Fifth day of hunger strike for freedom of Venezuelan political prisonersCARACAS, Feb 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Relatives of Venezuelan political prisoners staged a fifth day of hunger strike Wednesday on the eve of a parliament sitting they hope will result in passage of a long-awaited amnesty law. Five days after Maduro's toppling on January 3, an interim government led by Delcy Rodriguez -- formerly his vice president -- vowed under pressure from Washington to free all political prisoners. A week ago, lawmakers were unable to agree on the wording of an article in the bill on freeing political prisoners. Arreaza said he was trying to negotiate an end to the hunger strike in exchange for being allowed into the prison to assess the health of those still detained. Meanwhile, a prominent Venezuelan oil expert with dual US nationality, has been released after spending four days in detention, the prosecutor's office said Wednesday.

LIMA, Feb 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Peru's Congress is set to name a new president Wednesday -- the country's eighth in a decade -- after Jose Jeri was impeached on graft allegations barely four months into his term. In a TikTok post Wednesday, Jeri said "serving Peru was, and will remain, an honor." "We live in uncertainty," Erick Solorzano, a 29-year-old Peruvian doctor, told AFP, with just two months to go to new presidential elections. "We need a true leader in such an unstable country," he told AFP. However, "there is no guarantee that whoever replaces Jeri will be able to make it to July 2026," political analyst Augusto Alvarez told AFP.

Francis (Frank) Anthony Borghoff, IIIFrank Borghoff, 86, of The Villages, FL, passed away peacefully on October 15, 2025 at Cornerstone Hospice in The Villages after a long illness. Frank was born September 18, 1939 in Jersey City, NJ to Frank A. Borghoff, Jr. and Ingrid (Holmgard). While in the Navy, Frank married Maureen Boyd of Fall River, MA. Frank was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal, the Meritorius Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and the Vietnamese Honor Medal First Class. Frank is preceded in death by his parents Frank, Jr. and Ingrid; brother, Richard; and grandson, Bryce Kight.

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Trump kicks off his 'Board of Peace,' with eye on Gaza and beyondWASHINGTON, United States, Feb 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Thursday gathers allies to inaugurate the "Board of Peace," his new institution focused on progress on Gaza but whose ambitions reach much further. The "Board of Peace" came together after the Trump administration, teaming up with Qatar and Egypt, negotiated a ceasefire in October to halt two years of devastating war in Gaza. At the "Board of Peace" meeting, Trump is expected to detail pledges of more than $5 billion for Gaza, where the vast majority of buildings lie in rubble and the property-mogul-turned-president has improbably suggested developing resorts. US officials say Thursday's meeting is about Gaza but have also spoken of the "Board of Peace" in broader, amorphous terms, saying it can address other global hotspots. The effort comes as Trump thumbs his nose at the United Nations, scaling back funding and withdrawing the United States from key bodies.

Chief of US Southern Command on visit to Venezuela: embassyCARACAS, Feb 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The chief of the US military command responsible for strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats off South America, visited Venezuela Wednesday and held talks with interim leader Delcy Rodriguez and her top ministers, its government said. US Southern Command (SOUTCHOM) chief General Francis Donovan met with Rodriguez as well as Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, a government account posted on X. The visit follows last month's ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a deadly US military operation. It said Donovan met US military personnel who guard embassy facilities and then members of the interim government "to assess the security situation." Interim leader Rodriguez, who had been Maduro's vice president, took over with Trump's consent, provided she grants access to Venezuela's vast oil resources.

SEOUL, Feb 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A South Korean court will rule Thursday on insurrection charges against ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol, weighing whether he should be sentenced to death for his failed bid to impose military rule. Prosecutors have sought the harshest penalty on the insurrection charges, urging the Seoul Central District Court to put Yoon on death row during hearings in January. South Korea has an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment -- the last prisoners were executed in 1997 -- with a death sentence effectively banishing Yoon to life behind bars. - Life, or death row -Under South Korean law, only two sentences are fit for insurrection: life imprisonment or death. A legal observer said the court would most likely sentence Yoon to life in prison.

The modern conception of the ‘gay male,’ his form and habit, has not been such a curiosity among human complexes for centuries in the making, but invented, a trait inborn that’s now stratified into groupings numbering in the hundreds. Whereas there were substantially less official routes towards the contemporary goalposts in, say, marriage, mobility in labor and social life, sexual identity did not override larger facets of man’s ego. Could it be possible that in spite of these freedoms and leaps in progress, the modern gay has been made susceptible to generalizations? But from gay to gay, I humbly ask you look beyond ‘the apps’ to counter the beasts of tyranny. Francis X. Jaso Francis Xavier Jaso '28 is an Opinion Columnist and a Government and Economics student in the College of Arts & Sciences.

SYDNEY, Feb 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Coach Joe Montemurro pledged Thursday Australia will play an "entertaining" brand of football in their bid to win the Women's Asian Cup after naming a strong squad spearheaded by Sam Kerr, Mary Fowler and Steph Catley. "My remit in the way I approach the game is always to play a brand of football that excites, to play a brand of football that's going to be proactive," said Montemurro, who previously coached Arsenal, Juventus and Lyon. The squad is led by Chelsea star Kerr who will captain the team at her fifth Asian Cup. Montemurro also named eight players who will contest their first Asian Cup, including Tottenham defender Clare Hunt and Newcastle striker Kaitlyn Torpey. "A tournament of this nature -- and we've seen many tournaments, whether it's the men's World Cup, women's World Cup -- brings up a lot of surprises," said Montemurro.

WASHINGTON, United States, Feb 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air announced Wednesday that they have signed a series of contracts with American aerospace companies worth a total of $14.4 billion, including $8.1 billion in orders to Boeing. National carrier Vietnam Airlines placed an order for around 50 Boeing 737-8 aircraft, and opened discussions for an additional order for around 30 wide-body aircraft in the future, the airline said in a statement. Low-cost carrier Vietjet Air also announced two contracts, totalling $6.3 billion. Around $960 million remaining will go towards leasing six Boeing 737 series aircraft from Griffin Global Asset Management. The agreements come as the two countries continue trade negotiations on US tariffs on Vietnamese products, currently set at 20 percent.

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Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud -File photoDHAKA, Feb 18, 2026 (BSS) - Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud todaysaid the election to the reserved women's seats of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad(JS) will be held soon. "Election to the reserved women's seats will be held very soon. Speaking about the by-elections to Sherpur-3 and Bogura-6 constituencies, hesaid the Election Commission is also preparing to hold those polls at theearliest possible time. On Monday, the Election Commission published a gazette notification declaringthe Bogura-6 parliamentary seat vacant as Tarique Rahman submitted a writtennotification to the Commission stating his decision to retain the Dhaka-17seat, thereby vacating the Bogura-6 constituency." The election for Sherpur-3 constituency was suspended and subsequentlycancelled following the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate.

For Cornellians observing Ramadan, Muslim student organizations and the Diwan Center for Muslim Life have prepared resources for those celebrating on campus. The Diwan CenterThe Diwan Center for Muslim Life is a nonprofit organization funded by alumni, founded to support Muslim life on campus. According to Minhaj Fahad ’26, a student fellow at the Diwan Center for Muslim Life, there was no Muslim Chaplain on campus his freshman year, creating a lack of leadership in the Muslim community. Fahad also helped create a documentary on behalf of the Diwan center, which details the growth of the Muslim community on campus. During the month of Ramadan, the Diwan Center will also offer the taraweeh prayer, special voluntary night prayers performed by Muslims during Ramadan.

Our mission is to work according to people's expectations: Ariful HaqueDHAKA, Feb 18, 2026 (BSS) - Labour and Employment and Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury today said the government's primary mission is to meet the expectations of the people. "Our mission is only one -- we must work in line with the expectations of the people. Senior officials of the ministry, including Secretary Sarwar Jahan Bhuiyan, welcomed the minister and the state minister at the meeting. Ariful Haque Choudhury said the ministry would review its activities over the past year to identify strengths and shortcomings. Speaking at the meeting, State Minister M Nurul Huq stressed the importance of preparing a three-month action plan.

Reading time: about 7 minutesThe Cornell Grapevine Breeding Program is in its final stages of evaluation for new grape hybrids that are highly resistant to disease. Prof. Maddy Oravec ’14, grapevine breeding, genetics and genomics in Cornell AgriTech, leads CGBP, a selective breeding program. Climate change is intensifying disease pressures in grape-growing regions, which researchers say makes disease-resistant grapevine breeding all the more important. Aliyah Brewer and Victoria Lan Cheng, Ph.D. candidates in plant breeding, research disease-resistant breeding in CGBP. Beyond wine grapes, CGBP also grows table grapes and juice grapes.