Europe

11 Jan 2019; MEMO: The public prosecutor of Spain’s Anti-Corruption Court has issued an indictment against Saudi officials, revealing their involvement in the largest-ever corruption case in the country, Alkhaleejonline.com reported on Friday.

MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/: The next meeting of the joint ministerial committee of OPEC and non-OPEC states is scheduled to March 6 in Vienna, the Organization said on its website on Friday.

An extraordinary meeting of OPEC member-states will take place on March 5, prior to the OPEC+ meeting.

Furthermore, meetings in June were also scheduled. The subsequent OPEC meeting is planned to take place on June 9 in Vienna, followed by the OPEC+ ministerial meeting on June 10.

SUKHUM, January 11. /TASS/: Abkhazia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) will propose a date for a new presidential election in the country within the next five days, Givi Gabniya, a member of the Central Election Commission who represented it at the court hearing on the legitimacy of the presidential election, informed TASS.

"The ruling by the Court of Cassation states that a decision on holding new elections should be made within five days. The CEC will hold a meeting within the next five days," he said.

MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/: The newly appointed US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan, who is arriving in Moscow on January 16, looks forward to enhancing the relationship between the two countries and strengthening cooperation between Moscow and Washington, US Embassy in Russia said in a statement on Saturday.

SUKHUM, January 11. /TASS/: Despite the third day of protests in the country, the Abkhaz government is operating as normal, Prime Minister Valeri Bganba told TASS on Saturday, adding that the state is led by President Raul Khajimba, while resignation demands of the opposition are illegal.

11 January 2020; AFP: President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded Saturday that Iran punish those responsible for the downing of a Ukrainian airliner, pay compensation and apologise.

"We expect Iran... to bring the guilty to the courts," the Ukrainian leader wrote on Facebook, calling also for the "payment of compensation" and the return of remains.

ATHENS (Reuters) - At least twelve people drowned and 21 were rescued when their boat sank off an island in western Greece on Saturday, Greek authorities said.

Helicopters and ships were searching the area south-west of the island of Paxos for more survivors, the Greek coastguard said. Authorities said they had accounts of up to 50 people being on the vessel.

The Greek authorities said they had scrambled to the area after a distress signal from the boat which was taking on water. No further details were immediately available.

PARIS, Jan 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France’s premier will present new proposals on Saturday on the government’s hotly-contested pensions overhaul, seeking to appease unions waging a damaging, weeks-long transport strike.

After a day of meetings with labour bosses which he described as “very frank, very constructive and, I think very useful,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said he would unveil “concrete proposals” Saturday “which could be the foundation of the compromise” being sought.

ABIDJAN, Jan 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A child stowaway found dead in the undercarriage of a plane that landed in Paris has been identified as a 14-year-old Ivorian schoolboy, the transport ministry said.

A statement named him as Ani Guibahi Laurent Barthelemy, born on Feb 5 2005 in Yopougon, a rundown district of Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s economic hub.

“His identity was confirmed by his parents,” the ministry said.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Engineering giant Siemens will decide by Monday on its involvement in the development of a controversial Australian coal mine being built by India’s Adani, CEO Joe Kaeser said on Friday.

Speaking after meeting climate activist Luisa Neubauer in Berlin, Kaeser told journalists he had offered her a seat on the supervisory board of the group’s new Siemens Energy division. Neubauer did not join the news conference.

Siemens’ contract to provide signaling technology to the coal mine’s railway is worth 18 million euros ($19.97 million), Kaeser said.