Salvini said he had a high opinion of the Russian president “free of charge” and dismissed the billionaire philanthropist and liberal open-society advocate as a “speculator who 20 years ago caused one of the biggest Italian economic disasters,” when the lira was forced out of the European exchange rate mechanism (ERM) along with the pound.
“I have already sued people who said Russia was paying me,” said deputy premier and Interior Minister Salvini, adding that “I’ve never had a lira from Russia, or a matrioska, or a fur hat.” “There is a relationship of esteem with Putin, I believe he has done a lot for his people and with interventions against Islamist terrorism like the intervention in Syria: and I say that gratis, because I think so. Source Ansa news
Several hundred people have begun a journey of housands of kilometers through Central America to the US. The migrants are hoping for a more humane approach to migration under President-elect Joe Biden. Source Deutsche Welle
Craft had planned to visit Taipei this week, in the teeth of strong objections from China which views the island as its own territory. But the trip was cancelled by the State Department as part of a bar on all travel ahead of the transition to the incoming Biden administration. Source Reuters
- Italy’s former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said two ministers from his Italia Viva party would resign, effectively triggering the government’s collapse.
- Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he hoped Renzi would not pull his ministers from the Cabinet, warning the country would not be able to understand why the government had collapsed amid the ongoing health crisis.
- The southern European nation is no stranger to political conflicts, tensions and scandals. Source CNBC
