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
An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander said: “Iran needs no permission from foreign countries” to test missiles. The US, Britain and France claim the tests flout restrictions on Tehran’s military program. Source: Deutsche Welle
Three people have been killed and 12 people injured, some critically, in a shooting on Tuesday near a Christmas market in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, police said, adding that the suspected gunman was on the run. Source: The Local
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has set off on a whistle-stop tour of Europe, after postponing a parliamentary vote on the Brexit deal. May had been faced with the possibility of a crushing defeat on the bill. Source: Deutsche Welle
