Eurasia

SOFIA – Bulgaria’s Sofia airport was temporarily evacuated and flights suspended for over an hour on Sunday, after a bomb threat which proved a hoax, police said.

TBILISI – Georgia and Russia pledged to repair their tattered relationship on Sunday after Mikhail Saakashvili was sworn in as Georgian president, the first concrete sign of an improvement.

MOSCOW – Russia’s armed forces chief said on Saturday Moscow could use nuclear arms pre-emptively if under serious threat, his comments marking no change in defense policy but underlining a renewed military confidence.

TEHRAN (FNA) Russia has delivered more than half the fuel for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, after a fourth consignment arrived on Sunday.

UNITED NATIONS – Russia on Wednesday backed its ally Serbia, saying Kosovo will never become a member of the United Nations or other international organizations if the breakaway province unilaterally declares independence.

MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will travel to Tbilisi for Mikhail Saakashvili’s inauguration as Georgian president, his press department said on Wednesday, despite tense relations between the two countries.

ANKARA/SULAIMANIYA, Iraq – Turkish warplanes attacked Kurdish guerrilla targets in northern Iraq on Tuesday, Turkey’s General Staff said, but there were no reports of casualties or serious damage.

TBILISI – Georgia’s opposition vowed on Tuesday to press on with street protests and mount a legal challenge to a presidential election which it says incumbent Mikhail Saakashvili rigged in his favor.

MADRID – Turkey’s government may seek an extension of its parliamentary mandate to attack Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq when the current authorization expires in October, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

ANKARA – Turkey plans to liberalize its media sector, allowing foreigners to own up to 50 percent of broadcasters instead of the current 25 percent, according to a draft law prepared by media watchdog RTUK and obtained by Reuters on Monday.