NewsHour

Conflict Insights Group tracked Colombian mercenaries fighting in Sudan for the RSF via their cell phones. They were recruited and trained at the behest of the United Arab Emirates, the report claims, allegations refuted by Abu Dhabi.

Also in the programme: European Union ambassadors have approved a $100 billion loan to Ukraine; and a playwright who dramatised Leicester City's improbable Premier League title of a decade ago, on how the club have been related to the third tier of English football.

(Photo: Supporters of Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), arrive for a meeting in Aprag village, Sudan, on 22 June 2019. Credit: Reuters/Umit Bektas)

There's still no sign that either the US or Iran are sending negotiating teams to Pakistan for a new round of negotiations. President Trump has announced an extension to the ceasefire with Iran until talks come to a conclusion. In a social media post, he said the US blockade of Iranian ports would continue until Tehran presented what he called a "unified proposal".

Also in the programme: Hungary's LGBTQ community welcomes a likely end to years of repression. And why has the boss of a big US tech company been branded a global supervillain by his critics?

(Photo: Pakistani security officials stand guard on a road leading to the Red Zone, where most diplomatic missions and government offices are located, including the venue for the expected second round of US-Iran peace talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, 21 April 2026.Credit: SOHAIL SHAHZAD/EPA/Shutterstock)

A senior Iranian military officer says the country's armed forces are ready to deliver an immediate response to any renewed hostilities by the US and Israel. The commander, Ali Abdollahi, was speaking with a two-week ceasefire between Washington and Tehran due to expire on Wednesday. It is still unclear whether peace talks in Pakistan will go ahead. We hear from Nate Swanson who served on the Trump Administration’s Iran negotiating team.

Also in the programme: We look at Apple's new boss; and how archery can help women having breast cancer treatment.

(Photo: A banner with a picture of Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is displayed during a ceasefire between the US and Iran. Tehran, April 20, 2026. Credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

Confusion surrounds the second round of talks scheduled in Pakistan between US and Iranian officials. Also in the programme: the immunotherapy that could save cancer patients; and comparisons between the King of Horror, Stephen King and Shakespeare.

Photograph: Pakistani security officers outside Islamabad's Red Zone, where most diplomatic missions are based. Credit: Shutterstock

The BBC's Lyse Doucet has been speaking to the senior Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi, the Chairman of Iran's Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee. He calls America "the world's biggest pirate".

Also in the programme: A BBC investigation finds that British soldiers stationed in Kenya fathered children with local women and in some cases, abandoned them. And a robot wins the Beijing half marathon - is this technological progress or a dystopian nightmare?

(Photo: Iranians walk past an anti-USA and anti-Israel mural on a street in Tehran, Iran, 20 April 2026. Conflict between Iran and the US over the Strait of Hormuz continues as Iran again closed the Strait. Credit: Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/Shutterstock)

President Trump says a US delegation will arrive in Pakistan on Monday for negotiations with Iran. The White House says it will again be led by Vice-President JD Vance. But reports from Iran say hardliners in the leadership are against attending as long as America's blockade of Iranian ports continues.

Also in the programme: The party of the pro-Russian former president, Rumen Radev, is on course to win Bulgaria's general election and more than 150 authors leave a prominent French publisher, but why?

(Photo: A police officer gestures to a vehicle at a check post along a road near Faisal Masjid, as Pakistan prepares to host the U.S. and Iran for the second phase of peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan April 19, 2026. CREDIT: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

Iran says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the US lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, which it calls a "breach of the ceasefire". We'll hear from inside Iran from Lyse Doucet.

Also on the programme, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing the biggest threat to his leadership; and, amid our modern technology, people rush to independent record stores to celebrate vinyl records. 

(Photo:The Malta-flagged tanker Agios Fanourios I, an oil tanker that sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, arrives in Iraq’s territorial waters off Basra,Iraq April 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mohammed Aty)

Iran's navy says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the US blockade on Iranian ports is lifted. It says the continuing US blockade is a "breach of the ceasefire" and warns that ships approaching the vital shipping channel "will be targeted". We hear from our Chief International Correspondent in Tehran.

Also on the programme: the ongoing row over the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as UK ambassador to Washington; and tributes are being paid to one of France's most celebrated film stars, Nathalie Baye, who's died at the age of 77.

(Photo: A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province on April 12, 2026. Credit: Reuters)

Interviews, news and analysis of the day’s global events.

President Trump and Iranian officials have said the Strait of Hormuz is open to all commercial vessels, although shipping firms say they're remaining cautious. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the vital waterway would be navigable while the Lebanon ceasefire was in place, warning ships to use designated safe lanes. But Tehran warned it may retract this if Mr Trump continued with his threat to maintain a US blockade on Iranian ports until a comprehensive peace deal is reached. The price of oil has dropped on the announcement.

Also in the programme: finance chiefs warn that a new AI tool could jeopardise global banking; and Japan creates a new word for days over 40 degrees celsius.

(Photo: A drone view shows the Malta-flagged tanker Agios Fanourios I, an oil tanker that sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, arriving in Iraq’s territorial waters off Basra, Iraq, April 17, 2026. Credit: REUTERS/Mohammed Aty)