Greece opposed to IMF demands on labor reforms

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• Syria says foreign-backed militant groups in the city of Homs have violated the new ceasefire seven times since it came into effect on Monday. According to the Syrian Defense Ministry, although calm has prevailed on most battlefields across Syria, terrorist groups have launched mortar attacks on army positions.
   
• Syria has called for punitive UN measures against Israel following Tel Aviv’s recent attacks on the Golan Heights. The Syrian foreign ministry says the attacks are aimed at supporting terrorists and raising their morale. In the latest assault, Israeli jets targeted the Syrian army’s artillery positions in the Quneitra province.
   
• A UK-based charity has raised alarm over the deplorable situation of displaced children around the globe. The War Child has warned in a report that chronic underfunding of aid programs is having a devastating impact on child refugees worldwide. It says vulnerable children are being systematically denied fundamental rights.
   
• Iran’s foreign minister says Saudi Arabia has spent tens of billions of dollars to spread extremism through Wahabism. In an opinion for the New York Times, Mohammd Javad Zarif has called for coordinated action at the UN against the ideology. Zarif says Wahabism has inspired terror groups abusing the name of Islam.
   
• Greece says it cannot comply with labor reforms demanded by the IMF as a condition for a third bailout. Greek Labor Minister George Katrougalos says his government considers the IMF's demand as a ban on the rights of workers to negotiate wages and conditions on a collective basis.
   
• North Korea has accused the United States of pushing the Korean Peninsula to the point of explosion. This after the US dispatched two huge bombers to fly over South Korea on Tuesday in a show of force against Pyongyang. North Korea has slammed the flyover as a reckless provocation.
   
• Super typhoon, Meranti, has lashed southern Taiwan, leaving 300,000 households without electricity. The powerful storm, packing winds of over 200 kilometers per hour, has forced authorities to cancel many flights and shut down schools and offices. Meranti is forecast to make landfall in China's south coast on Thursday.
   
• Protesters from the US State of North Dakota have rallied outside the White House to oppose an oil pipeline project. The protesters say construction crews have destroyed burial and cultural sites belonging to Native Americans. Senator Bernie Sanders has also attended the gathering and called on President Barack Obama to take action.

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