SINGAPORE, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print and/or Web site editions on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL TIMES (www.ft.com)

-- China's Three Gorges dam threatens to become an environmental catastrophe if the government does not act quickly, senior Chinese officials have warned in an unusual public nod to the massive project's ecological impact.

-- Burma's military rulers launched a violent crackdown on anti-regime protesters on Wednesday, with security forces firing on peaceful demonstrations led by Buddhist monks, killing up to five people.

-- Lawmakers in Kazakhstan have approved a bill empowering the state to annul natural resource contracts, strengthening the oil-rich Central Asian republic's hand in its dispute with foreign oil groups led by Eni of Italy at the giant Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea.

WALL STREET JOURNAL (www.wsj.com)

-- Escalating clashes in Myanmar between antigovernment protesters and security forces pose a serious diplomatic challenge for China, which has long supported the country's unpopular military rulers and is now pushing the junta to negotiate with its opponents.

-- In unusually frank language, Chinese officials publicly acknowledged "hidden dangers" at the massive Three Gorges Dam, including landslides, erosion and pollution that could lead to an environmental disaster if not quickly fixed.

-- Shenhua Energy <1088.HK> raised $8.86 billion after pricing its Class A shares at the top of a range, making the coal firm's offering China's largest IPO to date.

AlertNet news is provided by