News of the day from around the globe, Jan. 12

Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said Wednesday that both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been invited to come to France after the conference to be informed of its conclusions.

Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson will become prime minister in the new administration, state broadcaster RUV reported.

Authorities dug out stranded residents as heavy snow blanketed Eastern Europe Wednesday and people struggled with travel delays, power outages and subzero temperatures.

An opposition monitoring group and rescue workers say air strikes have resumed in a Damascus suburb despite a Russian-Turkish cease-fire in Syria, killing at least one woman and injuring several others.

At least six air strikes Wednesday hit villages in al-Marj in the eastern Ghouta suburb, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian Civil Defense in Damascus suburbs.

Since the cease-fire came into effect on Dec. 30, fighting has raged in the area as government troops attempted to gain ground.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered government agencies to ensure free access to contraceptives for 6 million women who cannot obtain them, officials said Wednesday, in a move expected to be opposed by the dominant Roman Catholic church.