TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia said on Friday it was cutting diplomatic ties with Russia over the Kremlin’s recognition of two Georgian rebel regions as independent states.”We have received instructions at the Foreign Ministry and we will cut diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation,” Deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze told reporters.

DUSHANBE/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s energy minister and a top oil company denied on Friday they were preparing to cut oil flows to Europe in response to threatened sanctions, a step Moscow never took even at the height of the Cold War.

ANKARA (Reuters) – An explosion rocked a gunpowder factory in central Turkey on Friday, killing two people and injuring another 12, Turkish broadcasters reported.