u Disclosure of secret list of infrastructure sites ranging from pipelines to smallpox vaccine suppliers whose loss or attack by terrorists could critically harm US security. A February 2009 cable from the State Department requested overseas US missions update a list of infrastructure and resources around the globe whose loss could critically impact the public health, economic security and/or national and homeland security of the United States. It includes undersea cables, communications, ports, mineral resources and firms of strategic importance in countries ranging from Austria to New Zealand. u Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudds comments on China In wide-ranging talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rudd said Washington should be prepared to use force against China if everything goes wrong. He also described Chinese leaders as paranoid about Taiwan and Tibet, and said that his push for a new Asia-Pacific body was designed to contain Chinese influence. On the Middle East u Lebanons Prime Minister Saad Hariri feared another war with Israel would mean the death of his pro-Western alliance, leaked cables showed Monday. u Lebanon warned Iran telecom was taking over the country after uncovering a secret communications network used by the Tehran-backed Hezbollah Shia party two years ago. u One cable describes in detail the circumstances of Iraqi dictator Saddam Husseins execution, from guards telling him to go to hell to officials taking mobile phone pictures. u Another says Saudi Arabia was the key source of funding for radical groups including Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hamas. u Gulf states Qatar and Kuwait are lax in pursuing locals who donated to the groups, according to the cable dated December 2009. u Qatar is using the Arabic TV news channel Al-Jazeera as a bargaining chip in negotiations with other countries, despite the broadcasters insistence that it is editorially independent. On Afghanistan u European Union President Herman Van Rompuy told US Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman a year ago that Europe no longer believed in Afghanistan and that 2010 may be the last chance for success. He added that Europeans were only staying in Afghanistan out of deference to the United States. u A February 11, 2010 memorandum confirms that the Saudis were taking a role in talks with the Taliban, but that Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz does not want this made public until an agreement is reached. On Russia u US Secretary Hillary Clinton views Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as a behind-the-scenes puppeteer who chafes at his role working alongside President Dmitry Medvedev. On Brazil u Brazil has deliberately kept its anti-terrorism cooperation with the United States from public view, rejecting any suggestion that Islamic militants are active on its territory. Although there is good working-level law enforcement cooperation between the US and Brazil on terrorism related activities, the official position of the government is to deny that Brazil has any terrorist activity, a 2009 cable from the US Embassy in Brasilia to the US State Department said. AFP