World News Roundup: Iran threatens UK shipping in retaliation for tanker seizure; UK PM hopeful Johnson talks about sacrifice

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

U.S. dream pulls African migrants in record numbers across Latin America

Marilyne Tatang, 23, crossed nine borders in two months to reach Mexico from the West African nation of Cameroon, fleeing political violence after police torched her house, she said. She plans to soon take a bus north for four days and then cross a tenth border, into the United States. She is not alone - a record number of fellow Africans are flying to South America and then traversing thousands of miles of highway and a treacherous tropical rainforest to reach the United States.

Venezuela frees judge, journalist, 20 students: U.N

Venezuela has released 22 prisoners including the emblematic cases of judge Maria Afiuni and journalist Braulio Jatar, a senior U.N. official said on Friday. Twenty students were also among those freed on Thursday, according to U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and her office.

Naming of von der Leyen as EU executive chief not transparent: Juncker

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the process to appoint his successor, Germany's Ursula von der Leyen, was not transparent and marked an unwelcome break with the practice of choosing parties' lead candidates. "The process was not very transparent," Juncker told a news conference in Helsinki on Friday, replying to a question about how EU leaders this week selected the next president of the EU executive. The nominee requires European Parliament approval.

Not earning more money: UK PM hopeful Johnson talks about sacrifice

Boris Johnson, the frontrunner to become Britain's next prime minister, stumbled on Friday when asked if he had ever set his own self-interest aside in his career, saying he had sacrificed a bigger wage and finishing a book on Shakespeare. At a hustings event to try to win over members of the governing Conservative Party, who will ultimately choose the new prime minister later this month, Johnson was caught off guard when an interviewer asked him to detail when he had set aside his "own self-interest for the good of the country".

Former ambassador may be North Korea's new point man in U.S. talks: source

North Korea appears to have appointed a long-time veteran of international diplomacy as point man in the new round of denuclearisation talks with the United States, a diplomatic source in Seoul confirmed on Friday. At Sunday's surprise U.S.-North Korea summit at the demilitarised border between the two Koreas, the North Koreans informed the Americans that former ambassador to Vietnam Kim Myong Gil would act as a counterpart to U.S. Special Representative Stephen Biegun, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing negotiations.

Putin bestows top state honors on sailors killed in the submarine fire

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday bestowed top state honors on 14 sailors killed in a fire on a secret nuclear submarine in recognition of what the Russian military has called their outstanding bravery. The sailors were killed on Monday when a fire broke out while their deep-water research submarine was carrying out a survey of the sea floor near the Arctic, the Russian defense ministry has said.

'Speared' activists protest Spain's Pamplona bull runs

Dozens of half-naked protesters lay on the street with fake spears jutting from their backs on the eve of the Spanish festival of San Fermin on Friday, in a recreation of the technique used to weaken bulls in a bullfight. Ahead of the festivities in Pamplona, in which hundreds of people run from specially-bred bulls through narrow streets, the demonstrators were highlighting what they see as animal cruelty.

No breakthrough with Russia on INF treaty dispute: NATO's Stoltenberg

NATO and Russia did not make significant progress on saving the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in talks at the alliance headquarters on Friday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. Barring a last-minute decision by Russia to destroy a new medium-range missile that NATO says violates the INF, the United States is set to pull out of the accord on Aug. 2, arguing that it needs to develop its own warheads to deter Moscow.

Tunisian PM bans wearing of niqab in public institutions

Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed has banned the wearing of the niqab face veil in public institutions "for security reasons" an official source told Reuters on Friday. The decision follows Tuesday's suicide bombing in Tunis by a wanted militant.

Iran threatens British shipping in retaliation for tanker seizure

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander threatened on Friday to seize a British ship in retaliation for the capture of an Iranian supertanker in Gibraltar by Royal Marines. "If Britain does not release the Iranian oil tanker, it is the authorities duty to seize a British oil tanker," Mohsen Rezai said on Twitter.