A wave of civil unrest has swept through Albania as thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest against the proposed €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) luxury mega-resort project on Sazan Island, in the protected coastal area of Zvërnec. The resort is reportedly backed by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and Ivanka Trump, his daughter.
“After nine straight days of demonstration, public mobilization shows little sign of slowing”, wrote Albanian Daily News on 10 June. “As in previous evenings, protesters filled the square, waving Albanian flags and chanting slogans that have become synonymous with the movement.”
The slogans vary from “the homeland is not for sale” and “we want justice,” to more direct demands such as “Rama, leave” and “Edi Rama is finished”, all sung by protesters carrying pink flamingo props, gaving the movement its nickname of “Flamingo Revolution.”
Protesters are calling for the Sazan Island Resort project to be cancelled immediately and ultimately for the government to resign and the “kleptocracy” it represents.
The controversy began when bulldozers not permitted to be there started clearing land within the Vjosë-Nartë Delta Protected Area, a Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot which is home to endangered over 70 endangered species and 3,000 migratory flamingos.
However, it was the assault of a protester by private security guards at the construction site that sparked nationwide unrest.
“I saw it live myself, the gentleman they dragged away,” Akil Cala, a protester who was livestreaming the protest with a drone, told Balkan Insight. “That was the moment I completely lost trust. That’s when I felt we don’t have a state at all. Even if I had ever had a shred of faith, it collapsed right there.”
The area had the status of “protected landscape” since 2004 and was shielded by a law on protected areas since 2017. But a new law was passed in 2024, which some claim was done to pave the way for the Trump family. Initially conceived to meet European criteria, it included some clauses allowing for economic interests, granting the project a “strategic investor status.”
Prime Minister Edi Rama allows the project to go forward from this point. The Albanian leader is defending the business opportunities that the project will bring to the country’s tourism sector and calling the allegations surrounding the investment disinformation.
“We can’t shut our doors to global investors now. We’ve fought to open these paths—why would we close them just as the world is arriving?” said Rama. “While other countries develop by attracting international investors, we judge our progress by how well we resist them?!”
A criminal probe has been launched by the state anti-corruption agency (SPAK), looking into the shady privatisation of public land and the suspicious legislative changes made in 2024 that stripped the wetlands of their protected environmental status.
Mogadishu returns to calm after violent clashes: Somalia’s capital has returned to calm on 5 June after two days of intense urban warfare and “nearly 48 hours of intensive mediation efforts”, Somali’s newspaper Goobjoog reports. “The violence flared up ahead of planned protests over President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s decision to extend by a year his term, which expired last month”, explains Africanews. The government and opposition have traded blame for the violence, with opposition leaders accusing security forces of attacking residences of former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. The violence resulted in 13 deaths, 189 injuries and the displacement of 12,500 households, according to the UN refugee agency.
Protests in Seoul over local election ballot shortage: Protest enters its fifth day as hundreds gather at the SK Olympic Handball Stadium in Seoul demanding a complete rerun of the local elections held on 3 June “over ballot shortages at some polling stations”, reports South Korean press agency Yonhap. “Voting was temporarily suspended at 22 polling stations nationwide on Wednesday due to a lack of ballot papers”, according to Yonhap, after 50 out of 14,300 polling stations ran out of ballots. National Election Commission (NEC) Chairman Roh Tae-ak resigned to take responsibility for the failure, but President Lee Jae Myung said the incident was “difficult to comprehend” and asked parliament to conduct a fact-finding probe. Around 10,000 South Koreans were estimated to have gathered at the stadium on 6 June.
Another setback for Russia in the South Caucasus: Despite months of disinformation campaigns backed by the Kremlin aimed at destabilising the vote, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s pro-EU Civil Contract party won Armenia’s parliamentary elections on 7 June, securing 49.81% of the vote (64 seats) and a turnout of 59%. The pro-Russian Strong Armenia party, led by billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, came second with 23.29% of the vote. Analysts speaking to Vot Tak described one of the most extensive campaigns led by the Russian disinformation network “Matryoshka” in recent years, “second only to the 2025 Moldovan elections”. A total of 343 fabricated videos were identified and flooded Armenian social media, spreading fake news about Pashinyan’s health and the prospect of war with Russia. After winning, Pashinyan reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to European integration and called for a permanent peace process with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Magnitude 7.8 earthquake leaves 45 deaths in the Philippines: At 07:37 local time on 8 June, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Maasim, rated “destructive” by the Philippine Seismic Network. The tremor “has caused damage to infrastructure, and prompted evacuations and class suspensions” across parts of Mindanao, according to reports by Rappler. Buildings have been toppled, power and water services have been disrupted, and landslides have occurred in several areas. As of 10 June, at least 45 people have died and over 41,000 people have been displaced, according to the Office of Civil Defense. Tsunami alerts have been triggered in the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and Australia. Mindanao is the second-biggest island in the Philippines in terms of both size and population, and is home to around 26 million people.
Twin tremors shook the Greek island of Euboea: Two shallow earthquakes measuring 4.8 and 5.2 Mw respectively struck the island on the afternoon of 7 June with tremors “strongly felt in Athens and surrounding areas”, according to eKathimerini. Apart from some panic among residents and “damage to a number of houses on the island”, there were no fatalities or injuries. “Earthquakes of magnitude 5 are common in Greece and occur approximately every month in some areas of the country,” said Kostas Papazachos, professor of seismology, in an interview with SKAI 100.3.
Pre-season heatwave leaves record 101 dead across Spain: An unseasonably early and intense heatwave made May 2026 the deadliest month for heat-related mortality since monitoring began in 2015. Data from Spain’s daily mortality monitoring system (MoMo) confirmed 101 deaths directly linked to extreme temperatures last month. “Most of these deaths are not caused by heatstroke,” explains El Pais, “but by the deterioration of bodily functions when the temperature rises, usually in highly vulnerable individuals: the body becomes dehydrated and vital functions decline.“ The risk of mortality increases by between 9.1% and 10.7% for every degree that temperatures exceed the health risk threshold.
This little guy, a crowned crab spider that fluoresces under ultraviolet light and is called the “Smodicinus sp. nov.”, is one of 70 new species discovered on Angola’s Lisima Plateau by The Wilderness Project during a biodiversity survey they conducted in February 2026.
“Angola’s Lisima plateau remained one of the last truly unexplored landscapes on Earth”, the team explains. “Civil war, landmines, and extreme remoteness kept it sealed from science.”
You can see the new species in The Wilderness Project’s press release, or in their short film.
Thank you for reading,
Take care.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.