Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. For Kremlin, Ukrainian election a choice between lesser of three evils

Before Russia annexed Crimea and backed separatists in east Ukraine, Moscow had a Ukrainian president who did much of what it wanted. Now, as Ukraine readies to elect a new leader, none of the main candidates look that enticing to Russia. Viktor Yanukovich, the last Moscow-friendly Ukrainian president, was toppled by protests in 2014 and fled to Russia, and Petro Poroshenko, his successor, has put fierce opposition to Moscow at the heart of his re-election campaign. Egyptian forces kill seven militants near Cairo: government

Egyptian security forces killed seven suspected militants in two operations in Giza, across the Nile from central Cairo, the interior ministry said on Thursday. Three of the militants had disguised themselves as electricity workers to plant explosives, but were killed in an exchange of fire after their truck was intercepted, a ministry statement said. One police officer was wounded. Algerian lawyers take to the streets to back anti-Bouteflika protests

Hundreds of lawyers in black robes took to the streets of downtown Algiers on Thursday to press President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down after 20 years in power, adding momentum to the biggest protests there since the 2011 Arab Spring. Security forces were deployed to monitor the demonstration but as with previous protests, they did not intervene. In sensitive year for China, warnings against 'erroneous thoughts'

China's ruling Communist Party is ramping up calls for political loyalty in a year of sensitive anniversaries, warning against "erroneous thoughts" as officials fall over themselves to pledge allegiance to President Xi Jinping and his philosophy. This year is marked by some delicate milestones: 30 years since the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square; 60 years since the Dalai Lama fled from Tibet into exile; and finally, on Oct. 1, 70 years since the founding of Communist China. Pakistan seizes religious schools in intensified crackdown on militants

Pakistan intensified its crackdown against Islamist militants on Thursday, with the government announcing it had taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as part of its push against banned groups. The move represents Pakistan's biggest move against banned organizations in years and appears to be targeting Islamic welfare organizations that the United States says are a front for militant activities. French cardinal found guilty of sex abuse cover-up

A French court convicted the Roman Catholic archbishop of Lyon on Thursday of failing to act on allegations of sexual abuse of boy scouts in his diocese, handing Cardinal Philippe Barbarin a six-month suspended jail sentence. He is the highest-profile cleric to be caught up in the child sex abuse scandal inside the Catholic Church in France. Movement at North Korea ICBM plant viewed as missile-related: South Korea

New activities have been detected at a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles plant, South Korean media said on Thursday, as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be very disappointed if Pyongyang rebuilt a rocket site. Movement of cargo vehicles were spotted recently around a factory at Sanumdong in Pyongyang, which produced North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the United States, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo newspapers reported, citing lawmakers briefed by the National Intelligence Service on Tuesday. Britain still hopeful of weekend Brexit breakthrough, says Hunt

Britain's government is still hopeful it can secure a Brexit breakthrough with the European Union this weekend ahead of a key parliamentary vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's deal next week, foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday. With only 22 days before Britain is due to leave the EU, May has yet to get her deal passed by Britain's deeply divided parliament, raising doubts and further uncertainty over Brexit, the country's biggest shift in policy in more than 40 years. Far-rightists cleared for Israel election, Arab party blocked

Israel's election board has approved far-right Jewish candidates accused by rivals of racism for next month's election while disqualifying an Arab party that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said supported terrorism. The Central Elections Committee's decisions, taken late on Wednesday, were unlikely to be implemented before court appeals, but stoked an already acrimonious race for the April 9 vote. Leader of hardline Hindu group in India defends beating of Kashmiris

The leader of a hardline Hindu group in India on Thursday justified the beating of two street vendors from mostly Muslim Kashmir by his members, saying "suspicious" Kashmiris had to be watched after a deadly bombing in the disputed region. The assault on the fruit sellers by the saffron-shirted activists has been widely condemned in the Hindu-majority country where the Feb. 14 killing in Kashmir of 40 paramilitary policemen by a young suicide bomber has stirred patriotic anger and calls for war with Muslim Pakistan.