Pennsylvania: Bethlehem Steel agrees to buyout by Steel Group Inc.

Bethlehem Steel Corp., a patriarch of American industry agreed Saturday to be sold to a healthier rival for about $1.5 billion.

The corporation’s board of directors voted unanimously in a telephone conference to approve the sale of “substantially all” of Bethlehem’s assets to Cleveland-based International Steel Group Inc. The vote was one of the last milestones for a company that made steel for such landmark structures as the Golden Gate Bridge and the U.S. Supreme Court building.

Bethlehem, which has operated under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the past 16 months, must still obtain approval for the sale from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan and also faces a federal antitrust review. The deal would probably close early in the second quarter.

Washington, D.C.: White House operations seek 9.3 percent budget boost

While demanding that the federal government restrain its spending to a 4.1 percent increase in 2004, the Bush White House has assigned itself a more lenient standard: It has proposed a 9.3 percent increase in funding for the ongoing operations of the White House.

The White House says various hidden security costs account for the increase.

For the Executive Office of the President, the broad category including most White House operations, the administration has requested $341.2 million for fiscal 2004. That compares with a request of $312.2 million for fiscal 2003 — excluding $16.8 million for the White House Office of Homeland Security that was switched to the Department of Homeland Security budget for 2004.

Turkey: U.S. closer to gaining OK for troop staging

Turkey’s top civilian and military leaders agreed Saturday to allow the United States to send 38,000 troops to the country to open a northern front should there be war with Iraq, television reported.

Washington had asked to station 80,000 troops in Turkey, but in the face of strong public opposition to war Turkish leaders asked the United States to scale back its request.

The decision, if verified, would have to be approved by parliament, which is expected to meet Feb. 18 to vote on a bill allowing U.S. combat troops for an Iraq operation.

Indiana: Soldier who died in Kuwait wanted to study at Purdue

The U.S. soldier killed in a vehicle accident near an American military base in Kuwait was an Indiana National Guard member who joined the military to earn money to pay for attending Purdue University, relatives said.

Spc. Brian Michael Clemens, 19, of Kokomo, died Thursday near Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Four other Indiana National Guard soldiers suffered minor injuries in the Humvee accident, the Army said.

Clemens was part of the Guard’s Fort Wayne-based 1st Battalion, 293rd Infantry Regiment, which was sent to Kuwait in January as part of the U.S. military buildup in preparation for a possible invasion of Iraq.