Japan seeks NK rocket debris SEOUL – Japan said Thursday it wants to press ahead with a search for debris from North Korea's rocket launch in hopes of dissecting the country's missile know-how. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. John McCain urged China to use its influence to rein in Pyongyang a call Beijing rejected. “If we can confirm North Korea's capability to build a multistage rocket and technology to separate it as well as to control its posture and thrust force, that means a possibility that the North's ballistic missile development is progressing rapidly,” Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada Hamada told lawmakers. He said, however, that technical difficulties and concerns about cost may make it difficult to renew the search. McCain said stronger measures were needed in response to the launch, including sanctions at the UN Security Council. – AP UK police suspend G20 protest cop LONDON – London's police force says it has suspended an officer caught on camera pushing a man, Ian Tomlinson who later died of a heart attack at a G-20 protest. Video footage shows an officer appearing to hit Tomlinson with his baton before shoving him to the ground. The Metropolitan Police said Thursday that the officer, a constable, had been suspended. His name was not released. Britain's police watchdog has ordered a second autopsy to see whether police behavior contributed to Tomlinson's death. Forty-seven year old Tomlinson was walking home from work when he got caught up in the protest. – AP France rejects Internet piracy bill PARIS – French lawmakers have unexpectedly rejected a bill that would have cut off the Internet connections of people who illegally download music or films. It would have also created the world's first government agency to track and punish those who steal music and film on the Internet. The contested bill had initially passed the lower house of parliament last week but was rejected in the National Assembly by a vote of 21-15. The music and film industry had supported the bill but critics said it will be too tough to apply and encroaches on freedoms. – AP Italy quake toll rises to 283 L'AQUILA - Three days after the quake leaving the historic center uninhabitable and halted nearly all economic activity, the death toll reached 283, including 20 children and teens, police said. Premier Silvio Berlusconi said the government also had increased the sum allocated for emergency aid to $133 million with reconstruction efforts estimated in the billions. Aftershocks rattled the medieval town, with the sharpest at 9:38 P.M. The shaking lasted a minute and was felt in Rome some 110 kilometers away and was registered 4.9 on the Richter scale. – Reuters ‘Baseless' charges on reporter: US WASHINGTON - Charges of espionage presented against a US-Iranian journalist held since late January at a Tehran prison are “baseless,” a US State Department spokesman said Thursday. “We're deeply concerned about the Iranian government announcement that Roxana Saberi has been charged with espionage,” said State Department spokesman Robert Wood. In Iran, deputy prosecutor Hassan Haddad said Wednesday that Saberi, 31, was charged with “carrying out spying activities under the guise of being a reporter.”
