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Hormuz feud escalates ahead of ceasefire deadline, Saudi halts weapons shipment for Sudanese army, Venezuela’s Machado reiterates election call while in Spain

Armed security personnel stand guard near the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 19, 2026.

Armed security personnel stand guard near the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 19, 2026. Heightened security measures were implemented around the venue ahead of the scheduled second round of technical-level talks between U.S. and Iranian delegations, aimed at reaching a negotiated settlement to the weeks-long conflict that has disrupted global energy supplies.

Middle East Images via Reuters Connect
By Zac Weisz,
Zac Weisz
Zac reports on global affairs, covering everything from battles between judicial branches and political leaders, to conflicts in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. With the Trump administration keen to alter the world order, though, there’s a heavy emphasis right now on US politics – an area with which he is intimately familiar. Prior to joining GZERO, Zac was a senior national politics correspondent at National Journal, where he covered the 2024 presidential election from its inception to the dramatic finish, as well as major congressional actions during the Biden administration. Prior to journalism, Zac worked as an economic analyst for Oxford Economics, calculating the impact of various tax policies, and of Britain’s exit from the European Union. Born in London, he currently resides in New York City, where you can find him playing football (the original version) or watching it on television while attempting to cook up a storm.
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Alex Kliment
Alex Kliment
Alex wears a few different caps and tips them all regularly. He writes for the GZERO Daily, works as a field correspondent for GZERO's nationally syndicated TV show GZERO WORLD WITH IAN BREMMER, and writes/directs/voices GZERO's award-winning puppet satire show PUPPET REGIME. Prior to joining GZERO, Alex worked as an analyst covering Russia and broader Emerging Markets for Eurasia Group. He has also written for the Financial Times from Washington, DC, and Sao Paulo Brazil. In his spare time, he makes short films and composes scores for long ones. He studied history and Slavic literature at Columbia and has a Master's from Johns Hopkins SAIS. He's a native New Yorker, a long-suffering Mets fan, and owns too many bicycles.
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April 20, 2026

Strait of Hormuz feud escalates, jeopardizing further US-Iran talks

The US Navy this weekend seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship seeking to break Washington’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran vowed to retaliate, and sent mixed signals on whether it would join further talks with the US in Pakistan this week. Hormuz traffic is now, once again, at a halt. The waterway whiplash is real: the Islamic Republic said on Friday the strait was open after Israel and Lebanon announced a ceasefire, but then reversed a day later over the US’s refusal to end its own blockade. Meanwhile, the Lebanon ceasefire is already in question after Israel said it struck a loaded rocket launcher in Lebanon overnight. Will the US and Iran meet again in Islamabad this week? With their two-week ceasefire set to end Wednesday, the clock is ticking…

Saudi Arabia puts Pakistan-Sudan weapons deal on hold

Just a few days after Sudan’s horrific civil war entered its fourth year, Saudi Arabia suddenly scrapped financing for a $1.5 billion Pakistani weapons shipment to the Sudanese army, per Reuters. It’s not immediately clear why Riyadh nixed the deal: the conflict in Sudan has become something of a proxy battle between Saudi Arabia, which backs the Sudanese army, and the United Arab Emirates, which supports the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF). What’s more, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have significantly deepened their own defense collaboration in recent months. The report hints that Riyadh may be under Western pressure to stay away from proxy conflicts in Africa, but we await more details from the various players. In the meantime, there is no reporting to suggest that the UAE is backing off on its own involvement in the conflict, which has generated the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and allegations of genocide and war crimes.

Where is the Venezuelan opposition?

This weekend it was 4,300 miles away in Spain, where opposition leader María Corina Machado led a rally of thousands of Venezuelan exiles, and insisted that she would be back home by the end of the year. Machado’s movement is believed to have won the 2024 presidential election, but then-strongman Nicolás Maduro declared victory anyway. Since the US abducted Maduro back in January, Washington has empowered his deputy Delcy Rodríguez to run the country as a kind of modern-day viceroy, opening Venezuela’s energy resources to US investment and removing Maduro loyalists. That suggests neither she, nor her American bosses, is currently interested in heeding Machado’s call for fresh elections, something she reiterated while in Spain.
us-iranstrait of hormuzisraellebanonsudan civil warsudanese armed forcessaudi arabiapakistanunited arab emiratesvenezuelaspainmaria corina machadodelcy rodrigueziran war

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