RUSSIA: Russian President Vladimir Putin described the possibility of his country launching an attack on a Nato member as “sheer nonsense” today. 

But the Russian leader also warned any Western air base hosting the US-made F-16 fighter jets that are due for deployment in Ukraine would be a “legitimate target” for the Kremlin’s forces.

PALESTINE: The Palestinian Authority (PA) has announced the formation of a new Cabinet under new Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.

President Mahmoud Abbas, who has led the PA for nearly two decades and remains in overall control, announced the new government in a presidential decree on Thursday. 

Mr Mustafa, an economist, has vowed to create an independent trust fund to help rebuild Gaza.

INDIA: A court extended custody of a top opposition leader for four more days today after his arrest last week triggered protests, as the country gears up for a general election starting next month.

Arvind Kejriwal, New Delhi’s top elected official and one of the country’s most consequential politicians of the past decade, was arrested by the federal Enforcement Directorate on March 21. 

Mr Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi party denies the accusation that they have accepted one billion rupees (around £9.5 million) in bribes.

POLAND: The prime ministers of Ukraine and Poland said they had made progress today toward meeting demands of Polish and western European farmers for restrictions on Ukrainian food imports, but they announced no breakthrough. Farmers say grain dumping is undermining their livelihoods.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was in Poland for talks with his counterpart, Donald Tusk, to find ways of addressing the farmers’ discontent that has led to violent protests and blockades of Poland’s border crossings with Ukraine.