The Associated Press reports a California legislative panel advanced a bill Tuesday committing the state to cover up to $250 million in cost overruns as part of Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The Senate Governmental Organization Committee approved the bill in a 7-0 vote after proponents said they’re confident they can provide the Games without the serious deficits that have challenged other recent host cities. They pointed to Los Angeles’ profitable hosting of the 1984 Olympics. — gamesbids.com

A painting contractor based in New England has been ordered to pay two former employees more than $1.5m each by a court in New Haven, Connecticut.

The court ruled that the company had discriminated against the men on racial grounds. — Global Construction Review

Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, which is set to the world’s tallest building, is over 20% complete, according to the developers.

The planned 1km-tower has already reached the 37th floor and is on track for completion by 2018 [...].

Although the number of habitable floors has not yet been revealed [...] expects it to be around 167 floors tall on completion.

Jeddah Tower, formerly known as Kingdom Tower, is set to overtake the 830-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the world’s tallest tower. — meconstructionnews.com

Apple's new campus has received significant attention during its development phase [...] Apple has shared with Mashable exclusive details and photos of its new corporate offices, including the theater that will serve as the venue for future Apple product launches.

While we've been hearing about the design of the campus and its facilities for nearly five years, installation of the massive, curved glass panels that surround the Main Building’s spaceship-like design is about 33% complete. — mashable.com

Glue is the future of architecture. At least that’s how architect Greg Lynn sees it. And he’s not alone. “Mechanical assembly is already waning in many industries,” Lynn says. “An airplane now is glued together. A car now is glued together. Even a lot of appliances are being glued together.” So why not skyscrapers? — New Scientist

Workers, architects and engineers gathered Tuesday afternoon to celebrate a milestone in the construction of Los Angeles’ most notable skyscraper at the corner of Figueroa Street and Wilshire Boulevard. The ceremony, known as the topping out, marks completion of the building’s central core: a pillar of concrete that rises more than 892 feet from the foundation.[...]

Upon completion, the Wilshire Grand will rise 1,100 feet and be the tallest building west of Chicago. — latimes.com

As cranes have grown in height and girth, the controls to operate them have intensified in number and complexity...the crane units in use these days have libraries of intricate manuals, packed with details...some operators may not have time to fully understand or read completely. Same goes for the maintenance team. When something does go wrong with such large machines...the 'mess and carnage' gets magnified. — Popular Mechanics

Taiwan's Government has ordered an investigation into the collapse of a high-rise building in an earthquake after it emerged tin cans had been used in its construction.

Rescue workers found the cans as they searched for survivors two days after the 6.4-magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 37 people. — independent.co.uk

The Associated Press reported that the person killed was a Wall Street worker sitting in a parked car. [...]

The accident happened as workers were trying to secure the crane against winds around 20 mph by lowering the boom, which had been extended to as long as 565 feet the day before, officials said. Because the crane was being lowered, workers were directing pedestrians away from it on a street that otherwise would likely have been teeming with people. — npr.org

In an interview with The Times, Dame Zaha Hadid said that the Qataris “should do something” about the issue of migrant workers. [...]

“I’m not a defender of the Qatari situation, but it’s important to get the facts right and then we can discuss it. I’m very happy that the press make the government aware of problems on certain sites. But it doesn’t apply to this site.” — designmena.com

In a fresh setback for India's tallest skyscraper, Palais Royale at Worli, the Bombay high court on Wednesday held that the 13 upper floors of the 56-storey building as well as a 15-storey public parking tower next to it were "completely illegal". [...]

The builder also sought to claim that the tower with 900 parking spaces was in public interest. The HC disagreed, saying "but for the incentive FSI (that the developer could claim) they would not have constructed it for social service". — The Times of India

The city of Rio de Janeiro canceled the construction contract for the Olympic tennis center on Thursday, just 200 days before the start of the games, fining the consortium responsible for delays and breach of contract for the mostly finished venue. [...]

Rio City Hall, which is responsible for the construction, did not say how the tennis center, which is 90-percent complete, will be finished. — reuters.com

[The International Construction Costs Report 2016] found that New York, London and Hong Kong ranked as the world’s most expensive cities to build in, with strong currencies and significant resource constraints resulting in higher prices.

Elsewhere, the gradual recovery in the Eurozone has meant that these markets have avoided this high construction inflation. While, in Asia, the Chinese economic slowdown and weakening demand in many cities means that overall growth in Asia is expected to ease — arcadis.com

North Korea held a ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate Mirae Scientists Street, the residential sector dedicated for scientists or engineers of North Korea.

Mirae (“Future”) Scientists Street, located in the center of Pyongyang, directly next to Pyongyang Station adjacent to the Taedong River, is nearing completion. [...]

Wednesday’s report emphasized the term “Pyongyang Speed,” the idea that North Korean workers can produce miraculously fast construction speeds. — nknews.org