Trial, Political Scandal | featured news

Former Mafia-busting police chief Wang Lijun faces 15 years behind bars after the second major criminal case in China's biggest political scandal in years concluded today. But the guilty verdict left the public and analysts guessing if the scandal's central figure, disgraced former leader Bo Xilai, will himself face trial.

The one-day murder trial of Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai, concluded with prosecutors telling the court that she slipped poison into a glass of water to kill British businessman Neil Heywood after he got drunk. Gu killed Heywood, they argued, because he threatened the security of her Harvard University son.

Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich deserves a sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison for his convictions on corruption charges, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Prosecutors said Blagojevich, who was convicted of 18 corruption-related counts including that he tried to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama, should receive more time than his predecessor, former Gov. George Ryan, and a key former fundraiser, Tony Rezko.

The scandal-hit governor of the US state of Illinois tells his impeachment trial he has done nothing wrong.