. The disease appears in the districts of central Albania. Poultry cholera is on the decline among chickens and turkeys. Page 9

EDITORIAL. By Genci ÇOBANI. Whenever the economic crisis comes up, few people are able to work out what the Government can do. It is human nature to believe even those who have it themselves. It is a fact that this harsh winter does not look much like the ordinary winters with damage that are typical of our country. It is not mild and wet; it is not even mild, but “windy and dry.” Naturally, the question arises: What can this Government do? Why should we blame it for the precipitation that is not falling?! Is the logic going to stop there? It is true that we cannot blame the Government for the situation, for the long winter clouds, for the drought that makes them even colder, and for the winds that are prolonging them until April. But if we had at least the civic courage (it is clear that political courage is out of the question) to ask what could have been done earlier—not so long ago, but just a few months earlier—then the Government would not only be responsible, but also guilty of offenses deserving severe criminal penalties, as is routinely the case for a serious crime. It is said, for example, that we cannot import more because that is all our electricity grid can handle. And that is true. But it is just as true that no serious effort has ever been made to improve this grid. There has been no money because the Government itself has not wanted to ask for it. The money existed (or, more accurately, its sources did), but because of the rulers’ great appetite for filling their own pockets, it slipped from their sight, just as they have deprived their own people of light. And the news has been announced that Macedonia’s Telecom was sold for around 500 million dollars. Without much calculation, it is easy to understand that the Albanian state lost around 300 million dollars from the sale of AMC. KESH specialists believe that this amount would have been enough to repair the entire existing electricity grid, and there would even have been money left to continue buying electricity from abroad. But AMC was sold for a pittance, like many other profitable enterprises; nevertheless, Albanians still believe that their Government can do nothing, and gather full of hope in the many bathrooms, in cold rooms, beneath the heavy burden of the long, dark winter clouds.

Fatos Nano launches an attack on the eve of the SP Congress . Clans within the SP clash in the Statutory Guarantees Commission. This time, the “war” between the two sides has begun over securing control of the SP’s highest body, its leadership, which currently has a balanced ratio of pro- and anti-Nano members. Thus came the first signal, initially given by one of the newly established commissions in the Socialist Party. Page 3

He was sentenced to life imprisonment after his second arrest . Prison chaos: Zani Caushi leaves his cell in Fier. He had insisted that he be transferred to Tirana. Zani Caushi causes chaos in the prison administration. The fugitive, now sentenced to life imprisonment, the most wanted man during the unrest of 1997, is causing problems even while deprived of his liberty. Recently, it was decided to transfer Zani from Fier prison. Page 7

Sniper rifles and anti-aircraft weapons in a tunnel . Police uncover weapons depots. 25 machine guns, 8 anti-aircraft guns and a mortar. Page 4

The Electoral Code contains the relevant article . CEC: dismissal for incompetence. The PR objects to the delay in political initiatives to dismiss the current CEC and amend the Electoral Code. According to PR deputy chairman Begeja, although a long time has passed since these two important elements of the electoral infrastructure were called into question—not only by the Opposition, but also by the international community that monitored the local elections—nothing has been done to review them. Page 2

. Albania’s AMC was sold for four times less than Macedonia’s mobile phone company. Our neighbors earned 500 million dollars from the sale. We got only 100 million. Page 5

In memoriam . Ceni i Lakut, the man who knew the “quirks” of bones. Special feature, pages 12, 13

. Page 24 Cartoon illustration of a human figure and an insect