Russia has reached a settlement with Bank of New York Mellon over a $22.5 billion lawsuit against the bank stemming from a 1990s money laundering scheme by one of its executives, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Wednesday.

Russia would receive no less than $14 million for court costs under the long-anticipated, out-of-court deal, Kudrin said — only a fraction of the billions it was claiming. But he said the government would also get a $4 billion discounted loan from the bank, an "act of goodwill" Kudrin insisted is not related to the case.

He said the agreement would be signed soon.

The two-year-long court case stems from a decade-old scandal in which a Bank of New York vice president and her husband were convicted of illegally wiring $7.5 billion of Russian money into accounts at the bank. The Russian federal customs service went to court in 2007 to claim lost tax revenues on those transfers, but the judge overseeing the hearings has urged the two sides to reach a settlement.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 6-3 that convicted murderer Charles Dean Hood should have raised concerns about the affair between the now retired court officials in earlier appeals. The ruling overturned a lower court's recommendation that Hood be able to make his case for a new trial based on the affair.

"Our argument is that they had this information and should have raised it in the earlier writ," said current prosecutor John Rolater, the chief of Collin County's appellate division. "We consider this a significant success for the state."

Hood's attorneys said in a statement that the affair led to a tainted trial and "obvious and outrageous violations" of Hood's constitutional rights. The ruling will "only add to the perception that justice is skewed in Texas," said Andrea Keilen, of the Texas Defender Service.

The rejection from the state's highest criminal appeals court means a future appeal on the same grounds must go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Two men pleaded guilty Tuesday to participating in a ring that forced teenage girls to work as prostitutes in a half dozen states - Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Shaun Leoney, 28, of Boston, and Aaron Brooks, 25, of Quincy, were among six men who were indicted in 2007 for participating in a Boston-based prostitution ring that operated from 2001 to 2005.

Leoney and Brooks originally were charged with conspiracy and transportation for prostitution. Leoney also was charged with sex trafficking of children.

Both men pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of conspiracy. Brooks reached a plea deal with prosecutors, who will recommend a sentence of four years. Leoney faces a maximum of five years in prison.

Sentencing for both men was scheduled for Dec. 15.

As part of their guilty pleas, Leoney and Brooks admitted they drove a teenager to Orlando, Fla., during Memorial Day weekend in 2005 for prostitution activity sponsored by Hoodlum Entertainment, a company owned by two convicted sex traffickers.

Brooks faced a maximum of 15 years if he had gone to trial on the original charges, said his attorney, Raymond O'Hara.

"He just wants to put this behind him," O'Hara said.

Leoney's lawyer, James Dilday, said Leoney faced a maximum of 40 years if he had been convicted of the original charges.

The attorney general's office had requested a Nov. 9 execution. But Muhammad's attorney Jonathan Sheldon says Prince William County Circuit Judge Mary Grace O'Brien delayed it one day.

That's because Nov. 9 is a Monday and they want government offices to be open the day before in case of last-minute court action.

Muhammad was sentenced to death for the slaying of Dean Meyers, one of 10 people shot to death during a 2002 rampage that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area.

Sheldon says Muhammad will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and ask the governor for clemency.

The holding company formed by the merger of Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, Colliers ABR and Colliers Pinkard named Arthur Santry as senior managing director of the national law firm practice group. The 23-year veteran will also use his leasing transaction, development and strategic planning experience as the new senior managing director of leasing for the Washington, DC, office.

Santry’s background includes three years as executive vice president of CB Richard Ellis in Washington, DC, where he was the firm’s number one producer in the Mid-Atlantic. He also served 20 years at Trammell Crow Co.

“We are thrilled to welcome a leasing professional of Art’s stature to our team,” said Joseph Stettinius Jr., president of the holding company. “His track record of providing solutions to law firms and other organizations, as well as his extensive relationships and stellar reputation for client service, will further enhance our ability to address the needs and expectations of our clients. Adding Art to our team allows us to expand our law firm leasing services throughout the country.”

Santry has completed more than $850 million in transactions in the last five years and more than 2.5 million square feet of law firm deals during his career. Some of his most notable deals include: Jones Day’s and Patton Boggs’ 350,000-square-foot leases in Washington, DC, Vinson & Elkins’ 420,000-square-foot deal in Houston, Bryan Cave’s 250,000 square feet in St. Louis, MO, Arnall Golden Gregory’s 140,000 square feet in Atlanta, and the American Psychological Association’s 600,000-square-foot lease in the District.

He has a bachelors from Hobart College and an MBA from Dartmouth College’s Amos Tuck School of Business Administration.

Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers consolidated its ownership structure with three other Colliers firms to form a single entity. Last year, the holding company completed more than $9.2 billion in global deals, including more than $3.5 billion in capital markets transactions, and managed more than 335 million square feet of real estate.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Tuesday denied 53-year-old Romell Broom's request to stay the execution and to allow an appeal to go before the full court.

A three-judge panel of the court had rejected the appeal late Monday.

Broom's attorney Tim Sweeney said there were no further appeals options.

The state had stopped its execution preparations pending the appeals court decision. A prisons spokeswoman says preparations have resumed and estimated the execution will take place about 1:30 p.m.

Broom was convicted in the 1984 slaying of Tryna Middleton after abducting her at knifepoint in Cleveland.

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled against Universal Music Group in a copyright lawsuit against online video site operator Veoh Networks Inc., although Universal says it will appeal.

U.S. District Judge Howard Matz on Friday dismissed the 2007 suit in which Universal accused Veoh of supporting and inducing copyright infringement.

Matz ruled that Veoh was taking reasonable steps to prevent and take down infringing videos uploaded by its users and that gave it protection from copyright suits in federal law.

Veoh CEO Dmitry Shapiro called the decision "a great victory." The company noted that with the ruling, it expects to become profitable within the next two quarters.

The lawsuit cost "many millions of dollars" to defend, money that would now be reinvested in the business, he said.

"We've been dragging a giant boulder on a chain. This frees us," Shapiro said. "This lawsuit was simply Universal's attempt to prevent innovation and shut down the company."

Privately held Veoh was founded in 2004 and to date has raised $70 million from such investors as Shelter Capital Partners, Michael Eisner, Goldman Sachs, Time Warner Inc., Intel Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc.

Universal, a unit of France's Vivendi SA, said it will appeal the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, saying it runs counter to precedent and the intent of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act enacted in 1998.