World News Roundup: Hungarian tourist boat salvaged; Rohingya Muslims found stranded on Thai island

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Where's Johnson? UK PM candidate criticized for avoiding scrutiny

Boris Johnson, the favourite to succeed British Prime Minister Theresa May, was criticized on Tuesday by rivals who said the former foreign minister was avoiding public scrutiny in the contest. After three years of political deadlock over Brexit, the ruling Conservative Party is picking a new leader from 10 candidates and hopes to have a new prime minister in place by the end of July.

Exclusive: The thin evidence against a jailed Venezuela opposition official

At about 2 a.m. on March 21, eight Venezuelan intelligence agents drove to the home of the top advisor to opposition leader Juan Guaido and broke down the door. They searched the bedroom of their suspect - Guaido's chief of staff, Roberto Marrero - finding two military-style rifles and a grenade, the agents said in sealed court records reviewed by Reuters and being made public for the first time.

North Korean leader's slain half-brother was a CIA informant: Wall Street Journal

Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un who was killed in Malaysia in 2017, had been an informant for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The Journal cited an unnamed "person knowledgeable about the matter" for the report and said many details of Kim Jong Nam's relationship with the CIA remained unclear.

Hong Kong leader defiant as city gears up for fresh protests over extradition bill

Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam remained defiant on Tuesday, pledging to push ahead with a proposed extradition bill that would allow fugitives captured in Hong Kong to be sent to mainland China despite massive protests. Lam spoke two days after the city was plunged into a fresh political crisis after hundreds of thousands took to the streets to thwart the proposed law, which has generated unusually broad opposition at home and abroad.

Spain's Socialists, far-left agree to cooperate in government

Spain's Socialists agreed on Tuesday to cooperate on forming a government with far-left party Podemos, stopping short of announcing a coalition as they explore a combination of options for securing a majority in parliament. The Socialists won a national election in April but only a minority of seats, leaving Spain's political landscape deeply fragmented.

Hungarian tourist boat salvaged, two weeks after fatal accident

Hungarian salvage crews recovered four bodies on Tuesday as they raised the wreck of a boat from the Danube River in Budapest, two weeks after it capsized with a group of South Korean tourists on board. The Mermaid boat sank in seconds on May 29 after a large cruise liner hit it from behind under a bridge in the Hungarian capital during heavy rain. Twenty-six tourists and two Hungarian crew died in the worst disaster on the river in half a century.

With a sensible Brexit, Leadsom hopes to become Britain's PM

Andrea Leadsom believes her pitch for a sensible Brexit will not only break the impasse over Britain's departure from the European Union but also open the door to Downing Street for her to become prime minister. One of 10 contenders to replace Theresa May, the former leader of Britain's lower house of parliament says she has learned from her first attempt to win the top political job in 2016. Then, a misjudged comment about how being a mother better equipped her for the role helped kill off her campaign.

Rohingya Muslims found stranded on Thai island: officials

A fishing boat carrying more than 60 Rohingya Muslims was found beached on an island in southern Thailand on Tuesday, officials said. The passengers - 28 men, 31 women and five children - were stranded on Rawi island in Tarutao National Park in Thailand's southern Satun province after the boat suffered engine trouble, a park official told Reuters.

Sudan civil disobedience campaign keeps businesses in Khartoum shuttered

Many shops and business stayed closed and troops watched the streets of Sudan's capital Khartoum on Tuesday, the third day of a civil disobedience campaign called by the opposition to push military rulers to hand over power to civilians. The campaign follows a crackdown by security forces which killed dozens of people and the collapse of talks between the military and the opposition which had been aimed at bringing the civilian rule to Sudan after the overthrow of the authoritarian president Omar al-Bashir in April.

Turkey chafes at U.S. pressure over Russian defenses

Turkey said on Tuesday a U.S. House of Representatives' resolution condemning Ankara's purchase of Russian defence systems and urging potential sanctions was unacceptably threatening. Relations between the two NATO members have been strained on several fronts including Ankara's plans to buy Russia's S-400 air defence systems, the detention of U.S. consular staff in Turkey, and conflicting strategy over Syria and Iran.

(With inputs from agencies.)