Greek MPs have passed a controversial package of tax and pension reforms, vital for the receipt of the next installment of national bailout funds. Finance Ministers of Eurozone countries are meeting on Monday to discuss the payout. Yogita Limaye reports from Athens. All 153 MPs of the ruling Syriza Party voted in favor of new austerity measures. That'll passed by Greece's 300-member parliament. They include economic reforms that will see people paying more taxes and pensions being cut. The law had been strongly opposed by Labour Unions who had held mass protests in Athens for two days in a row. Greece's government has said the measures were necessary for the country to be eligible for more money from the bailout package it signed with the Eurozone last year.
The Philippines is holding a presidential election in which the established political order could be overturned by a little known local mayor. Rodrigo Duterte's brash campaign has galvanized voters. Jonathan Head reports from outside a polling station in Manila. This has been a very hard-fought presidential campaign. The clear front-runner in the last few weeks we've seen, the mayor of Davao, the southern city. This mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a very controversial man, very outspoken, very blunt spoken. With quite a lot of controversial policy platforms, things like federalism, for example, let alone, an incredibly tough attitude to crime. He surged into the lead, and that's given a real freesome to contest with the other four presidential candidates with some of them, in the last stages, even suggesting they should form an alliance, although it has not yet happened to try and block Mayor Duterte.
The South Korean government has dismissed as propaganda suggestions made by the North that the two countries should meet for talks. Steve Evans reports from Pyongyang. North Korea's supreme leader, as he's called, said that representatives from Seoul and Pyongyang should meet to find ways of easing the tension along the highly militarized border. South Korea's Unification Ministry responded that the suggestion was merely a propaganda drive with no sincerity. The pattern of relations between South and North over recent years is for tensions to ratchet up and then be eased as both sides tone down their rhetoric only for the process to be repeated.
Officials in western Canada say the huge wild fire which has now been raging for a week may have reached a turning point. A spokesman for Wild Fire Management in the province of Alberta said cooler temperatures had improved conditions for fire fighting. Alberta's premiere Rachel Notley said the blaze was now growing more slowly. She cast the estimated areas affected to just over 1500 square kilometers. It's expected to be the most expansive natural disaster in Canadian history. One estimate of insurance losses is about 7 billion dollars. This is the latest world news from the BBC.
Panama has agreed to transfer nearly 4000 Cubans who are hoping to reach the United States through a town in northern Mexico. The Cubans have been stranded in Panama for months hoping to reach the US under a decades-old law which gives them privileged entry and a fast-track to residency. Officials in Panama said daily flights to Ciudad Juarez would begin on Monday.
The Bolivian president Evo Morales has criticized Chili for building a military base close to the two countries' shared border. Mr Morales said it went against international norms. Firstly, this military base is illegal. If we take into consideration the international agreements, military bases can only be built 50 kilometers from the border between countries. But 15 kilometers, what's the aim? But the Chilean Foreign ministry has denied its established base saying to step up its military patrols in the area to tackle drug trafficking. Chili and are Bolivian are contesting access to the waters of the River Silala which flows through both countries.
The Invictus Games for injured service men and women are beginning in the city of Orlando in the United States. The event has the backing of Britain's prince Harry and follows the inaugural games in London in 2014. During the 5-day tournament, more than 500 athletes from 14 countries will compete in a range of sports. The main guests of the opening ceremony will be Prince Harry and the US first lady Michelle Obama.
A statue of kneeling of Adolf Hitler by the Italian sculptor Maurizio Cattelan has been sold for 17.2 million dollars at auction in New York, a record for the artist's work. The boy-sized figure made of wax and resin and entitled 'Him' shows the Nazi leader in a suit gazing upward with his hands crossed. The work is one of a number being sold by Christie's auctioneers. BBC news.