In The Mushroom at the End of the World, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing writes about using the “uncontrolled lives of mushrooms” as a “guide when the controlled world we thought we had fails.” The resilience of huge underground fungal networks contrasts with the fragility of our own human institutions. I would like to consider another type of mushroom,
What started as a coordinated propaganda effort of the government and EU bureaucrats to denounce a recent judgment of the Serious Crimes Appeals Court to reduce the sentence of Dritan Dajti from life to 25 years, is rapidly turning into the first disciplinary case in which we can see the new “independent” judiciary in action.
The highly unprofessional public conduct of Edi Rama has made international news, albeit in Malaysia of all places. The MalayMail tabloid was first published in Kuala Lumpur in 1896 and reaches a wide audience via its online platform in the country. Quite how Mr Rama caught the attention of Malaysian journalists is unknown at the time
Prime Minister Edi Rama congratulated Minister of Interior Sander Lleshaj on international drug trafficker Klement Balili’s decision to surrender. For two years the state police failed to arrest Balili although he was on the Most Wanted list. In a twit following the news of Balili’s arrest Rama wrote: “Klement Balili behind bars, a giant leap
Klement Balili, also known as “the Balkans’ Escobar”, surrendered to police this morning. Top Channel reported the news upon Balili’s lawyer’s confirmation. Balili was taken into custody by the State Police, accompanied by his other lawyer, Theodhori Sollaku. The high profile drug trafficker had been at large since May, 2016. He stands accused of international
Over the last few days I have had the privilege of sitting on a few meetings of one of the many student groups organizing the student protests and rethinking the Albanian university system. The student protests had started earlier in December seemingly in direct response to the raising of student fees, but quickly encompassed a
On Tuesday in Tirana, 13 European news agencies met to discuss cooperation against fake news and media bias. The conference was held by the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) and was attended by heads of new agencies who highlighted the necessity of coping with and counteracting the global phenomenon of fake news. The ATA stated that
One of the first decisions of PM Rama’s government when it first came to power was to exclude informal constructions from compensation. The amended Law on Legalization was first implemented in the New Boulevard project. The New Boulevard project was initiated in 2012. Before the work started, the then-mayor Basha and PM Berisha stated that
The US Embassy in Tirana published a comment today regarding some of the main organized crime cases currently under investigation or on trial: The Albanian Serious Crimes Court has convicted Emiljano Shullazi and his group, but we expect continued progress on Albania’s path towards strong rule of law. Yesterday, the Appeals Court of Tirana heard
The police operation intended to capture a Shijak organization suspected of trafficking drugs seems to have been launched on the request and under the direct pressure of the German government. All the arrested seem to have been part of an organization led by members of the Avdyli family of Shijak, that would traffic narcotics between