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WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear former Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling's challenge of his conviction on various fraud charges.

The case, Skilling v. United States, also raises the question of the scope of federal law that punishes a corporate executive's failure to provide "honest services," the Supreme Court Web site said.

A three-judge panel in New Orleans in July upheld Skilling's fraud conviction and ruled his trial was fair but should have been conducted outside of Houston, where sentiment against the company after its collapse ran high.

The nation's high court also agreed to hear a case addressing the scope of federal appeals courts' authority to overturn a conviction that could have been based on conduct that wasn't illegal when the crime occurred, the court said. Justice Sonia Sotomayor recused herself because she was on the circuit panel that heard the case earlier.

The court granted certiorari on a case raising the question of whether federal law on federal employees' health benefits pre-empts a state court lawsuit filed against a government contractor benefits administrator.

A fourth case the court agreed to hear takes up the issue of whether gross negligence by a state-appointed defense attorney in a death penalty case is sufficient to extend the time to file a federal habeas challenge.

The court took no action on a Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainee case that raised the question of whether federal judges can order the release of prisoners from the Uighur region of China into the United States.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A proposed tax on high-cost health insurance plans has split Congress over how to pay for insuring millions of uninsured Americans, observers say.

Supporters, including many senators, say the tax is necessary to help hold down medical spending and would generate more than $200 billion over 10 years, while opponents in the House counter the tax would hit the middle class, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The tax is included in legislation the Senate Finance Committee was to take up Tuesday. Under the bill, the tax, which would be effective beginning in 2013, would be imposed on employer-sponsored plans with premiums exceeding $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families.

Faced with the possibility of tax on the so-called Cadillac plans, employers would be more likely to shop around for lower-cost coverage, supporters say.

The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, in a preliminary estimate, calculated if employers didn't shop around, the tax would affect 14 percent of family health policies and 19 percent of individual policies in 2013, the Times reported. By 2019, the joint panel's report estimated 37 percent of family policies and 41 percent of individual policies would be affected.

JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. warships in the Gulf of Suez intercepted a German-owned cargo ship transporting arms from Iran to Syria, a report said.

The German daily Der Spiegel reported Monday Iran's state-owned shipping company chartered the ship, the Hansa India, which was en route to Syria.

The report said the ship was boarded, and seven containers of bullets suitable for Kalashnikov rifles and an eighth container of cartridges suitable for the manufacture of additional rounds were found.

The raid took place earlier this month after the U.S. military received an intelligence tip, the newspaper said.

Investigators suspect the arms were part of an Iranian shipment bound for either the Syrian Army or Hezbollah, the report said.

The arms transport violated U.N. Security Resolution 1747, which prohibits weapons shipments in and out of Iran, the newspaper said.

Following intervention by the German government, the ship was permitted to dock in Malta where the ammunition was secured, the German paper said.

The German shipping company Leonhardt and Blumberg said the ship has been chartered for years to Iran Shipping Lines, the paper said.

Details of the raid were reported in the Israeli press Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Abortion opponents say their free speech rights are being trampled by U.S. states that won't allow "Choose Life" car license plates.

Elizabeth Rex, president of the Children First Foundation, based in New York, says it's against the U.S. Constitution for states such as New Jersey and New York to base their decisions on personalized license plates on the content of the message, USA Today reported Tuesday.

"It's the definition of free speech," Rex told the newspaper, adding that proposals from her group for license plates supporting adoption have been rejected by the two states as having inappropriate messages.

"We are free to speak whether what we say is controversial or not," she said.

The newspaper said a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to not hear an appeal of a license plate case from Illinois abortion foes means decisions on what can be put on the plates is likely to remain a state-by-state affair.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- The children of Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr. settled their legal feud over control of the U.S. civil rights icon's estate, avoiding a jury trial.

Martin Luther King III and Bernice King met with their brother, Dexter King, for nearly 15 hours to work out an accord, announced by Fulton County Superior Judge Ural Glanville late Monday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday.

"The settlement is very positive overall," said Martin Luther King III. "Our objective is to be involved in protecting the legacy."

Terms of the settlement call for a third-party custodian to be brought in temporarily to run King Inc., the corporation controlling use of their father's papers, intellectual property and materials.

"This agreement calls for a custodian to help manage our family business," Dexter King said. "I am still the president of the corporation, as I am sure there will be a learning curve. But the most important thing is preserving the legacy of our parents."

The feud became public in 2008 when Bernice King and Martin Luther King III filed suit against Dexter King, charging him with mishandling funds from King Inc., improperly taking money from the estate of their mother and acting unilaterally regarding both parents' estates without the siblings' permission or knowledge.

BURLINGTON, N.J., Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Demonstrators gathered outside of a Burlington Township, N.J., elementary school to protest children singing a song protesters say is politically tinged.

The students performed two songs they learned as part of a Black History assembly in February, then performed them again during March, when the event was videotaped, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Tuesday. The tape was posted on YouTube, where conservatives criticized the performance as politicized because, among other things, the lyrics contain President Barack Obama's full name.

Burlington Township Schools Superintendent Christopher Manno stands behind the students' performance of the songs, but was concerned about the video, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Manno discussed Monday the results of an internal investigation concerning the controversial songs, saying he and Denise King, principal of B. Bernice Young Elementary School, were "deeply disturbed" by the YouTube video that featured the school kids. He said he also apologized to the students' parents during a meeting recently.

The school sent the lyrics to parents in advance and received no complaints either in advance or on the day of the assembly, Manno said.

He said Charisse Carney-Nunes, author of young-readers biography, "I Am Barack Obama," was visiting the school, and the video was taken by her sister in violation of district policy that forbids a student from being photographed or videotaped without parental permission.

Manno said he sent reminder memos to staff about the parameters of videotaping or photographing students' images on school property. He said he wasn't "exactly sure" whether the district would take action against the videographer.

A memo also was circulated to teachers, reminding them to be "extra vigilant ... so as not to give the impression of promoting" a political ideology in lessons, he said.

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