📊 Peruvian Presidency, Colorado Crash, and Mohsen Mahdawi

Revolving-door politics, fatal dust storm, and blocked deportation.

Farooq Zafar

Feb 19, 2026

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Greetings! Happy Ash Wednesday to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

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Farooq Zafar

🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇵🇪 Peru’s Congress ousts interim President José Jerí. Lawmakers voted Tuesday and cited corruption allegations. They installed José María Balcázar. an 83-year-old congressman and former judge, as his replacement. Balcázar, from the leftist Perú Libre party, becomes Peru’s eighth president in 10 years. Congress has now impeached three heads of state in that span: Pedro Castillo, Dina Boluarte, and Jerí. Peru has no vice presidents, so succession keeps boomeranging back to legislators. Balcázar is expected to govern about five months until elections on April 12th. The political churn lands alongside a surge in murders and extortion. Businesses want security while offices change nameplates. Peru’s next leader will inherit both ballot and budget crises.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇺🇳 Security Council tensions spike before Trump peace meeting. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) convened as President Donald Trump prepared a Board of Peace meeting in Washington. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said Israel’s latest West Bank steps were “illegal” and “gravely disturbing”. He said the settlement project is null and void under international law. Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour warned annexation would breach the United Nations Charter. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected the criticism and accused the council of obsession. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper urged that Gaza not be left in limbo. The focus was the occupied West Bank, where roughly 3,400,000 Palestinians live. Delegates argued over borders, security, and the meaning of self-determination. Outside the chamber, critics invoke apartheid and ethnic cleansing and call it an illegal occupation per international law. No vote followed, but the language grew sharper than the policy.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🌪️ Dust-blind pileups kill five on a Colorado interstate. Windblown dirt turned a Colorado highway into a blindfold. Authorities said at least five people died in pileups near Pueblo. About 30 vehicles crashed, including seven semitrailers, after a “brown out” hit. Major Brian Lyons said the first wrecks began late Tuesday morning. At least 29 people were injured. Drivers reported a wall of dust that erased brake lights. Emergency crews worked through scattered metal and blocked lanes. Investigators are piecing together who hit whom, and when. The pattern is familiar, speed meets surprise, and surprise wins. Colorado’s plains proved visibility is a safety feature, not scenery.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🍼 Lawmakers clash over deportation of a sick baby. Representative Joaquin Castro said officials deported a 2-month-old baby with bronchitis to Mexico; the infant was unresponsive for hours and still discharged. Castro said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed the baby, a 16-month-old sister, and both parents. He said he confirmed it with the family’s attorney. Castro called it heinous and demanded answers. Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson, said the child was stable and medically cleared. She said pediatricians provided saline spray and a nasal bulb syringe. Border Patrol arrested the mother, Mireya Stefani Lopez-Sanchez, near Eagle Pass, Texas, on January 21st. Officials said a judge issued a final removal order on February 8th. Now the fight is over what “cleared” means for an infant.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

⚖️ Judge tosses Columbia protest leader deportation case. Immigration judge Nina Froes threw out the deportation case against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian Columbia University protest leader. Her decision, released Tuesday, ended proceedings on a procedural failure by government lawyers. Froes said they did not properly certify a key document they offered as evidence. Mahdawi has been a legal permanent resident for about a decade. He was born in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Agents detained him during a citizenship interview last April, and a federal judge freed him two weeks later. The administration has cited a Marco Rubio memo claiming some noncitizens can be removed for foreign-policy grounds. Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson, called Mahdawi a leader of “pro-terrorist riots.” Froes’ ruling can be appealed, and the legal fight is not over. For now, Mahdawi stays, and the paperwork becomes the plot.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🖥️ Nvidia lifts markets as investors chase AI winners. Nvidia ($NVDA) did what it does best, it pulled the whole market by the lapels. The Standard and Poor’s 500 index (S&P 500) rose 0.6% to 6,860.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) added 129.09 points to 49,682.28. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1% to 22,828.49 as chip optimism outshouted macro nerves. Nvidia jumped 4.1%, while Meta Platforms ($META) fell 2.8% after a recent slump. Cadence Design Systems ($CDNS) surged 7.6% on results, and Analog Devices ($ADI) gained 2.6%. Palo Alto Networks ($PANW) slid 6.8% after a forecast miss, while Moderna ($MRNA) rose 6.1% after encouraging data. The 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.03% from 4.05%, a small move with big mood effects. The session’s message was simple: investors still pay extra for believable AI winners. It was a rally with a raised eyebrow, not a victory dance.

👀 ICMYI

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