Europe Albania Following a public opinion poll whose results were questioned by some, the cabinet has backed a draft law that would legalise the use of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes
Europe Albania Albanian President Bajram Begaj has signed three new laws to increase salaries, including his own, making him the highest paid head of state in the region with a salary of €3860 per month
Europe Albania Archival reports written by academics who were allowed to travel abroad and official documents on students' non-conformist tendencies show that some citizens were critical of the country's authoritarian communist-era regime
Europe Albania The competition for the design of Butrint National Park visitor centre has been won by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s KKAA studio; the project presents a roof of layered stone slate and a wooden structure that blends into the landscape of the UNESCO site
Europe Albania The number of people diagnosed with HIV and AIDS is increasing in the country, with eight cases confirmed since the beginning of 2023
Europe Albania Albania's herbal medicine sector is grappling with a shortage of workers due to emigration and has turned to foreigners from countries such as Bangladesh and India to fill the void
Europe Albania No girls under the age of 18 were married in Albania in 2022, the first time since the registration of marriages began
Europe Albania Unemployment, poverty, and disillusionment with the political elite is emptying small Albanian towns and villages of people, with the young mostly moving abroad; a trend growing in 2023 according to the first statistics issued
Europe Albania The country has declared the Vjosa basin, Europe's last unspoilt river, a nature park; the 13.000-hectare area will be subjected to high protection regulation
Europe Albania Albania ranked first in Europe as country with highest number of remittances from EU countries in 2021, totalling more than €1 billion; it is the highest amount in Europe in relation to country's population, amounting to approximately 6,7% of GDP
Europe Albania There have been a total of three anti-government protests so far in the past week, with opposition and supporters calling for the prime minister's resignation and attempting to disrupt the parliamentary session
Europe Albania Concern is growing in Albania over the privacy of a 'virtual community' app offered by the ruling Socialist Party and, with local elections approaching, over whether it is actually 'voluntary' as the party claims