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Geopolitics

China's Bo Xilai Expelled From Parliament, Stripped Of Immunity

XINHUA (China), WALL STREET JOURNAL (US)

Worldcrunch

BEIJING – Disgraced politician Bo Xilai has been formally expelled from China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), and stripped of his legal immunity according to Chinese state media.

Xinhua news agency reported that the NPC had removed Bo from his post last month, but only made the announcement at this Friday’s bi-monthly session.

"According to the law on the deputies to NPC and to local people's congresses, his post was terminated," Xinhua said.

The announcement also said “Bo had abused his power, made severe mistakes , was accused of taking advantage of his position to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally or through his family ,” and "borne major responsibility" for the murder of a British businessman Neil Heywood.

Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai was convicted for the murder last month.

It is not clear whether the Bo’s trial will take place before the 18th Party Congress, which begins on Nov. 8, says the Wall Street Journal.

"I think the trial shouldn't start before the congress, as time is too tight, so the rumors that it will start in the next few days are incorrect," said Li Xiaolin, Bo Xilai’s lawyer. "It's a legal case and should not be handled as a political one."

The WSJ believes a trial could still happen in the next two weeks – and could last for a day only.

According to Li, his client is being held in Qincheng prison on the outskirts of Beijing, which is reserved for high-profile political figures.

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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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