Subject: Hong Kong's leader is picked by 800-member committee loyal to Beijing

From: "Otto Potts" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:55:12 +0900

Despite U.S. pledges of cooperation and new ideas on missile defense, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were warned by President Vladimir Putin to back off on missile defense plans for the former Soviet sphere.As part of that plan, experts from all nations covered by the system would be based at missile defense facilities to try to improve coordination and transparency.Russian President Vladimir Putin says any treaty must be "universal in nature.""The indirect fire attack resulted in three large explosions near the Dora market," the military said.Initial reaction from Lavrov and Serdyukov, though, was less gracious."I agree that we did not agree on anything today," one official told reporters. He added quickly that neither Washington nor Moscow had expected significant breakthroughs.U.S. military planners quietly have stepped up a review of alternatives in case the Turkish government restricts U.S. access to Turkish airspace or cuts off access to the air base at Incirlik, Turkey, CNN has learned.The United States has repeatedly rejected Russian demands to freeze U.S. negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic, and Rice did so again Friday, said three senior U.S. officials present at the sessions with Rice, Gates, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.The wounded troops were transported to a military medical facility for "emergency treatment and further evaluation," the military said, adding the incident is under investigation."Events have triggered more detailed planning for the curtailment or closure" of access to Turkey, one official said. The key issue is to find ways to ship supplies and other critical equipment into Iraq.