The Supreme Court is getting involved in the longstanding dispute between the Pentagon and two contractors contesting the government's demand for $3 billion over the Navy's ill-fated A-12 Avenger attack plane.

The justices on Tuesday agreed to hear an appeal from the Boeing Co. and General Dynamics Corp., the main contractors on a $4.8 billion project that the Pentagon, then headed by Richard Cheney, canceled in 1991.

The government is seeking repayment of $1.35 billion, plus more than $2.5 billion in accumulated interest, arguing that the companies failed to meet the terms of the contract.

The issue before the court involves the state-secrets privilege, which typically arises in national security and terrorism cases. Invoking the privilege, which the Supreme Court ratified in the 1950s, the government tells a court that allowing a case to go forward would force the disclosure of information that could damage national security.

In this case, the parties are arguing over whether the government's claims about national security have prevented the companies from defending their position that they should not have to repay the money. A federal appeals court sided with the government.

Both Boeing and General Dynamics have disputed the Pentagon's claims that they did not live up to the contract.

A judge has ordered an attorney for one of two Connecticut men charged with killing a mother and her two daughters in a 2007 home invasion to explain why he shouldn't face criminal contempt proceedings after speaking out about the case.

New Haven Superior Court Judge Roland Fasano on Monday ordered attorney Jeremiah Donovan to appear at an Oct. 6 hearing. Fasano said Donovan's statement outside of court Friday violated a gag order and could prejudice the trials of both men.

Donovan represents Joshua Komisarjevsky (koh-mih-sar-JEV'-skee), who is awaiting trial. His co-defendant, Steven Hayes, is on trial.

Donovan said Friday he did not believe he was violating the gag order and was trying to clear up a misunderstanding by the victims' relatives related to charges that Komisarjevsky sexually assaulted one of the girls.

A Serb basketball player has pleaded guilty to beating an American student into a coma. The plea was part of a plea bargain under which Miladin Kovacevic is expected to serve about two years in prison in his homeland.

Under the agreement, Kovacevic, 23, could be sentenced to two years and three months for the beating of Bryan Steinhauer in May 2008 near Binghamton University in upstate New York. Three months of that has been served already in the U.S. and Serbia.

The Obama administration says it is disappointed with the plea deal. The case strained relations between Serbia and the United States.

The First Municipal Court in Belgrade said Monday it will mail its final ruling to Kovacevic. It did not say when.

The case of a New York man accused of killing his wife and incinerating her in an oil drum is going back to court.

Opening arguments in the retrial of Werner Lippe of Cortlandt, N.Y., are set for Monday at the Westchester County Courthouse.

Lippe confessed three times to killing his wife Faith. He later recanted and insisted during his trial last winter that he last saw her being driven away from their home in October 2008.

Prosecutors never found a body or any trace of one. They alleged that Lippe, a jeweler, burned his wife in a backyard oil drum — which was not recovered. They said he could have used the acids he kept in his home workshop to get rid of bones and teeth.

A man has pleaded guilty to murdering a woman and her 11-year-old son.

Polish national Krystian Krysztof Rozek, 27, admitted killing Monika Wasko, 29, and her son Patryk in a knife attack at their home in Cae Hir, Flint, North Wales, where he had been lodging.

Rozek pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Mrs Wasko's husband Rafael, an official from Caernarfon Crown Court said.

Mrs Wasko died at the scene and Patryk died at Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool three days after the multiple stabbing. Paramedics arrived at the scene in the early hours of July 11.

A death row inmate has asked a federal appeals court to halt his execution and has refused to choose a method of lethal injection.

Lawyers for Albert Greenwood Brown filed court papers Sunday saying he is appealing a federal court judge's refusal to block his execution, which is scheduled for Wednesday. Brown also declined to choose between a one-drug lethal injection or execution by a three-drug cocktail.

Brown's refusal to choose means a three-drug cocktail will be used if the appeals court doesn't block California's first execution in nearly five years.

Brown also plans Monday to ask a Marin County Superior Court judge to block his execution while a recently filed lawsuit challenging the state's lethal injection regulations is pending.