2 elected to PACA board of directorsHARRISBURG — Two Butler County men were elected in December to the Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association 2017 board of directors.Jamie Stilley of Amerikohl Aggregates in Butler and John Rader of J.J. Kennedy in Zelienople were elected to three-year terms. PACA is a member-driven trade association that deals with issues relating to the industry that are better served through a collective effort than an individual one.PACA represents more than 200 companies in the aggregates, cement and ready-mixed concrete industry across the state.

Cracker plant gets conditional permitMONACA — Supervisors of a Western Pennsylvania township have granted a conditional use permit for a $6 billion ethane cracker plant proposed by Shell Chemicals.A 10-hour hearing last month ended without a decision because the Potter Township supervisors wanted Shell and the Clean Air Council, an environmental group that opposes the plant, to file legal arguments about the permit.At Wednesday night’s two-hour meeting the supervisors imposed noise limits, and pledged to investigate any complaints of light pollution or traffic disruptions that could occur once construction begins in the next two years.

India seeks apology over flag doormatsNEW DELHI — India’s foreign minister demanded an apology Wednesday from Amazon.com for selling doormats depicting the Indian flag on the online shopping giant’s Canadian website.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj warned on Twitter that she could deny Indian visas to Amazon employees if the company did not apologize and “withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately.”“If this is not done forthwith, we will not grant an Indian visa to any Amazon official. We will also rescind the visas issued earlier,” Swaraj tweeted.The doormats were being sold by a third party and other mats showed other national flags, including the U.S., U.K. and Canada.Swaraj ordered the embassy in Canada to take up the matter with Amazon “at the highest level.”The site removed the Indian-themed product following Swaraj’s Twitter threat.In India, insulting the national flag is punishable with fines and imprisonment.

New planes begin arriving in IranTEHRAN, Iran — The first of 100 Airbus planes that Iran is expected to receive after its historic nuclear deal with world powers ended some sanctions landed today in the capital, Tehran.Iran Air’s brand new A321 jet touched down at Tehran’s Mehrabad International on a flight from Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France.The 189-seat plane, decked out in Iran Air’s blue-and-white livery, is the first of 100 planes purchased under a December deal worth $18 billion.Iran is seeking to rapidly upgrade its aging and obsolete air fleet. Most of its aging fleet of 250 commercial planes was purchased before 1979.