Results tagged “satellite”

North Korea claims a Sunday rocket launch was its successful attempt to put a satellite into orbit, but U.S. and South Korea officials disagree, saying that nothing entered space. North American Aerospace Defense Command's statement: "Officials acknowledged today that North Korea launched a Taepo Dong 2 missile at 10:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, which passed over the Sea of Japan and the nation of Japan. Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan. The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean. No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan." (For a successful launch, the third stage would enter orbit.) The U.S., Japan and S. Korea condemned the launch, which is believed to "be cover for a long-range missile test"; Russian agencies confirm N. Korea's claim that it was a successful satellite launch. The U.N. Security Council has convened an emergency meeting; President Barack Obama said, "With this provocative act, North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated itself from the community of nations."

A Pakistani man residing on Staten Island has pleaded guilty to providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization by broadcasting a Hezbollah television channel to New York customers. Reuters reports that 45-year-old Javed Iqbal, who moved to the U.S. more than 25 years ago, faces up to 15 years in prison, but according to the Post Iqbal agreed to serve a six and a half year bid as part of a plea deal. The FBI busted Iqbal in August 2006 and accused him of providing customers with a satellite TV package that included Al Manar (pictured), which the feds call "a terrorist organization masquerading as a TV channel." The NYCLU had argued that Iqbal was being wrongfully prosecuted under a statute that "includes a First Amendment exemption that prevents the government from punishing people for importing news communications."