Tirana University

Albania's Public Broadcaster, RTSH, has vowed to maintain political balance in its reporting of the election campaign, raising hopes among media experts that the standard of information might change for good.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has raised eyebrows by vowing to raise the salaries of public sector workers by around 35 per cent, to levels equivalent than those in the region.

Some Albanian teachers and professors have criticised a government initiative to include religious education and history as a compulsory course in secondary and high schools.

Prime Minister Edi Rama on Friday announced the move at a ceremony commemorating the birthday of the Prophet Muhammed and the Minister of Education, Lindita Nikolla, confirmed the plan on Monday.

Albania has a higher level of gun-related deaths per head of the population than the United States, according to data from the country's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

It says the rate of gun-related deaths per 100,000 people in 2013 in Albania was 5.86 while in the US the number was 3.55.

Hundreds of students from different faculties of Tirana University accompanied by some of their lecturers on Wednesday staged a street protest against the new law on higher education.

The protest was organized by the "For the University Movement" activists, which attracted attention after they threw eggs at the Prime Minister's car one week ago.