Putin’s potty mouth

The week's news at a glance.

Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin snapped at a French reporter asking about Chechnya this week, saying that Chechen separatists are terrorists who want to create an Islamic state in Russia. He said if the reporter wanted to become an Islamic radical, he should come to Moscow for the required circumcision, adding, “I will recommend that they carry out the operation in such a way so that afterward, nothing else will grow.” It’s not the first time the subject of Chechnya has provoked Putin to crude language. He once vowed to wipe out the “terrorists” everywhere, even when they’re sitting on the toilet—only he used a particularly vulgar Russian word for toilet.

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