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KYIV, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Energoatom state nuclear company said on Friday Russian forces planned to switch off the functioning power blocks at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and to disconnect them from the Ukrainian power grid. In a statement, Energoatom said it believed Russia, which controls the power plant in southern Ukraine, was preparing to conduct a "large-scale provocation" there. Moscow itself accused Kyiv of preparing a "provocation" at the site on Thursday. (clip) Turning the plant off would pile new pressure on Ukrainian supplies, particularly in the south. Ukraine is already bracing for its most difficult winter...

Republicans attacked President Barack Obama on Sunday for his comments on a controversial plan to build a Muslim cultural center in New York, saying he was "disconnected" from the nation in an election year. Obama waded into the debate on Friday when he appeared to offer his backing for the center called Cordoba House to be built two blocks from the "Ground Zero" site of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York City. On Saturday, seeking to clarify his position, Obama said he supported the right of Muslims to build the center but would not comment on the "wisdom"...

OK, come on now. I mean, really. One picture cropped to remove a knife might be explained as incompetence or a simple mistake. But now we have two pictures from the “peace activists” that were cropped by someone at Reuters to remove knives in the hands of the activists, as they attempted to take soldiers hostage.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico wants a full investigation by U.S. authorities on Friday into a shooting on the U.S. border that left three illegal migrants dead and two injured. Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it had told the Mexican consulate in Tucson, Arizona, to ask local U.S. authorities to probe the attack by unknown gunmen, which took place on a back road often used by migrant traffickers. The ministry requested "an exhaustive investigation" into the incident, it said in a statement. Armed men stopped a bus full of people on the remote desert track near Tucson and began shooting at...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats enter the fall campaign with a clear edge in the high-stakes fight for control of the U.S. Congress, riding a wave of momentum that has them positioned to retake the U.S. House of Representatives and make significant gains in the Senate. President George W. Bush's low approval ratings and public dissatisfaction with the Iraq war, gas prices and the country's direction threaten Republican leadership in Congress and put Democrats within reach of victory on November 7, analysts said. "I don't think the question any longer is can Democrats win control of Congress, it's can Republicans do...

<p>A Reuters employee has been suspended after sending a death threat to an American blogger.</p> <p>The message, sent from a Reuters internet account, read: "I look forward to the day when you pigs get your throats cut."</p> <p>It was sent to Charles Johnson, owner of the Little Green Footballs (LGF) weblog, a popular site which often backs Israel and highlights jihadist terrorist activities.</p>

CENTRAL IRAQ (Reuters) - Some U.S. troops said on Sunday they had been told a pause in land advances toward Baghdad could last several weeks. They said they were digging trenches, laying mines around camps and camouflaging vehicles, but that the aerial and artillery bombardment on Iraqi positions in and around Baghdad would continue unabated. "It looks like they are going to be in this position for at least two weeks, the sergeant says," said a Reuters reporter with U.S. forces in central Iraq. "They're going to send in the aircraft to do the work before the grunts (foot...