Russia threatens 'military' response to missile shield

By Harry de Quetteville in Berlin Russia threatened a "military" response last night after America signed a deal to build part of its missile defence shield in the Czech Republic. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, signed the deal in Prague, laying out the terms for an American-manned radar base near the Czech capital. The radar is one half of a missile interceptor system which America says will shoot down weapons launched at it from "rogue states" such as Iran. Negotiations over the other half - a silo of interceptor missiles the US intends to be based in Poland ­- are stalled, and America has even sounded out Lithuania as a substitute if the Poles get cold feet. Despite American reassurances, Russia has consistently denounced the missile shield as Western military expansionism within the former Soviet sphere of... [read full story]