In the papers today - Thursday 26th June 2008

As many as 4.3 million people in England and Wales are at risk of dams failing, with deluges of water travelling up to 30km downstream, a report cautioned yesterday...

...Those under threat include children and students at about 800 schools or colleges, and police, fire and ambulance staff based in 400 emergency centres - The Times

Householders will be warned today to expect five years of higher home energy bills to pay for a green power revolution. John Hutton, the Business Secretary, will outline plans for a massive shift away from fossil fuels to wind, solar and tidal power, but will add that change comes at a price - The Times

Stagecoach, the bus and rail operator, has cast doubts over Network Rail's ability to complete crucial engineering work in time for a planned December timetable change. Virgin Trains, which is 49% owned by Stagecoach, is planning to run 30% more trains from London to Manchester from the end of the year if the work to upgrade the West Coast Main Line is completed - The Times

Rail commuters have been allocated less space than the legal minimum for transporting farm animals, official figures confirm. Statistics provided by the Department for Transport show that rail passengers can be packed into carriages that would be regarded as unacceptable for goats, chickens, calves and sheep under EU rules - Daily Telegraph
 
Gordon Brown will today pledge to cut energy bills as he unveils plans to build 7,000 wind turbines across Britain. He will insist that the plans have public support and are essential to help the country reduce its dependency on oil - Daily Telegraph
 
Government scientists experimented with "instant banana skins" and spray-on superglue in a brief to find a crowd control weapon. The research at Porton Down into a variety of "non-lethal" devices worthy of a comic book also included "entangler grenades" that covered protestors in nets; knock-out gas and remote control model aeroplanes that could fly into a crowd and knock down individuals - Daily Telegraph
 
WS Atkins, Britain's biggest engineering consultancy, has reported a 31% rise in annual profits despite being affected by the collapse of Metronet, the London Underground maintenance contractor - Daily Telegraph

MI5 and flood risk experts are at odds over whether to publish inundation maps highlighting areas under threat if any of the country's dams were to collapse. The Security Service says that the information could show terrorists where an attack on a dam might have the most impact - The Independent