Weekend Reading

The IPS news agency have published more articles on Albania. A couple of articles look at the relationship between tourism and the environment. Another looks at the similarities between Albania and other countries in the region. Then there is an interview with Jozefina Topalli, Speaker of the Parliament and lastly a piece on Tirana.

Elsewhere, the IHT reports that attempts to elect a President are still going nowhere. Also going nowhere is the power supply situation with long blackouts anticipated in September. In the Southeast European Times Robert Austin suggests that the longer term outlook may be brighter following the appointment of a new director of KESH, Xherxh Bojaxhi.

I can confirm Austin's claim that Bojaxhi takes to the field with his staff since he turned up to read my electricity meter last week. (It's not that I'm special. It's just that the day before I had refused to allow his staff to do so on the perfectly reasonable grounds that none of them had any identification.)

Finally, BIRN reports that President Clinton has accepted the invitation to visit Albania and may be coming here as soon as early autumn. I hope you didn't throw away your flags and hats.