US fears catastrophic dam collapse in Iraq could kill 500,000; UK power Grid officials warn of possible energy crisis this winter...

31 October :: US authorities fear catastrophic dam failure in Iraq: "A catastrophic failure of the largest dam in Iraq would send a wave 65ft high hurtling down the valley of the river Tigris, killing up to 500,000 people, US engineers warned yesterday" reports UK's Independent; Army Corps of Engineers warns failure of the two-mile-across earth-filled dam could flood Mosul —with 1.7 million residents— with 60 feet of water... UK officials warn of possible energy crisis this winter, as natural gas prices are 40% above continental Europe; supplies likely to be undercut by plant outage, shortages could lead to electricity cuts if 300 extra megawatts are not generated for peak home-usage hours; officials moderated warning, saying reports are precautionary requests, aimed at increasing elasticit of overall system to face shortages... HRW reports Burmese military junta enslaving children as young as 10 years old to prop up its unpopular regime, finding that "Military recruiters are literally buying and selling children to fill the ranks of the Burmese armed forces"; the 135-page report 'Sold to be Soldiers' is available free online... On an intensifying crackdown against press by Azerbaijan authorities, HRW reports "On October 30, Azerbaijan’s Grave Crimes Court convicted Fatullayev, the outspoken editor-in-chief of the independent Realni Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan newspapers, for terrorism, inciting ethnic hatred, and tax evasion. The conviction is a culmination of a concerted effort by the Azerbaijani authorities to silence Fatuallyev and his newspapers"... NY Times reporting "All State Department security convoys in Iraq will now fall under military control, the latest step taken by government officials to bring Blackwater Worldwide and other armed contractors under tighter supervision"; Pentagon authority asserted could protentially bring contractors under Uniform Code of Military Justice, after State Dept. officials without authorization offered immunity to Blackwater guards accused of murder, Iraq gov't has approved draft law to revoke immunity granted to foreign contractors by Coalition Provisional Authority...