Why is this important: CNN’s coverage brings international attention to Albania’s remarkable journey from a repressive communist regime, once labeled the “North Korea of Europe,” to its vibrant transformation into a cultural and tourist hotspot. This renewed interest not only highlights Albania’s resilience but also showcases how the country is creatively repurposing remnants of its past. It enhances Albania’s image and promotes it as an appealing destination, offering visibility that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

Why is this important: Debates about the age of languages shed light on the roots of human communication and the historic and cultural heritage of a people. However, the challenge of accurately pinpointing when a language was “born” means that any claims about linguistic timelines inevitably spark controversy. This is especially true in regions like the Balkans, where language and historical interpretation are intertwined with national identity and can even have real-life political or social consequences. Heggarty’s study, published a year ago in Science, upends previous assumptions by suggesting that the Indo-European language family, including Albanian, is older than scholars have long believed, potentially reshaping our understanding of European prehistory.