Day: February 17, 2026
The decision was the result of a Tuesday vote from Peru’s Congress, which debated multiple corruption allegations against Jeri’s government, News.Az reports, citing Al Jazeera.
***
Jeri, a right-wing leader, was formerly the head of Congress. But in October, he took over the country’s presidency after his predecessor, Dina Boluarte, was impeached for “moral incapacity”.
Boluarte had replaced the last democratically elected president, Pedro Castillo, in December 2022 after he too was impeached.
Jeri was the seventh president in a decade to lead Peru. Many of his predecessors have been mired in scandal, forcing them to step down or face impeachment.
In Jeri’s case, the scandals largely concerned allegations that the right-wing leader was involved in influence-peddling. One of the most notable was informally dubbed “Chifagate”, after the Peruvian-Chinese fusion cuisine known as “chifa”.
“Chifagate” emerged after Peruvian media published video of Jeri attending a late-night meeting with a Chinese businessman, Zhihua Yang, at his restaurant in Lima. The meeting was not included on the official presidential agenda, as required under Peruvian law.
Jeri appeared to be in disguise in the video, wearing informal clothing including a deep hoodie that partially obscured his face, which spurred further questions about the nature of the meeting.
Subsequent images showed Jeri visiting another one of Yang’s businesses, a wholesale store, this time in sunglasses.
Jeri, a right-wing leader, was formerly the head of Congress. But in October, he took over the country’s presidency after his predecessor, Dina Boluarte, was impeached for “moral incapacity”.
Boluarte had replaced the last democratically elected president, Pedro Castillo, in December 2022 after he too was impeached.
Jeri was the seventh president in a decade to lead Peru. Many of his predecessors have been mired in scandal, forcing them to step down or face impeachment.
In Jeri’s case, the scandals largely concerned allegations that the right-wing leader was involved in influence-peddling. One of the most notable was informally dubbed “Chifagate”, after the Peruvian-Chinese fusion cuisine known as “chifa”.
“Chifagate” emerged after Peruvian media published video of Jeri attending a late-night meeting with a Chinese businessman, Zhihua Yang, at his restaurant in Lima. The meeting was not included on the official presidential agenda, as required under Peruvian law.
Jeri appeared to be in disguise in the video, wearing informal clothing including a deep hoodie that partially obscured his face, which spurred further questions about the nature of the meeting.
Subsequent images showed Jeri visiting another one of Yang’s businesses, a wholesale store, this time in sunglasses.
The post Peru’s Congress ousts President Jose Jeri in latest shake-up appeared first on azeritimes.com.
The visit comes as Qatar seeks to play a mediator role between the United States and the new Venezuelan government, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
***
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil received Sheikh Mohammed at the airport in Caracas, footage from the state broadcaster showed.
The official Venezolana de Television reported that the visit would focus on bilateral relations, including in the fields of agriculture and investment. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The visit is Sheikh Mohammed’s first to Venezuela since 2022.
The United States captured Maduro in an early morning raid on Jan. 3, leaving his vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, to assume power as acting president. The new government has moved to cooperate with the United States, particularly in energy matters, and passed a law later in January to allow more foreign investment in the beleaguered oil sector. Washington eased sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector on Friday with the goal of increasing American investment.
Qatar had expressed “deep concern” about the removal of Maduro, while declaring its “full readiness” to work toward a peaceful solution. Since then, Doha has sought to act as a broker between the two countries, and a restricted Qatari account received Venezuela’s oil revenue earlier this year.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC in an interview published Friday that an account at the Treasury Department has since been activated to receive the funds and that the money would no longer go through Qatar. Wright told the outlet that revenue from Venezuelan oil sales has reached $1 billion since Maduro’s ouster.
The arrangement with Qatar had drawn criticism from Democrats, and Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday warning that the “offshore account could enable corruption.”
Qatar, a major non-NATO ally of the United States, seeks to play the role of mediator in a number of conflicts. Along with Egypt and the United States, Qatar brokered the Gaza ceasefire deal last October between Israel and Hamas.
The Gulf state enjoyed friendly ties with Venezuela before Maduro’s fall and hosted Rodriguez for talks with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sheikh Mohammed last April. Maduro last visited Qatar in 2022.
Despite the diplomatic engagement, economic relations between the two countries are minimal. Venezuela exported just $303,000 worth of goods to Qatar in 2023, most of which was dried legumes. More recent data on the exports or Venezuelan imports from Qatar is not available.
Qatar Airways added a flight route to Caracas in January 2025.
The post Qatar PM makes first visit to Venezuela since Maduro’s ouster appeared first on azeritimes.com.
Writing on X, the world’s richest man noted that users must select Grok 4.2 specifically to activate it, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
***
Additionally, Musk urged the public to provide feedback. “Unlike prior versions of Grok, 4.2 is able to learn rapidly, so there will be improvements every week with release notes,” he stressed.
The post Musk rolls out Grok 4.2 public beta for use appeared first on azeritimes.com.
Fed’s Daly says US central bank still needs to get inflation down
Read More
The post Fed’s Daly says US central bank still needs to get inflation down appeared first on azeritimes.com.