TIRANA — Opposition lawmakers in Albania disrupted a session of parliament on Thursday, letting off flares and blocking access to the podium while a law on the Central Bank was being voted on, Reuters reported. The disruption is the latest escalation in weeks of student-led anti-government protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama — and it comes days after Rama's government unveiled heavy fines for people who stay at protests that turn violent, a measure Awaaz Punjab reported earlier this week.

Source: Reuters via WNCY

Opposition leader Sali Berisha, of the Democratic Party, told the chamber that the ruling lawmakers were the criminals and deserved the tear gas, rubber bullets, cracked skulls and broken bones — not the young people — before his microphone was cut off, Reuters said. Other opposition members surrounded him holding photographs of protesters injured by rubber bullets, and some held aloft blue flares, the colour of their party.

The new measures, adopted on Wednesday and in force immediately, also give police powers to temporarily restrict gatherings near schools, hospitals and government buildings if there is a risk of violence, penalise online incitement to violence and provide compensation to small businesses damaged in the unrest, AFP and Euronews reported. They must be approved by parliament within 45 days to stay in force.

Source: AFP via The Local Report

Student-led demonstrations fuelled by anger over perceived government corruption, a lack of jobs and poor education standards have engulfed central Tirana since mid-October and spread to other cities, Reuters said. Demonstrators have set fire to government buildings and banks, smashed shop windows and pulled up paving stones to throw at police, according to Reuters' account of the unrest.

The street movement followed months of largely peaceful summer protests against a luxury coastal development backed by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, and poses the biggest challenge yet to Rama, who has governed since 2013, Reuters said. Protests this week were mainly peaceful, and another demonstration is planned for Saturday.