Human Security Report

THAILAND: Troops Deployed As One Dead, Hundreds Hurt in Protests
AFP
Clashes between protesters and Thai police left at least one dead and hundreds injured, with the army deployed as months of political turmoil boiled over into violence, officials said on Tuesday. There were scenes of chaos outside Bangkok's parliament as police fired tear gas into the crowd of thousands, sending bloody protesters fleeing. Angry mobs overturned police vehicles and fired guns, AFP correspondents said. One female protester was killed during clashes, an official from a Bangkok hospital said, but did not reveal the cause of death. Eight police officers were shot or stabbed in the unrest, police said, which capped months of demonstrations aimed at removing Thailand's elected government because of its ties to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

NATURAL RESOURCES/ARMED CONFLICT: Nigerian Warning for Big Oil in Iraq
The Associated Press
Recurrent violence in oil-rich parts of Nigeria may provide a sobering lesson for oil companies hoping to work in Iraq -- a place that is much more dangerous despite the fact that attacks are at their lowest level in more than four years. Representatives of 35 international oil companies will meet with Iraqi government officials in London on Monday to discuss the bidding process for eight enormous oil and gas fields. If the contracts are approved, they could lead to the biggest foreign stake in Iraq since the industry was nationalized more than 30 years ago. About 4,000 miles from Baghdad, oil companies are doing damage control in Nigeria -- arguably the most dangerous place in the world where firms like Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp. currently operate. Three years of attacks in the country's Niger Delta have cut oil production from 2.5 million barrels per day to around 1.5 million -- demoting Nigeria to Africa's second largest oil producer behind Angola.

TAIWAN STRAIT: China Warns of Consequences for US Weapons Sales to Taiwan
Voice of America
China has warned that a U.S. decision to sell weapons to Taiwan will harm Washington's relations with Beijing.China's Foreign Ministry condemned U.S. plans to sell a package of military weapons to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own. The Pentagon last week approved a multibillion-dollar sale of missiles, helicopters, and other military equipment to Taipei. U.S. and Taiwan legislators have yet to approve the deal, but Chinese officials were quick to condemn it. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang says the move threatens China's security and will gravely undermine U.S.-China relations. He warns there will be consequences. He says the U.S. action has created obstacles for not only military exchanges, but every field of U.S.-China cooperation

UNITED NATIONS: Lives Lost Through Lack of Leadership, Britain Warns
The Guardian
Britain will issue a warning today that a lack of leadership in the UN's handling of humanitarian emergencies is 'costing lives', and will call for urgent reforms because natural and man-made disasters are increasingly frequent. In a speech to the UN in Geneva, Gareth Thomas, the international development minister, will say that conflicts, climate change and the scarcity of water and other natural resources, together with rising food prices, have combined to create an accelerating string of crises of unprecedented scale. 'The number of reported disasters over the past 10 years was 60% higher than the previous decade,' Thomas will say, according to a text of the speech made available to the Guardian. The humanitarian response, he will argue, has not kept pace.