Our Man in Tirana

Mark Mardell, the BBC's European editor, has made his first visit to Albania and is blogging about the country on the BBC website .

The latest article from IPS looks at the weakness of civil society in Albania. On RFE/RL Ismael Kadare discusses Kosovo . TOL joins the ranks of those discussing Albania's power crisis . BIRN reports on EU frustrations with the Albanian government's handling of police reform . BIRN is also anticipating fireworks in parliament as MP's returned to work this week. Apparently we had an earthquake yesterday but since it was at 7.08am I knew nothing about it. It would take more than 4.7 on the Richter scale to wake me up at that time. Saimir Strati, having already produced a mosaic portrait of Leonardo made from nails, has now produced a mosaic of a horse made from half a million toothpicks.

The Washington Post has discovered blood feuds .

Two stories from BIRN: Andi Beli, the previous director of KESH who was sacked in March of this year (I think) is under attack by the Office of State Control, a financial watchdog. According to BIRN the OSC is calling on the State Prosecutor to start proceedings against Beli. BIRN also reports that Lulzim Basha, the Foreign Minister, has invited Crown Prince Leka II to become an advisor on foreign affairs. I have to confess that I did not know that there was a Crown Prince. A brief search uncovered an entry on wikipedia , and a video from Vision Plus. The Jewish Advocate carries a story about Bujar Veselaj, whose father, Refik, rescued Albanian Jews during the war and later founded the Albania-Israel Friendship Association. The son has been granted asylum in the US after expert testimony backed his claim that Muslim fundamentalists had threatened his life. I'm not sure what to make of this story. On the one hand I think many Albanians - and outside observers - are complacent abo...

The Washington Post has a lengthy article on the phenomenon of sworn virgins . Elvira Dones , an Albanian born author and journalist has recently made a film on this theme. Also looking at women in Albanian society, Nicole Itano reports for Women's eNews on the experience of Roma women . MSNBC carries an FT report on the problems facing small businesses in Albania trying to cope with hours-long power cuts every day. The report quotes the Prime Minister's claims that Albania has reached a 'turning point' and that within four years the country will be exporting electricity. The Economist has a piece on President Topi . The author believes that the President will support measures to limit the term of office for the Chief Prosecutor, thus dealing with the Sollaku issue. In contrast to the Prime Minister's optimism, the Economist reports that 'plans for private investors to build new power plants are way behind schedule.' Forbes carries an AP story on US attemp...

In the Guardian Benji Lanyado reports on his visit to the Albanian Riviera. More from IPS - an article on Gjirokaster , and one on marketing the remnants of Albania's communist past to tourists. The Times reports on artist Saimir Strati's latest project - a mosaic of a horse made from about one million toothpick. This is a follow up to last year's project, a mosaic of Leonardo Da Vinci made from half a million nails. I saw Strati working on the Da Vinci mosaic last year in the Pyramid and he is there working on the toothpick horse at the moment. His website has some good pictures of the nail mosaic.

Following on from an earlier story concerning Albanian immigrants in Greece, the Financial Times has the story of one of those immigrants, Gazmend Kapllani, a journalist and writer. BIRN reports on the 13 million EUR fine imposed on the Top Media group by the tax authorities who claim that the group has been under-reporting its income for the last 5 years. Others, noting that Top Media has been highly critical of the current government, claim that the authorities are trying to silence any opposition. China, seeking to extend its influence through the judicious application of soft power , has been giving gifts to Albania. A couple of weeks ago it was 1,400 computers for use in schools; this week it was a load of balls . Good news for the aspiring middle classes and frustrated handymen out there: German DIY/home improvement chain Praktiker plans to open a store in Tirana in the summer of 2008. Finally, the funniest story of recent days concerns an offer by the Iranians to help Alba...

cafebabel has an article on attitudes towards Albanian immigrants in Greece .

Here are a few more articles I have come across in the last few days. The IHT is one of the few English language papers reporting on the Presidential election. The most recent report identifies a potential consensus candidate, Brigadier General Arjan Zaimi, but suggests that no consensus was forthcoming. With no candidates to vote for and no sign of agreement the country drifts closer to pointless elections. Elsewhere Christianity Today had a piece on trafficking , the International Water Power and Dam Construction magazine reports a proposal by an Austrian company to build new hydro plants on the Devol river, and the BBC has a story about Butrint .

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 h...

An article by Erion Veliaj of Mjaft giving his - very critical - perspective on Albania under Prime Minister Berisha for an American audience. A couple of reports from the US and the UK concerning visa and immigration issues affecting Albanians.

The Inter Press Service news agency has published three articles on travel in Albania - one is a general overview , one focuses on Berat , and the third is an interview with Ylli Pango , the minister with responsibility for tourism. The new website the minister refers to is still under construction but should be ready soon. All five of the Economist's reports on Albania published at the time of the Presidential visit are now available together .

Former US President Bill Clinton Might Visit Albania . I wouldn't be surprised if he brought his friend Tony Blair with him. I suspect Clinton would easily upstage Bush if he came.

You can find the press release regarding the UNDP report on 'extra-legality' in the Albanian economy here . The report is being produced by the Institute for Liberty and Democracy .

Albania gets a mention (pp. 55-56) in Dick Marty's second report on Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states .

Another article from the Economist .

Memories of a trip to Albania in 1989 from The Economist, and some photographs from the same era. Muslim evangelism is obviously going spectacularly well here, with today's Washington Times claiming that the population of Albania is 95% muslim!

While searching for decent news stories about the President's visit - without success - I did come across one more interesting piece on the Uighers from Guantanamo (available in Albanian here ). It's a shame the media mob who follow the President can't come up with more interesting stories like this one. Yesterday, while sitting at the Opera House cafe waiting for the motorcade to arrive, an older man at the next table spoke to one of the friends I was with - an Albanian man in his twenties. My friend told me that the man had said that when he was my friend's age he had been thrown into prison by the Hoxha regime. Now as an old man he was sitting watching the American President visiting his country, driving through a square where the former site of the statue of Enver Hoxha was sheathed in banners bearing the American and Albanian flags, and proclaiming their partnership. Wouldn't that have made a great story? Perhaps by the time they get to be White House correspo...

BIRN reporter Bisar Likmeta reports that a Euphoric Welcome Awaits Bush in Albania .

This makes the police's failure to deal with traffic accidents seem fairly excusable.