Albanian opposition supporters block the capital’s streets in an anti-government rally

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian opposition lawmakers and their supporters blocked the capital's main streets for hours Tuesday accusing the government of corruption and demanding it be replaced by a technocratic caretaker Cabinet until 2025 parliamentary elections.

Hundreds of activists blocked traffic at Tirana’s main intersections accusing the Socialist Party of Prime Minister Edi Rama of corruption, manipulating earlier elections and usurping the powers of the judiciary.

Led by lawmakers, opposition supporters — some coming from other cities — were involved in sporadic clashes with anti-riot police trying to clear the streets. Others sat down in the street or tried to push police officers away.

“Rama go away,” was a call repeated by protesters in many places.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed to protect government buildings and keep streets clear for traffic and preserve order. They used water guns mounted on trucks to keep protesters away from City Hall and Wilson Square, and tear gas in at least in one case.

The conservative Democratic Party and its supporters in an opposition coalition also have been holding protests over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated.

“The Albanians’ revolt and civil disobedience cannot be stopped,” said the Democrats’ Secretary-General Flamur Noka, the most senior leader while Berisha is under house arrest.

As Noka was addressing journalists, he stopped speaking out of respect when a prayer was heard from the new Muslim mosque nearby. Albania's 2.4 million population is more than half Muslim. They live peacefully alongside Catholic and Orthodox Christians and other smaller religious communities.

The protest ended after three hours with the opposition leaders pledging to continue with rallies all around the country.

Albania holds parliamentary elections next spring, which Rama’s Socialists are poised to win, according to polls, partly because the opposition is divided.

The United States and the European Union have urged the opposition to resume dialogue with the government, saying violence won’t help the country integrate into the 27-nation European Union.

In October, Tirana started discussions with the bloc on how the country aligns with EU stances on the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions and the fight against corruption. Albania aims to join the bloc by 2030, according to Rama.

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Supporters of the Albanian opposition take part in an anti-government protest in Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Riot police stand guard a street in central Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 during an anti-government protest over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

An elderly woman is being cared after clashes between riot police and opposition supporters in Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 during an anti-government protest over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Police officers help a woman after a clash between riot police and opposition supporters in Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 during an anti-government protest over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Supporters of the Albanian opposition clash with riot police in Tirana, Albania , Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 during an anti-government protest over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Riot police wear their gas masks during a protest, in Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Police use water canons against opposition supporters in Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 during an anti-government protest over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Police use water canons against opposition supporters in Tirana, Albania , Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 during an anti-government protest over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Police use water canons against opposition supporters in Tirana, Albania, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 during an anti-government protest over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Opposition Supporters and riot police run out of a gas canister thrown by Albania's police during a protest, in Tirana , Albania , Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 over the arrests of their leader Sali Berisha and former President Ilir Meta in separate corruption cases, saying the charges are politically motivated. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

The Thanksgiving travel rush is expected to be bigger than ever this year. AAA predicts that nearly 80 million people in the U.S. will venture at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home between Tuesday and next Monday.

Another round of wintry weather could complicate travel, though. California and Washington state continue to recover from damage and power outages from last week’s storms. And an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers could cause flight delays at some airports.

Meanwhile, workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport began what was expected to be a 24-hour strike on Monday over their demands for higher wages. Only a handful of flights were canceled, and there were fewer than 100 delays.

Here's the latest:

There were about 1,872 flight delays into, out of or within the U.S. on Tuesday, with about 60 total cancellations, according to FlightAware, which tracks aviation trends across the country.

Those numbers are not unusually high for a high-travel holiday week. Currently, there are no projected delays — and only a handful of cancellations — for Wednesday or Thursday.

Boston Logan International Airport was experiencing delays averaging about 43 minutes at mid-day on Tuesday for inbound flights due to low clouds, FlightAware reported, while departure delays were increasing at Phoenix Sky Harbor — something attributed to high traffic volume.

A storm system currently moving across the West Coast is expected to bring heavy snow on Wednesday to the Colorado Rockies, the Bitterroot Range in Idaho and Montana and the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center reported.

On Thanksgiving Day, forecasters are predicting rain showers across portions of the Mid-South and the Ohio River Valley, with Arctic air plunging into the upper Plains, dropping temperatures into the teens and 20s.

More bitter cold is forecast for Friday from the Plains to the Great Lakes region, with high temperatures as low as 25 degrees below average and wind chills making it feel even colder.

On Saturday, near record-warm temperatures in all of the Great Lakes are expected to lead to a round of lake-effect snow, including heavy snowfall downwind of Lakes Ontario and Erie, NOAA reported.

Forecasters expect cold conditions to persist across the Northeast and Midwest on Sunday but don’t anticipate the wintry weather to cause travel delays on interstates or airports.

Lake-effect snow is expected to continue on Sunday across a wide swathe of the U.S. from Michigan to New York.

“As the holiday season kicks off this week, people are traveling more and have higher levels of stress,” Arkansas State Police Col. Mike Hagar said in a statement. “Road rage is a lose/lose situation that could cost you your life.”

The Arkansas State Police has reported an increase in road rage and aggressive driving, with more than 700 road rage cases reported so far in 2024, including 300 cases involving weapons. In 2023, the Associated Press investigated 284 road rage incidents with weapons.

The ASP urges people who encounter an aggressive driver to avoid engaging with them, increase the distance between vehicles, try not to make eye contact and never pull off the roadway to confront them.

Want to know what kinds of foods you can carry through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint? Here’s a list of some of the approved items:

Turkey? Yes.

Macaroni and cheese? Yes.

Gravy? Yes.

“Gravy and cranberry sauce need to be in 3.4-ounce quantities or less. And I would say, especially when it comes to gravy, I wouldn’t want that in my carry-on luggage,” TSA spokesperson Lorie Dankers said. “And I definitely wouldn’t want it in my checked baggage.”

Dankers said gravy is a prime example of a “make it at your destination” item. Stuffing is considered a solid and is OK to carry on. Pies are, too, but they require some extra scrutiny, Dankers said.

“Be prepared for that. You’ll be present for that,” she said. “But our officers are just making sure that nothing poses a security threat.”

Thanksgiving brings out infrequent travelers, and they often have questions about what they can bring on the plane. The TSA encourages them to download the agency’s smartphone app, which includes a “What can I bring” feature. TSA representatives also will be fielding questions on Facebook and X.

Officials are investigating the incidents that took place at Boston Logan International Airport on Monday. Both happened at a slow rate of speed.

In the first one, the wingtips of a Frontier Airlines plane and an American Airlines plane touched while at the gate on Monday afternoon, Samanta Decker, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Port Authority, said Tuesday. There were no injuries, but the planes were deboarded and needed to be checked for damage, she said.

American Airlines said in a statement that the contact was made as its plane, which had arrived from London, was pulling into the gate. The other plane was stationary. It said there were no injuries.

“The aircraft has been removed from service for inspection by our maintenance team,” its statement said.

On Monday night, a tug vehicle towing an empty JetBlue plane struck a Cape Air plane. The two Cape Air pilots were taken to a hospital as a precaution, Decker said. The tug has been removed from service, and the JetBlue aircraft will undergo a thorough inspection, JetBlue said in a statement.

“We cannot live on the wages that we are being paid,” ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said at a rally Monday. “I can honestly say it’s hard every single day with my children, working a full-time job but having to look my kids in the eyes and sit there and say, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to have a home today.’”

Timothy Lowe II, a wheelchair attendant, said he has to figure out where to spend the night because he doesn’t make enough for a deposit on a home.

“We just want to be able to have everything that’s a necessity paid for by the job that hired us to do a great job so they can make billions,” he said.

ABM said it is “committed to addressing concerns swiftly” and that there are avenues for employees to communicate issues, including a national hotline and a “general open door policy for managers at our worksite.”

Travel can be stressful in the best of times. Now add in the high-level anxiety that seems to be baked into every holiday season and it’s clear travelers could use some help calming frazzled nerves.

Here are a few ways to make your holiday journey a little less stressful:

▶ Read more tips about staying grounded during holiday travel

▶ Read more about Thanksgiving travel across the U.S.

Another round of wintry weather could complicate travel leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, according to forecasts across the U.S., while California and Washington state continue to recover from storm damage and power outages.

In California, where two people were found dead in floodwaters on Saturday, authorities braced for more rain while grappling with flooding and small landslides from a previous storm.

Here’s a look at some of the regional forecasts:

▶ Read more about Thanksgiving week weather forecasts

A Delta Airlines flight departs Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Travelers rush to their gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Olivia Bowdoin)

FILE - A view of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco, File)

A traveler walks to Terminal 3 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Travelers wait to drop off their bags and walk through Terminal 3 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Travelers arrive at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Olivia Bowdoin)

Travelers walk through Terminal 3 at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)