Venezuela opposition pushing for vote to oust Maduro

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has hailed military cooperation between Damascus, Moscow and Tehran in the fight against terrorism. Ali Shamkhani says the countries involved in strikes against terrorists in Syria should coordinate with the Damascus government and respect the country’s sovereignty.
   
• Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah says a rocket has targeted one of its positions near Syria’s Golan Heights. According to Hezbollah, the attack was carried out by al-Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, the Nusra Front. Earlier reports had indicated that Israeli warplanes have targeted a Syrian army post in the region.
   
• France confirms that three of its Special Forces have been killed in Libya. The announcement ends months of speculations that French troops along with Americans, Italians and Britons are deployed to Libya. They’ve been present in the African country five years after the NATO intervention threw it into turmoil.
   
• Israeli settlers have once again attacked Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. They have set a home on fire in the village of Duma, south of Nablus. Last year a fire by extremist settlers in the same village killed members of a Palestinian family including a toddler.
   
• Israel's parliament has passed a law that allows the expulsion of lawmakers accused of racial incitement or supporting an armed struggle against Tel Aviv. The legislation was put forward after three opposition lawmakers visited the relatives of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces to discuss the repatriation of their bodies.
   
• The Italian coastguard has rescued some 3,200 refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean. Italian Navy vessels, along with British and Spanish ships, conducted dozens of operations to save sinking boats off Libya. The refugees, on board more than two dozen boats, were fleeing war-torn countries in Africa and Asia.
   
• North Korea says it has conducted a ballistic missile test, simulating pre-emptive strikes against South Korean ports and airfields used by the US military. State media say North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally supervised the operation. This after Seoul and Washington announced plans to deploy an anti-missile system in South Korea.
   
• Venezuelan opposition leaders say they're one step closer to a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro this year. They've posted on Twitter documents that they say validate nearly 400,000 signatures requesting the referendum. The number is twice the total needed to trigger the next stage in the process.

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