From wire reports

Music copyright suit against girl settled

WASHINGTON - A 12-year-old girl in New York who was among the first to be sued by the record industry for sharing music over the Internet is off the hook after her mother agreed Tuesday to pay $2,000 to settle the lawsuit, apologizing and admitting that her daughter's actions violated U.S. copyright laws.

The hurried settlement involving Brianna LaHara, an honors student, was the first announced one day after the Recording Industry Association of America filed 261 such lawsuits across the country. Lawyers for the RIAA said Brianna's mother, Sylvia Torres, contacted them early Tuesday to negotiate.

MCI to pay $353M of $41 billion debt

NEW YORK - MCI removed two of the thorniest obstacles remaining in its path from bankruptcy, agreeing to pay $353 million to silence some of the last vocal objectors to the scandal-ridden company's plan to repay a small fraction of its $41 billion debt.

The deal early Tuesday with two groups of creditors, brokered by MCI chief executive Michael Capellas, was reached just hours before a scheduled hearing to consider the existing reorganization plan.

Home insurance rates likely to rise in 2004

NEW YORK - Homeowners' insurance rates are expected to increase 8 percent in 2004, according to a new report from the Insurance Information Institute.

The average cost of home insurance nationwide is expected to be $615 in 2004, up $46 from a year ago, the report found. Home insurance rose 7 percent to an average cost of $569 in 2003.

One Goodyear local rejects new contract

AKRON - One of the 14 Steelworkers union locals representing Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. employees has voted to reject a proposed three-year contract, a member of the local in Tennessee said Tuesday.

Ratification requires approval of at least eight of the union's Goodyear locals and an overall majority. Nine locals have voted to approve the contract, all by wide margins.

Ferguson, Bernanke up for new terms at Fed

Roger W. Ferguson, 51, a Harvard University-trained economist and lawyer, will be nominated to another four-year term as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the White House said.

In addition, Ben S. Bernanke, 49, is to be nominated to a new, 14-year term as one of the seven governors of the Fed, the White House also said.

Bernanke's present term expires in January. He took office in August 2002.

Ferguson has been a stand-in for Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan in explaining central bank thinking and policy.