Summary Box: Singer settles phone hack claim

SETTLEMENT: Singer Charlotte Church has settled her phone-hacking lawsuit against the publisher of the News of the World tabloid. It comes before the case was due to go to court.

BIGGER PICTURE: News Corp.'s U.K. arm has tried hard to keep phone-hacking cases from going to trial. It has launched its own compensation program, overseen by a judge, and has paid out millions in out-of-court settlements for about 60 cases.

SINGER'S COMPLAINTS: Church testified before Britain's media ethics committee in December, complaining bitterly about how the company's tabloids had used illegal means to pry into her private life.