����ֱ��

TEPELENE, Albania: A strong wind blows scraps of plastic from an open landfill into the Vjosa River in Albania.
A few hundred meters upstream, a large pipe discharges sewage into the fast-flowing water. Elsewhere, diggers scrape gravel from the riverbed to make concrete, which experts say alters the river’s path and destabilizes its banks.
Last month, UNESCO labelled the Vjosa valley in Albania as one of 26 newly-designated Biosphere Reserves, part of an initiative to “safeguard some of the planet’s richest and most fragile ecosystems,” it said in a statement.
In many places the valley, which follows the river’s course from northern Greece to Albania’s Adriatic coast, appears to meet the criteria of an environmentally rich area. It is home to otters, threatened Egyptian vultures and rare plant species.
The river, one of the last uninterrupted waterways in Europe, meanders through tree-lined gorges and lush empty valleys. In 2023, the government declared it a national park.
The designation is a boon for Albania, a Balkan country of 2.4 million people that has seen tourism to its coastline and mountains skyrocket in recent years and is seeking to join the European Union by the end of the decade.
But beneath the sweeping scenery, environmentalists are worried for the future.
“International recognition papers like UNESCO do not solve problems,” said Besjana Guri from the non-governmental environmental organization Lumi (River) during one of her visits to the valley last week.
UNESCO said when issues arise, its experts will initiate consultations with the country’s government to verify them.
“The inclusion of a site in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves does not signify that all challenges have been resolved, but rather that the concerned country has committed to addressing them,” UNESCO said in a statement sent to Reuters.
In previous reports, UNESCO said it would follow rigorous criteria before granting Vjosa biosphere reserve status.
Albania’s Environment Minister, Sofjan Jaupaj, who keeps a framed copy of the UNESCO designation in his office, acknowledged the problems during an interview with Reuters. He said his ministry plans to spend more than 150 million euros to treat sewage water and close all landfills.
For many, the damage is already done. Oil wells and bitumen pits line the river, further risking pollution, they say.
Agron Zia, 55, took sheep and goats out to graze on the river bank last week. He motioned toward the landfill where plastic is kicked up by the wind and caught by the branches of nearby trees.
“When I was young, we used to swim here all summer. It hurts when your children cannot go because of sewage and rubbish,” he said.

PARIS: France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen said Wednesday she would thwart all action by any new government, throwing into doubt Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s ability to solve the country’s deepening political crisis with a coalition cabinet.
President Emmanuel Macron is facing the worst domestic crisis of his mandate, with the clock ticking down to a deadline Wednesday evening for a working government to be formed.
Macron has to decide whether to appoint another prime minister or dissolve the lower house of parliament and call new legislative elections.
Lecornu, who resigned in a shock move on Monday, arrived at the Elysee Palace on Wednesday evening to report to Macron on his efforts to find cross-party compromise to pull the country out of the crisis.
He is set to interviewed on French television at 1800 GMT.
Macron himself had no plans to speak or issue a statement on Wednesday evening, sources told AFP.

- Political deadlock -
France has been mired in political deadlock ever since Macron took the gamble last year of snap elections he had hoped would consolidate power. Instead, they ended in a hung parliament and more seats for the far right.
Le Pen’s far-right National Rally — the single biggest party in parliament — has urged Macron to call new snap polls, or resign.
Earlier Wednesday, she pledged to make the life of any new cabinet impossible.
“I vote against everything,” the three-time presidential candidate said, after her group refused to take part in talks to end the crisis.
Speaking at a livestock fair in central France, she compared French political life to a “rodeo.”
Their idea is “how long can I hold on while the horse tries to throw me off?” the 57-year-old said.
Le Pen’s anti-immigration party senses its best ever chance of winning power in the next presidential elections due in 2027, with Macron barred from running.
Since the snap 2024 vote, the legislative chamber has toppled two prime ministers in a standoff over next year’s austerity budget.

- ‘Convergence’ -
Lecornu resigned on Monday after criticism of his new cabinet line-up.
But with public debt at an all-time high, Macron convinced him to stay on until Wednesday evening to try to break the impasse.
After meeting centrists and right-wing politicians, Lecornu said on Wednesday morning there had been consensus so far on “a desire to have a budget for France before December 31.”
He also reported a “convergence that pushes back the prospect of dissolution” of parliament, before meeting left-wing leaders.
If Lecornu cannot reach a solution, Macron said on Monday that he would “assume his responsibilities,” apparently referring to early parliamentary elections.
It was not clear if the Socialists, a key swing group in parliament, would be on board with any compromise.
Leaving the premier’s office, Socialist party leader Olivier Faure seemed disillusioned a deal would not include scrapping a deeply unpopular 2023 pensions reform.
Former prime minister Elizabeth Borne, now outgoing education minister, had said late Tuesday it could be on the table.
The measure to raise the age of retirement from 62 to 64, which she passed through parliament without a vote by using a controversial constitutional power, sparked months of angry protests.

- Far right leads in polls -
Macron is under huge pressure to end the protracted crisis, even from his former allies.
Macron’s former prime minister Edouard Philippe on Tuesday said early presidential polls should be held as soon as a budget was passed.
Macron, who was first elected in 2017, has repeatedly said he would serve until the end of his second term.
Le Pen is currently barred from standing in elections due to a corruption conviction that she is appealing.
But her anti-immigration National Rally leads voting intentions for a possible early presidential election, regardless of its candidate, a new poll published on Wednesday suggested.
The far-right party would come out well ahead in the first round, according to the Toluna Harris Interactive poll for broadcaster RTL.
If Le Pen’s protege 30-year-old Jordan Bardella ran, he would win 35 percent of the vote, followed by former centrist prime minister Edouard Phillipe with 16 percent.
The poll of 1,289 people was carried out on Tuesday with a margin of error of between 1.4 and 3.1 points.
Macron’s domestic isolation contrasts with his visibility on the international stage.
Last month he recognized Palestinian statehood and he is seeking to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine together with US President Donald Trump.