YEAR-END BONUS Election politics are breaking the budget, money also for the “third age” HALF A SALARY FOR CIVIL SERVANTS 2 THOUSAND LEK FOR PENSIONERS Lack of funds, the administration gets only the 15-day pay and a 10,000 lek bonus, the rest in January. The government’s “half-rooster” for 550,000 pensioners. The cost to the budget is around 12 million euros

USA Page 11 School massacre, 24-year-old kills 22 children

KORÇË Page 9 Pregnant woman abused by her husband I want justice

E SHOQJA Pages 20-21 Elida’s account: The last days of the poet Perikli Jorgoni

The government has decided to grant a 2,000 lek bonus to 550,000 pensioners, which will follow the 10,000 lek bonus for more than 85,000 public administration employees. Meanwhile, only half of December’s salary will be paid to state-funded workers, and the rest will be received in January. The government has decided to grant a 2,000 lek bonus for 550,000 pensioners, which will follow the 10,000 lek bonus for more than 85, 000 public administr- ation employees. Meanwhile, only half of December’s salary will be paid to state- funded workers, and the rest will be received in January. TIRANA Genc Kondi The “Berisha” government will give a bonus of 2,000 new lek to the 550,000 pensioners in Shq- ipëri, in... continued on page 7

AFGHANISTAN Page 12 IN THE PHOTO: In the American soldiers’ afternoon center, where, alongside the Christmas tree, the weapons of war have also been placed. Everything takes place in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Christmas with Kalashnikovs in Helmand The many sacrifices of American soldiers BY ANILA BASHA IN THE PHOTO: In the American soldiers’ afternoon center, where, alongside the Christmas tree, the weapons of war have also been placed. Everything takes place in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Comment BY PREÇ ZOGAJ Integration in the hands of the people Albania’s third consecutive failure to obtain candidate country status in the EU is a bitter event in the fullest sense of the word. We set off first in the region and we cannot even manage to be last. We have a special history as a nation, full of serious accidents. We have survived and appeared at the dawn of the 1990s with our face turned toward the West of memory and dream. We have been and are the only country in this part of the European continent that does not have the luxury of playing with the popular aspiration for integration into Europe. Not through carelessness and distraction, nor through recklessness and Albanian-style phalangism. In fact, it is precisely with integration that we have played and are playing. By disrupting elections, by tearing down the rule of law, by turning corruption into a system, by collapsing justice. In other words, by moving with scandalous light-mindedness against the fundamental values of the United Europe. In an early drama by Gjergj Fishta, Skënderbeu asks the son who has just... continued on page 22

SECURITY CONFERENCE Berisha boycotts Arvizu, goes to the maternity hospital The invitation was at the Prime Minister’s Office. The ambassador condemns nationalism TIRANA ALEKSANDËR ARVIZU The US Ambassador in Tirana, Aleksandër Arvizu, said that the recent nationalist statements are a game of... Pages 2-3

XHEMI, A DECADE WITH “TOP CHANNEL” The presenter: Days with her son and television REDI JUPI, TRADITIONAL AND “TRENDY” The former footballer in the initiative against violence against women Pages 13-19

Rama attacks the MPs: Your only concern is the list Rama attacks the MPs: Your only concern is the list Page 6

... always one step ahead... Nachos and Mexican chips served with the corresponding sauces and cheese Address: Tirana-Durrës Highway, km. 7, Yrshek, Tirana; Tel: 042 406 500; 042 406 501; Fax 042 406 502; e-mail: neranxi@icc-al.org; www.neranxi.com