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.

GAZA – Gaza’s main power plant began shutting down on Sunday due to a fuel shortage caused by Israel’s closure of the Hamas-controlled territory’s borders, a move taken in response to Palestinian rocket attacks.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A Taliban roadside bomb killed five Afghan civilians and wounded two others in the south of Afghanistan, a provincial official said on Sunday.

Serbs vote on Sunday in a presidential election, with opinion polls giving hardline challenger Tomislav Nikolic a slim lead over pro-Western incumbent Boris Tadic, but not enough for a first-round victory.Here are profiles of the main candidates:

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) Half of Iran’s hand-woven carpet exports are destined for the US, head of the National Center for Iranian Carpet said here on Sunday.

TEHRAN (FNA) US President George Bush is making hasty efforts to correct his abundant mistakes in this last year of his presidency, but he won’t succeed in doing so, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Sheikh Attar said.

TEHRAN (FNA) Senegal’s Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio voiced pleasure in the expansion of his countries’ relations with Iran, and said he would pay a state visit to Tehran in the near future.

TEHRAN (FNA) Mexican deputy foreign minister voiced her country’s preparedness to attend a third round of joint economic cooperation commission meetings with Iran in 2008.

TEHRAN (FNA) Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in a message on Sunday demanded secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to arrange an extraordinary meeting of the OIC foreign ministers to deal with the inhuman crimes committed by the Zionist regime of Israel in Gaza.