runs updates with Yarn 4, causing problems, and the developer is asking the open-source community how to fix the mismatch.

An off-grid builder installed a subfloor only for an arriving storm to drench it, highlighting a common hazard of remote construction. As the builder put it, once the structure is exposed, 'you run the risk of getting moisture in.' Comments focus on whether the wood will dry out without warping and how builders time exterior work around unpredictable weather.