Albania

12 members of a group that on Wednesday morning opened fire at the Albanian police, killing one officer and wounding two others, have been arrested.

The incidents happened in the Albanian village of Lazarat, "known as a 'cannabis kingdom' for its industrial-scale production of the drug," AFP reported.

Ibrahim Basha, 31, was killed on Wednesday and two other officers were wounded after coming under fire inside a lawless village in southern Albania.

The two wounded officers were airlifted to the National Trauma Center in Tirana and doctors say their lives are not at risk.

The left-wing coalition headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama won or is leading in key races in the local elections held on Sunday in Albania, but its victory is expected to be much less convincing than in 2013.

Albanians on Sunday go to the polls to elect 61 new mayors and 1,610 councillors in local elections that are considered a double challenge for the country.

Polling stations opened at 7am and close at 7pm. About 3.37 million Albanians are eligible to cast votes.

Prosecutors have asked the Tirana First Instance Court to sequester two bank accounts belonging to an arrested businessman, with $940,000 (?824,000) and 18.5 million lek (?131,000) in them, as well as two luxury automobiles.   

A classified ad by a agricultural cooperative in central Larissa offering 20-euro-day positions for crop pickers attracted more than 400 applications recently, with prospective day laborers including university graduates as well as long-termed unemployed.

The prosecutor's office has demanded the removal of 2,800 names from the electoral roll in Durres after an investigation revealed that the mayor had added thousands of non-resident voters to the list, based on falsified on rent contracts with a company owned by the municipality.

Albanian prosecutors have seized the bank accounts and shares of companies under the ownership of the Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti and his business partners following a long investigation into money laundering.

Albania delayed by a month to mid-July the bidding for companies keen to explore for oil and gas on five onshore blocks and indefinitely for two offshore blocks, officials said on Monday.

A week before offers for the onshore bids were due on June 15, Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri ordered the bidding date be postponed for another month to give companies more time.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on Monday in Belgrade received European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur for Serbia David McAllister.

According to the government website, Vucic "thanked him for having a good and realistic approach towards Serbia as a candidate for EU membership."