North Korea rocket launch 'deeply deplorable': U.N. chief

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned North Korea's latest rocket launch and urged it to "halt its provocative actions," Ban's press office said in a statement on Saturday. "It is deeply deplorable that (North Korea) has conducted a launch using ballistic missile technology in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions on 6 February 2016 despite the united plea of the international community against such an act," the office said. North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Sunday carrying what it has said is a satellite. The U.N. Security Council plans to hold an emergency closed-door session on the North Korean launch on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Robert Birsel)