Our Man in Tirana

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 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...

Here's another article from the IPS agency. This one is about plans to build an oil-fired power station in Vlora .

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...