Albanian government

Representatives of three of the four main Macedonian Albanian parties met Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama and Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati in Tirana on Thursday.

Moves by Italy to clamp down on Italian companies outsourcing work to Albania have alarmed the government in Tirana, which fears thousands of jobs are at risk.

An amendment that Italy passed on November to a law from 2012 on the rules about call centres raises fears that thousands of jobs in the call-centre sector could go.

A German Foreign Office source told BIRN that at the upcoming EU Council meeting on December 13, Berlin is expected to back the European Commission views that the EU should open accession talks with Albania once key judicial reforms and a judicial vetting law are in place.

In an interview to Skai TV and journalist Alexis Papachelas, Albanian PM Edi Rama said that there was no plan for the autonomy of Chamouria, an area in Greece disputed by Albanian nationalists. The Albanian PM stressed that the idea of a “Natural Albania” derived from those who feared it, adding that such a plan was neither “expected nor serious”. “I challenge you to search.

Tony Blair Associates, which is closing down, has also announced that it has completed and finished its tasks with the Albanian government, ending a period of collaboration that started in 2013.

Business ties between Albania and China are strengthening as Chinese companies acquire players in strategic sectors of the Albanian economy.

In addition, China emerged as the second-largest trading partner for Albania during March, accounting for 7.7 per cent of the country's total international trade, leaving behind traditional trading partners like Greece and Turkey.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama scored a propaganda coup on Thursday with a meeting with US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in Washington.

Officially held to mark the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations, the two leaders discussed terrorism, Albania's role in the Balkans - and baseball among other matters.

Albanian media reported on Sunday that Daci, also known as Ebu Belkisa, who had been fighting alongside ISIS in the Middle East, has died.

Local media quoted his relatives as saying they had been informed by Daci's wife that the 33-year-old former imam from the village of Leshnica, in the Pogradec area of eastern Albania, was dead.

The Albanian government is eyeing the tourist market in Russia at a time when Russian holidaymakers are becoming wary of such traditional destinations as Turkey and Greece.

The idea is to exploit the problems facing Turkey and Greece, when both are struggling with refugee crises, and when terrorism is also making itself felt in Turkey.

Canada's Banker's Petroleum has announced the sale of oil exploration and production rights to affiliates of China's Geo-Jade Petroleum for a price of $442.34 million.

The Canadian company announced the news in a press release on Sunday, adding that the Chinese company is going to pay $1.69 per share. The board of directors of Bankers approved the deal unanimously.