Greece backs new pension reforms

Greece’s parliament has approved new reforms to the country’s struggling pension system, the latest move in a flurry of action required to secure new international rescue loans that will stave off bankruptcy.

MPs voted 213-58 in favour of a law that will merge debt-strapped supplementary pension funds, hours after the crisis-hit country’s largest unions held protests and a work stoppage against further wage cuts and other austerity measures passed in recent days.