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This Happened

This Happened — May 23: A Modern Mafia Assassination

Giovanni Falcone was assassinated on this day in 1992 by the Sicilian Mafia. Falcone, his wife, and three police officers were killed in a bomb attack of their car as it was driving on a highway near the city of Palermo.

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Who was Giovanni Falcone?

Giovanni Falcone was an Italian judge and prosecutor known for his work fighting organized crime in Italy. He was born in Palermo, Italy in 1939.

Who was responsible for the assassination of Giovanni Falcone?

The assassination of Giovanni Falcone was carried out by the Sicilian Mafia, also known as Cosa Nostra. The bombing was orchestrated by the boss of the Corleonesi Mafia clan, Salvatore Riina, with a bomb triggered underneath a highway near the town of Capaci just as Falcone's car was passing.

How did the assassination of Giovanni Falcone impact Italy?

The assassination of Giovanni Falcone was a shock to the Italian people and sparked a nationwide crackdown on organized crime. It also led to the creation of the National Anti-Mafia Directorate, a government agency dedicated to fighting organized crime in Italy.

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Society

Italy's Right-Wing Government Turns Up The Heat On 'Gastronationalism'

Rome has been strongly opposed to synthetic foods, insect-based flours and health warnings on alcohol, and aggressive lobbying by Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government against nutritional labeling has prompted accusations in Brussels of "gastronationalism."

Dough is run through a press to make pasta

Creation of home made pasta

Karl De Meyer et Olivier Tosseri

ROME — On March 23, the Italian Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Francesco Lollobrigida, announced that Rome would ask UNESCO to recognize Italian cuisine as a piece of intangible cultural heritage.

On March 28, Lollobrigida, who is also Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's brother-in-law, promised that Italy would ban the production, import and marketing of food made in labs, especially artificial meat — despite the fact that there is still no official request to market it in Europe.

Days later, Italian Eurodeputy Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of fascist leader Benito Mussolini and member of the Forza Italia party, which is part of the governing coalition in Rome, caused a sensation in the European Parliament. On the sidelines of the plenary session, Sophia Loren's niece organized a wine tasting, under the slogan "In Vino Veritas," to show her strong opposition (and that of her government) to an Irish proposal to put health warnings on alcohol bottles. At the end of the press conference, around 11am, she showed her determination by drinking from the neck of a bottle of wine, to great applause.

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