BRIEFCASE MORTGAGE RATES NEAR RECORD LOWS.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

WASHINGTON _ Rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages rose slightly this week, but still hovered near record lows. Rates on one-year adjustable mortgages, meanwhile, dropped to the lowest level ever.

The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages for the week that ended Thursday was 5.24 percent, up slightly from 5.21 percent last week, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported in its weekly nationwide survey.

Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a new low of 5.21 percent two weeks ago and stayed there last week. The rate of 5.21 percent was the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking 30-year mortgages in 1971. Records that reach back earlier indicate that the rate is the lowest in more than four decades, economists said.

For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rates inched up to 4.63 percent this week from 4.62 percent last week.

Rates for one-year adjustable mortgages declined to a new low of 3.45 percent this week, surpassing the previous low of 3.51 percent set last week. Freddie Mac's records on one-year ARMs go back to 1984.

Tabloid publisher targets Latinos

MIAMI _ American Media Inc., publisher of The National Enquirer and other tabloids, has launched a division to publish magazines and books for the burgeoning Hispanic-American market.

The new department, AMI Latino Magazine Group, comes as the Boca Raton, Fla., publisher is planning to launch Shape in Spanish in October and just after its acquisition this month of the Spanish-language license to its Men's Fitness title from the Ideas Publishing Group of Miami.

The company also signed a deal this month with Miami's Latin World Entertainment, which represents many Hispanic-American and Latin American stars, to jointly produce paperbacks, hardcover books and magazines using the talent agency's stable of celebrities.

The expansion into the Latino market in the United States will pivot on AMI's well-established distribution network for its portfolio of supermarket tabloids, including , a Spanish-language celebrity-gossip biweekly with a circulation of 100,000, said Dalia Sanchez, vice president and editorial director for the Latino Magazine Group.

Third man guilty in Rite Aid case

HARRISBURG, Pa. _ A third former executive of Rite Aid Corp. pleaded guilty Thursday in the pharmacy chain's accounting-fraud case, and a judge gave the company's former chief counsel further time to decide whether to face a trial or change his not-guilty plea.

Eric S. Sorkin, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. A charge of lying to the grand jury is being dropped.

``I'm truly sorry for what I did. I wish to apologize to the court, to my friends and family, and to Rite Aid associates,'' Sorkin told U.S. District Judge Sylvia H. Rambo in a trembling voice. ``I take full responsibility for what I did.''

Also Thursday, Rambo gave attorney Franklin C. Brown until July 14 to decide whether he wants to change his not-guilty plea or stand trial on 35 criminal counts related to the fraud and efforts to conceal it.

A change-of-plea hearing for Brown, 75, the company's former chief counsel and board vice chairman, was postponed before its start Thursday.