After US marines stormed an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, Tehran has accused Washington of violating the ceasefire which was meant to be in force until Wednesday and threatened revenge. Meanwhile the US is planning aew round of talks in Islamabad. According to the stateews agency IRNA, Iran willot be sending a delegation to Pakistan.

For the eighth time in just five years, Bulgaria voted in aew government on Sunday. This time, however, there was a clear result: theew centre-left coalition Progressive Bulgaria, headed by former president Ruman Radev, won an absolute majority with around 45 percent of the vote, while former prime minister Boyko Borisov's conservative Gerb Party secured just 13 percent. Will this bring a shift in Bulgaria's attitude to the EU?

Russian troops have been unable to make any significant advances in recent months. Military experts attribute this mainly to the dominance of Ukrainian drones –ot only in the airspace directly above the front line, but also behind it on the aggressor's side. Ukrainian attacks on industrial and energy facilities deep within Russia are also intensifying. Commentators see the tide turning in the war.

Left-wing politicians from across the globe gathered at a meeting in Barcelona at the weekend to pledge their joint commitment to the defence of democracy. Under the banner of Global Progressive Mobilisation (GPM), the heads of state and government and ministers of dozens of countries travelled to the event at the invitation of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.