Socialist government

A pro-opposition media group in Albania on Friday accused the Socialist government of Prime Minister Edi Rama of harassing its owner businesses to force it to change its editorial line - an accusation the government has rejected.

Rama promised to fight corruption and organised crime, reform the healthcare and education systems, create 300,000 new jobs and accelerate EU integration.

Paradoxically, instead of moving the country forward, his premiership has become a major setback for the country.

A passenger being checked at Tirana airport amid fears of the spread of the coronavirus, on February 24 2020. Photo: LSA

Prosecutors said they suspected fearful messages were being spread mainly through WhattsApp.

The prosecutor's announcement on Monday followed an eruption of coronavirus cases in nearby Italy, a country with which Albania has multiple links.

French President Emmanuel Macron has made his first major intervention in the corporate world by nationalising a shipyard to stop it falling into Italian hands.

In a move that shows the limits of the new government’s economic liberalism, the finance ministry on Thursday said the state was exercising its pre-emption right to buy out all the shareholders in STX France.

Two people died yesterday during protests in Venezuela, while 9 are injured, reported Associated Press.

When 42 percent of the municipalities which were included in the so-called Kallikratis overhaul of local authorities in 2010 have yet to post approved balance sheets for use in 2015, and when among them there are 18 municipalities that cannot meet the relevant obligation from 2011, the conclusion is that the majority of the country's local governments are struggling to modernize.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has named a group of relative unknowns to senior government cabinet posts over traditional allies after a series of high-profile resignations.

As a spokesman announced the names of ministers appointed, political analysts said many voters would be left asking: “Who?”

Newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron appointed his first government on Wednesday, naming veteran Socialist Jean-Yves Le Drian to foreign affairs and European lawmaker Sylvie Goulard as defence minister, reported AFP.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called for a new constitution May 1 as he fights to quell a crisis that has led to more than a month of protests against him and deadly street violence.

Pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron and anti-immigration leader Marine Le Pen began a final duel for the French Presidency on April 24, after a first round of voting delivered a stunning blow to the traditional political class.