World news round up: Venezuela to US

Dozens of furious Venezuelan migrants fleeing economic misery in Venezuela for a new life elsewhere on Sunday defied rules requiring they hold a valid passport to cross the border from Colombia into Ecuador,

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Desperate Venezuelans defy Ecuador's passport rules and cross-border

Dozens of furious Venezuelan migrants fleeing economic misery in Venezuela for a new life elsewhere on Sunday defied rules requiring they hold a valid passport to cross the border from Colombia into Ecuador, and authorities appeared to be allowing it. Hundreds of desperate people who traveled days from Venezuela, mostly by bus but some on foot, were prevented from passing the checkpoint near the southwestern town of Ipiales by a regulation set by Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno that kicked in on Saturday.

Bodies of the family found five days after Genoa bridge collapse, death toll hits 43

Rescue workers found the bodies of three members of a family in the wreckage of Genoa's collapsed motorway bridge early on Sunday - the last people reported missing in the disaster, bringing the death toll to 43. The bodies were recovered from a car crushed under slabs of concrete, the Genoa prefecture said, five days after a 200-metre section of the Morandi bridge gave way in busy traffic, plunging vehicles and debris to the ground 50 meters (165 feet) below.

U.S. forces to stay in Iraq as long as needed: spokesman

U.S. forces will stay in Iraq "as long as needed" to help stabilize regions previously controlled by Islamic State, a spokesman for the U.S.-led international coalition fighting the militants said on Sunday. "We'll keep troops there as long as we think they're needed ... The main reason, after ISIS (Islamic State) is defeated militarily, is the stabilization efforts and we still need to be there for that, so that's one of the reasons we'll maintain a presence," Colonel Sean Ryan told a news conference in Abu Dhabi.

Iran says U.S. 'action group' will fail to overthrow Iranian state

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said on Sunday that a new Iran Action Group in the U.S. State Department aimed to overthrow the Islamic Republic, but would fail. He was speaking on the 65th anniversary of a U.S.-backed coup that overthrew a democratically elected Iranian prime minister, an occasion when anti-American sentiment runs particularly high in the Islamic Republic.

U.S. Catholics 'sickened' by sex abuse report, stand by their faith

Many churchgoers said they were sickened and saddened by a grand jury report detailing widespread sexual abuse by hundreds of priests in Pennsylvania but they would not let the Roman Catholic Church's cover-up dissuade them from their faith. Nearly 200 parishioners filled almost all the pews for Saturday’s Mass at St. Patrick’s Church in York, Pennsylvania, where six priests who at one time worked in that parish are accused in the report https://bit.ly/2vTa9oY of sexually abusing children.

New Pakistan PM Khan calls for austerity; wants bullet-proof cars sold

Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan called on Sunday for the rich to start paying taxes and said the country will begin an austerity drive to reduce debt, a campaign he will kick-start by selling his office's fleet of bullet-proof cars. In his first address to the nation as premier, Khan set out his vision for a "New Pakistan" and spoke at length about the need to reshape the country by introducing an Islamic welfare system, reducing poverty and slashing high debt levels.

Empty hotels, idle boats: What happens when a Pacific island upsets China

Empty hotel rooms, idle tour boats and shuttered travel agencies reveal widening fissures in the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, which is caught in an escalating diplomatic tug-of-war between China and Taiwan. Late last year, China effectively banned tour groups to the idyllic tropical archipelago, branding it an illegal destination due to its lack of diplomatic status.

At least 19 killed by Islamists in northeast Nigeria - survivor

At least 19 people were killed in an Islamist militant attack on a village in northeast Nigeria in the early hours of Sunday, a survivor of the attack said. The strike is the latest blow to Nigeria's efforts to defeat insurgencies by the Nigerian Islamist Boko Haram group and Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA). In recent months, the military has suffered its heaviest defeats in years, commanders have been repeatedly replaced, and special forces soldiers have mutinied.

Muslims begin annual haj pilgrimage amid heavy rains

As more than 2 million pilgrims from around the world braved stormy weather in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to begin the annual haj ritual, the country's health minister said there was no sign of any outbreaks of disease. Worshippers arrived in the kingdom last week for the five-day ritual - a once-in-a-lifetime religious duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, which retraces the route Prophet Mohammad took 14 centuries ago.

Afghanistan announces Muslim Eid holiday ceasefire with Taliban

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced a ceasefire with Taliban insurgents from Monday to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, days after fighting in the central city of Ghazni and a northern province. Taliban sources said their leaders had also provisionally agreed a four-day truce during the annual Islamic feast of sacrifice, though supreme leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhunzada still had to give his final approval.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)