Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Palestinian leader calls for U.N.-led peace conference early next year

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday called for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to convene an international conference early next year to launch “a genuine peace process” between Israel and the Palestinians. Abbas urged Guterres to work with the Middle East Quartet of mediators – the United States, Russia, the European Union and the U.N. – and the U.N. Security Council on a conference “with full authority and with the participation of all concerned parties, early next year, to engage in a genuine peace process.” ‘Never-ending nightmare’: Violence returns to Paris street where Charlie Hebdo was attacked

The stabbing of two people in Paris’s rue Nicolas-Appert on Friday brought violence back to the street where, five years ago, Islamist militants killed 12 people in the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Two journalists were wounded in Friday’s attack in what Prime Minister Jean Castex said was a symbolic place, outside Charlie Hebdo’s former offices. Knifeman in Paris wounds two at scene of Charlie Hebdo attacks

A man armed with a meat cleaver attacked and wounded two people on Friday who had stepped out for a cigarette in front of the Paris office building where Islamist militants gunned down employees of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo five years ago. Police soon after detained the man suspected of carrying out the attack, with bloodstains on his clothes, next to the steps of an opera house about 500 metres (yards) away. Peru to further open economy in October as coronavirus cases drop

Peru will push forward with a gradual reopening of its economy in October, allowing international flights to countries in the region and more people into its restaurants and stores, the government said on Friday, provided coronavirus cases continue to fall. President Martin Vizcarra said restaurants will soon operate at as much as 50% of their capacity, while shopping center capacity will rise to 60%. Bars, discos and cinemas will remain closed, Vizcarra said. Police sergeant shot dead at police station in London

A British police officer was shot dead in the early hours of Friday by a man who was being held at a police station in south London. Police said the incident occurred at about 2:15 a.m. while the man was being detained at the Croydon Custody Centre, where arrested suspects are processed. The officer was treated at the scene for injuries but died in hospital. Canada’s New Democrats will back Trudeau’s government, averting election

Canada’s left-leaning opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) on Friday said it would back Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a confidence vote to be held in coming weeks, averting the threat of a fall election. In a so-called Throne Speech delivered on Wednesday, Trudeau sought the support of at least one opposition party on a sweeping agenda to battle COVID-19, help those hurt by it, and foster economic growth. Military plane carrying air force cadets crashes in Ukraine, killing 22

A military transport plane carrying air force cadets crashed and burst into flames near a highway in northeastern Ukraine on Friday evening, killing at least 22 people on board, officials said. The Antonov An-26 aircraft crashed while trying to land during a training exercise, the General Staff of the Armed Forces Ruslan Khomchak said in a statement, adding that at least two more people were critically injured. Putin says Russia and U.S. should agree not to meddle in each other’s elections

President Vladimir Putin called on Friday for an agreement between Russia and the United States to guarantee not to engage in cyber-meddling in each other’s elections. In a statement ahead of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3, Putin called for a reset between Russia and the United States and said he wanted an agreement between the two countries to prevent incidents in cyberspace. Coronavirus cases pass half-million mark in France

The number of coronavirus cases in France has passed 500,000, authorities said on Friday after recording a near-record daily jump in infections. The total number stood at 513,034, health ministry data showed, taking France into a group of just 11 countries with more than half a million cases. The United States has the most with 7 million. Canada’s biggest provinces seek clampdown on social gatherings as coronavirus cases top 150,000

Canada’s two most populous provinces on Friday moved to clamp down further on social gatherings in a bid to slow a second wave of coronavirus infections that since the start of the pandemic now total more than 150,000 nationwide. Ontario ordered the closure of bars and restaurants from midnight to 5 a.m. except for takeout and delivery and said strip clubs would have to shut down from Saturday.