11 men to face charges of planning terror strikes

11 men to face chargesof planning terror strikes
WASHINGTON -- The federal government has accused 11 men, nine of them U.S. citizens, of training in the United States to launch terrorist attacks against targets abroad.
In a 41-count indictment Friday, the men were "charged with conspiracy to train for and participate in a violent jihad," said U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty in Alexandria, Va.
"After the Sept. 11 attacks, Virginia jihad network members were told that it was time to engage in violent jihad, that it was appropriate for these members to take up arms in jihad," McNulty said.
The men are alleged to be part of an extremist Muslim organization called Lashkar-e-Taiba whose main goal is driving India out of the disputed Kashmir territory in South Asia.
The organization, whose name means "army of the righteous," is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations and is characterized as strongly anti-U.S.
The FBI arrested seven of the defendants in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania on Friday.
TV-signal piracy schemeproves costly to convict
TAMPA, Fla. -- A man who admitted scheming to steal satellite television signals has been ordered to pay $180 million in restitution in $500-a-month installments -- a payment plan that would take 30,000 years to fulfill.
Steven Frazier, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a scheme to manufacture and sell devices to decode satellite TV signals and allow people to get premium service for free. He also received a five-year prison sentence.
The scheme was thwarted when the FBI arrested Frazier last fall.
A federal judge ordered restitution Wednesday based on a formula of how much Frazier's intended victims, Direct TV and Echostar, would have lost had the scheme succeeded.
The companies estimate they could have lost $900 million. "We take this very seriously," said Larry Rissler, a DirecTV vice president.
Frazier's attorney, Kenton Sands, said his client is not expected to pay off the entire $180 million, but the installments will crimp his budget once he's out of prison.
North Korea warnsU.N. Security Council
UNITED NATIONS -- North Korea sharply criticized the United States in a letter Friday warning the U.N. Security Council to take a neutral stance regarding Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
The five-page letter, submitted by North Korean Ambassador Pak Gil Yon, was peppered with fiery language accusing Washington of threatening his country and violating international treaties.
Tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world have escalated in recent months as the communist regime admitted nuclear weapons programs and threatened to sell the technology to others.
The United States, which has dubbed North Korea part of the "axis of evil" along with Iran and Saddam Hussein's Iraq, has proposed the Security Council issue a statement denouncing North Korea's nuclear program.
President says rebelswere driven from capital
MONROVIA, Liberia -- President Charles Taylor's jubilant forces claimed to have driven rebels out of Liberia's ruined capital Friday after a four-day artillery battle that killed hundreds, and left trapped families burying their dead on the city's Atlantic Ocean beaches.
The rebels "are having it rough," Taylor declared, after a victory tour of his capital, where refugee families roamed without shelter and rising smoke marked rebels' fiery retreat.
Rebels declared a unilateral cease-fire at midmorning Friday, but rocket barrages, shelling and arms fire intensified until government forces managed to drive insurgents out of the port hours later.
The port, with its food warehouses, and the nearby city brewery had been among the focal points of combat as Liberia's rebels tried to push their way into Monrovia, driving home their three-year war to force out Taylor.
Shuttle recommendation
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Columbia accident investigators recommended Friday that before shuttle missions resume, NASA develop a plan for astronauts to inspect and repair a spaceship's damaged heat shielding in orbit.
It was the third preliminary recommendation issued by the investigators in advance of their final report, due out in a month.
During Columbia's doomed mission and the ensuing inquiry, "the lack of repair capability was cited repeatedly and may have been a factor in decisions made" while the shuttle was still in orbit, the accident investigation board said in a statement.
Right after the disaster, NASA managers insisted that even if they had known about the breach in the wing's leading edge, the seven astronauts could not have done anything about it because they had no repair kit.
Associated Press