Balla

Albania is fighting a large wildfire near the western town of Lac, the army and firefighters trying to keep away the flames threatening houses, the interior minister said on Tuesday.

Police showed video of a man being arrested and Interior Minister Taulant Balla said he was suspected of arson.

Socialist Party MPs said on Thursday that an opposition request to investigate controversial strategic investments in the country's coastal areas should be rejected on a technicality, arguing that supporting signatures wasn't collected in a proper way.

After winning an unprecedented third mandate to govern Albania, Edi Rama's Socialist Party has turned its attention to its only rival who currently has a senior institutional position, President Ilir Meta.

Illustration: David Maddison/Flickr

Bushati said prosecutors asked him where the information came from, and said he had refused to reveal his source, calling the meeting "a short meeting without much substance" while suggesting that the prosecutors should instead investigate how the personal data of the citizens ended up in the hands of a political party.

Albania PM Edi Rama voting in the village of Surel near Tirana in the 2017 elections. Photo: LSA

President Ilir Meta, who has called the changes unconstitutional, asked the Venice Commission for an opinion on the matter last October.

"Whoever has pained the prophet or has written articles in newspapers, magazines, books or produced movies in which he is offended? this is considered an act of war," imams Abdurrahim Balla and Bujar Hysa wrote in a letter sent from prison, which is being circulated on social networks.