REGION

REGION
First Niles dividend
NILES -- First Niles Financial approved a dividend of 16 cents a share for the fourth quarter, payable Dec. 17 to shareholders of record on Dec. 3. It is the parent company of Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Niles.
Union plans RMI rally
NILES -- The United Steelworkers of America will hold a rally at 1 p.m. Saturday at Waddell Park to support locked-out workers at RMI Titanium Co. Speaking will be Leo Gerard, USWA international president, and David McCall, District 1 director. The union will provide food and entertainment.
NATION
Merrill Lynch criminal trial
HOUSTON -- Four former Merrill Lynch & amp; Co. executives and a former midlevel Enron Corp. finance executive have been convicted of conspiracy and fraud in the first criminal trial to emerge from the energy company's collapse.
Five men were convicted Wednesday of helping push through a bogus year-end 1999 sale of interest in floating power plant barges to the brokerage so Enron could appear to have met earnings targets. But the jury acquitted a former in-house Enron accountant, Sheila Kahanek.
Movie copyright lawsuits
LOS ANGELES -- Taking a cue from recording companies, Hollywood movie studios are preparing to file copyright infringement lawsuits against computer users they say are illegally distributing movies online, a source familiar with the studios' plans said Wednesday.
The lawsuits will target movie fans who share digitized versions of films over peer-to-peer networks, with the first wave of litigation planned for as early as today, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
From Vindicator staff and wire reports