Un estudiante de 23 años, con una máscara antigás, conversa con otros activistas a apenas un metro de los antidisturbios ante el Ministerio de Educación. El edificio aún tiene los cristales de las ventanas rotos tras nueve días de protestas violentas. Es miércoles y la ciudad parece un campo de batalla donde se ha acordado una pequeña tregua entre las partes. Muchos comercios céntricos tienen el cierre metálico echado con un pequeño cartel que dice: “No nos hagáis destrozos. Estamos con vosotros”. Los antidisturbios se han empleado a fondo durante una semana y media para contener las protestas de jóvenes que reclaman la dimisión del primer ministro, Edi Rama, tras cuatro mandatos y 12 años en el cargo.

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On Tuesday, three weeks before the midterms, the White House went back to its news conferences after a 47-day hiatus following the departure of former press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Her successor, Katie Zacharia, made a very brief appearance in which she only took three questions and fell short of the cool aplomb with which Leavitt made a name for herself defending the policies of her boss, President Donald Trump, resorting to lies when necessary.

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Orthodox monks rise to pray at 4.00 am at the Monastery of Saint Gregory, located on Mount Athos, considered by Orthodox Christians to be the Garden of the Virgin Mary. Not even at that hour do the lap of the Aegean Sea and the birdsong prevail over the hum of the electric generators. Hours later, the roar of an infrastructure project funded by the Greek government and the European Union will join the soundscape. Modernity marches on by way of EU funds at this location that is home to 20 monasteries, where some monks drive up the slopes in all-terrain vehicles. Maybe in a few years electric cars will be seen on the streets, or maybe drones will carry food to the most inaccessible spots. What will probably not be anywhere in sight, however, are women.

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