LOCAL

LOCAL
Titanium for plane
NILES -- RTI International Metals will supply titanium for the Typhoon Eurofighter plane under a deal the Niles-based company announced Tuesday.
The company's European subsidiary, RTI Europe Ltd., has an agreement with BAE Systems to provide flat-rolled titanium for the second production run of 254 planes, which begins soon, according to RTI.
The Typhoon is a joint project of the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Last week, the company -- among the world's largest producers of titanium -- made public a new multiyear contract with Europe's multinational EADS/Airbus to supply titanium parts used in that company's aircraft.
The most recent contract "underscores RTI's growing strength in Europe," President and CEO Timothy G. Rupert said.
Cici's in Union Township
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Cici's Pizza, a chain of buffet-style pizzerias, has announced plans to locate a restaurant on U.S. Route 224 in Union Township.
Officials presented plans Monday night to the Union Township Zoning Board. The board determined that a variance hearing for a side setback was not needed, paving the way for the restaurant to apply for a zoning permit.
The restaurant would be adjacent to Ruby Tuesday's and King's Restaurant in the Wal-Mart Plaza. Union Township Supervisor Steve Galizia said plans call for ground to be broken in early spring.
According to the company Web site, Cici's, founded in 1985 in Plano, Texas, offers pizza, pasta, salad and dessert in an "all-you-can-eat" buffet format. The company has 450 eateries in 21 states.
NATION
Reporting to prison
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Martha Stewart's co-defendant and former stockbroker reported to a federal prison camp Tuesday in Nevada to begin serving a five-month sentence for lying to investigators.
Peter Bacanovic, a former broker at Merrill Lynch & amp; Co., arrived at the minimum-security camp on Nellis Air Force Base Tuesday morning, said Traci Billingsley, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C. Bacanovic's lawyer, Richard M. Strassberg, said by telephone that while Bacanovic reported to prison early, his appeal remains pending.
Stewart and Bacanovic were convicted last year of lying about why Stewart unloaded shares of ImClone Systems Inc. stock in 2001, just before the price plunged.
WORLD
Raising stakes in rivalry
TOULOUSE, France -- Airbus put its stamp on aviation history Tuesday, unveiling the world's largest commercial jet and raising the stakes in its 35-year rivalry with Boeing Co.
The double-decker A380 "super-jumbo," capable of flying up to 800 passengers, gives the European plane maker a new flagship and completes its range of jets at a time when Boeing is losing market share and reducing some production. French President Jacques Chirac and other European leaders struck a triumphal note at the ceremony, hailing the A380 as a sign of Europe's capacity to generate world-beating industries.
But the A380, which was partially funded by European governments, amounts to a huge bet that carriers need ever-bigger planes to process a growing numbers of passengers through the busiest hub airports. Airbus is investing $13 billion to develop the plane, which has a list price of $280 million apiece and is scheduled for its first commercial flight in 2006.
From Vindicator staff/wire reports