Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Violence mars voting in India's eastern battleground state

India's battleground state of West Bengal took the center stage in the fourth phase of a staggered general election on Monday after clashes broke out between supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party and a regional bloc. In West Bengal, a populous eastern state where Modi is trying to gain seats to offset likely losses in northern India, security forces chased away people wielding sticks after workers from Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took on those from regional Trinamool Congress, police said. Sri Lanka on alert for attacks as archbishop slams poor church security

Sri Lankan security officials have warned that Islamist militants behind Easter Sunday's suicide bombings are planning attacks and could be dressed in uniform, as the archbishop of Colombo complained about insufficient security around churches. The militants were targeting five locations for attacks on Sunday just passed or on Monday, security sources said. Turkey says UAE spy suspect committed suicide in prison

A man held by Turkey on suspicion of spying for the United Arab Emirates has committed suicide by hanging himself in prison, the Istanbul prosecutor's office said on Monday. The suspect, named as Zaki Y. M. Hasan, was found hanging from the bathroom door in his one-person cell in Silivri prison, west of Istanbul, when guards arrived to give him food on Sunday morning, the prosecutor's office statement said. Global military spending at new post-Cold War high, fueled by U.S., China - think-tank

Global military expenditure reached its highest level last year since the end of the Cold War, fueled by increased spending in the United States and China, the world's two biggest economies, a leading defense think-tank said on Monday. In its annual report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said overall global military spending in 2018 hit $1.82 trillion, up 2.6 percent on the previous year. Putin says Russians and Ukrainians would benefit from shared citizenship: Ifax

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russians and Ukrainians would only benefit from sharing common citizenship, the Interfax news agency reported. Putin said on Saturday Moscow was considering offering all Ukrainian citizens fast-tracked Russian passports, a move that angered some politicians in Ukraine which has been at war with pro-Russian separatists since 2014. Pakistan plans to bring 30,000 madrasas under government control

Pakistan plans to take control of a network of over 30,000 madrasas as part of a drive to "mainstream" the Islamic schools by bringing them under state control, the military's spokesman said on Monday. Modernizing madrasa education is a thorny issue in Pakistan, a deeply conservative Muslim nation where religious schools are often blamed for radicalization of youngsters but are the only education available to millions of poor children. Security beefed up in Tokyo as emperor prepares to abdicate

Divers scoured moats around the Imperial Palace and police dogs sniffed in bushes on Monday as authorities ramped up security for the start of Japan's new "Reiwa" imperial era. The new era begins on Wednesday when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne a day after the abdication of his father, Emperor Akihito, brings to an end the 31-year Heisei era. Spain's Socialists, short of majority, weigh partners for forming government

Spain's ruling Socialists were considering possible partners for a new government for the politically polarized country on Monday after they won a national election but failed to secure a majority. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faces a choice between a complex alliance with fellow leftists Podemos or joining forces across the political divide with the center-right Ciudadanos. Six killed in church attack in northern Burkina Faso

Unidentified gunmen killed one pastor and five congregants in an attack on a Protestant church in northern Burkina Faso on Sunday, government spokesman Remy Fulgance Dandjinou said on Monday. Burkina Faso has been beset by rising Islamist violence this year, but the attack was the first of its kind on a church in the religiously tolerant West African country, Dandjinou told Reuters. France in a rush to train skilled workers to restore Notre-Dame

France is in a hurry to rebuild world famous Notre-Dame Cathedral, and Romain Legoube, an 18-year-old apprentice carpenter, hopes to be among those chosen for the prestigious task of restoring its centuries-old roof. "It would be an achievement to be able to say that we participated in the creation of Notre-Dame," Legoube told Reuters.