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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The handover of security control in Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi forces has been put on hold, the U.S. military said on Friday, blaming a sandstorm forecast to hit the region.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has suffered a humiliating defeat in a mid-term election for a vacant parliamentary seat, the latest setback coming exactly a year after he took power.

KHANTY-MANSIYSK, Russia (Reuters) - Russia President Dmitry Medvedev stressed cooperation at a summit with European Union leaders on Friday, striking a softer pose than his tough-minded predecessor Vladimir Putin.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel allowed fuel to reach the Gaza Strip's sole power station on Friday, but kept border crossings used to bring in humanitarian and commercial supplies closed for a third consecutive day, Israeli officials said.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe called on Thursday for a rerun of the 2006 presidential election in which he won a second term, after the Supreme Court ruled it was tainted by corruption.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundavarej survived a no-confidence motion on Friday, as expected, after three days of fiery debate that questioned his handling of the economy at a time of stuttering growth.

KABUL (Reuters) - Four members of the U.S.-led coalition force have been killed in insurgent attacks in Afghanistan, the force said on Friday, making June the deadliest month for foreign soldiers since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The party of former Pakistani minister Nawaz Sharif won the most seats in by-elections this week though voting for a seat Sharif was expected to win was postponed pending a court decision on his eligibility.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan quietly wrapped up a week of computer-simulated military exercises on Friday, keeping the annual island-wide training event low-key this year as relations improve with its old rival, China.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese high school teacher who controversially fled a classroom before his students during last month's devastating earthquake has compelled China to amend laws governing teacher-student ethics.

SIBUYAN ISLAND, Philippines (Reuters) - The Philippines halted a search for hundreds of bodies feared trapped inside a capsized passenger ferry on Friday after authorities learnt that 10 metric tons of pesticide was on board.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea toppled the cooling tower at its plutonium-producing reactor on Friday in a symbolic move to show its commitment to an international nuclear deal, a day after submitting an inventory of its atomic program.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States hopes a promise by Pakistan not to let militants use its territory to attack Afghanistan will lead to a crackdown on the fighters by Islamabad, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.

Finbarr O'Reilly, Reuters chief photographer for West and Central Africa, was born in Swansea, Wales in 1971 and started as an Arts correspondent. He joined Reuters in 2001, turning to photography in 2005 and winning the World Press Photo Award for picture of the year in 2006. In the following story, he describes a recent encounter with rebels in eastern Chad.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican police chief and his bodyguard were shot to death as they ate lunch in Mexico City on Thursday, the latest police slaying in a drug war that has killed more than 1,600 people this year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States hopes a promise by Pakistan not to let militants use its territory to attack Afghanistan will lead to a crackdown on the fighters by Islamabad, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.

MADRID (Reuters) - Prostitutes held colorful fashion parades in central Madrid on Thursday to demonstrate against plans by property developers to buy up premises in which they have long plied their trade.

CARACAS (Reuters) - The United States Embassy in Venezuela received a bomb threat on Thursday, an embassy spokeswoman said, though the embassy has only closed the parking lot and not the embassy itself.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Narcotics supplies have increased sharply in parts of Afghanistan and Colombia where insurgents are in control, helping them fund their activities, the United Nations said on Thursday.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Conservative Anglican leaders meeting at a rebel summit expressed frustration with the church's leadership on Thursday but indicated that an outright schism might be avoided.