RIOTS They were demanding the release of the arrested man Laç Police Station attacked at midnight Page 7

New facts uncovered in the pyramid-scheme case file How the Hotel Ship’s 7.3 million dollars disappeared from the debt list Accusations against state officials arrive from outside Albania Page 4

EDITORIAL The provincial who is destroying the metropolis To administer the capital and the many problems it carries means, first and foremost, to consider yourself part of it. And for this, it is not enough merely to live there, nor even to have been born and raised there. A metropolitan mindset is cultivated through the influence of the conditions in which one shapes one’s character and education throughout life, and not merely during the seven years spent on the capital’s boulevards, at so-called high-society gatherings, or in the company of a miserable provincial who shouts and screams for precisely the opposite, because he fears his own classic boorishness, expressed in every possible way; from boasting about submissive women and turning venues that have unfortunately come under the command of Edi and his clique into shameful centers for exploiting women, to Edi’s earrings—although, in any case, he also plays around with them himself. Meanwhile, a not-insignificant crowd of sycophants and provincials applaud this charlatan’s pirouettes, sometimes hypocritically and sometimes stupidly, even when he destroys everything achieved in the metropolis by people more intelligent than him, with a metropolitan mindset and a capital-city upbringing—qualities Edi sorely lacks, and …nights, this person… [?] in his own upbringing throughout his life and not only during walks along the capital’s boulevards, at so-called high-society gatherings, or at snobbish balls and receptions inflated with hypocrisy and perverse emptiness. The current Edi, the candidate who has set his sights on Tirana, is like this. But yesterday’s Edi has never displayed a mentality more advanced than that of a person of this… In any case, the worst of all is that tomorrow’s Edi cannot step outside the ordinary logic of a classic provincial. … [text continues, cut off] … with the towers and the conditions… [??] … in a person shapes his character and a mentality more advanced than that of… …The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports also plunders the last “bastion” left to the children of Tirana, selfishness of pleasure-seeking adults. Children nowadays the streets. …now, even when he destroys everything achieved by people more intelligent than he is in the metropolis, with metropolitan logic and a capital-city upbringing—qualities that Edi and his admirers lack in abundance. Nevertheless, he still believes he has found the path that will lead him to victory, forgetting that he should have started this earlier, while he was being formed as a person and as a character.

Rama orders another destruction in Tirana A new cinema is planned to be built on the “ruins” of the former Pioneers’ Palace. And what is worse, it will not be a cinema showing films for children and teenagers, but a copy of “Millenium.” With this decision—that is, by choosing the site for the new cinema—the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports is also swallowing up the last “stronghold” left to Tirana’s children, leaving them definitively out on the streets, victims of the selfishness of grown-up “pleasure-seekers.” Children today can play or “have fun” only in the middle of the streets. Page 2

Private doctors work with state prescriptions Page 22

Execution Page 6

The village elder and the police deliver the threat Page 23

Crime & Power/Italy reports “The mafia is strongly connected to the politicians in power, which is why it is difficult for us to investigate and arrest Albanian mafiosi who operate under the name of various criminal organizations active in Italy, but in Albania.” This is what one of the senior officials of the General Prosecutor’s Office said yesterday. “We have several people on file and, at the same time, formally listed as arrested, but after political interventions, we have left everything unfinished.” Page 5

The bluff/11 Tirana units, municipalities without a budget The division of the capital into 11 municipal units has no positive impact whatsoever on the much-touted process of decentralizing powers. At first glance, this type of division, approved with great urgency by Parliament at the end of July and signed by President Meidani during August, is a positive step toward achieving the independence of local government. Page 3

List of students who must report today, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Italian Embassy, and the documents they must have with them Page 12

Today, at 10:00, a seminar on the topic “On planning the election campaign” will be held at Hotel “Dajti” in Tirana, organized by the American Democratic Institute with the participation of the PRSH Electoral Headquarters.