Prince Andrew Arrest, Amazon Ascends, & Dogs Olympic Moment

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Adam Rogers
February 20, 2026

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of King Charles III who was stripped of his royal titles over ties to Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested yesterday on suspicion of misconduct in public office — the first arrest of a monarch's sibling in modern British history.
The charge relates to allegations that Andrew sent confidential government trade reports to Epstein in 2010, when he served as Britain's special envoy for international trade. The allegations emerged from millions of pages of Epstein documents released by the US Justice Department last month. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
King Charles issued a statement saying "the law must take its course" and pledged cooperation. Andrew could be held up to 96 hours pending further investigation.

Amazon surpassed Walmart in annual revenue for the first time, ending Walmart's 13-year run at the top. Amazon recorded $717 billion in 2025 sales compared with Walmart’s $713 billion, fueled by growth beyond retail, including $129 billion from AWS cloud computing and over $100 billion from advertising and Prime subscriptions combined.
Walmart is thriving despite ceding the top spot. US sales grew 4.6% last quarter, driven by middle and upper-income households trading down from pricier rivals like Target. Digital sales have posted double-digit growth for fifteen straight quarters, and Walmart's market value crossed $1 trillion this month.
Both companies are now racing to embed AI into shopping. Walmart's assistant Sparky drives 35% higher average order values. Amazon's Rufus has been used by 300 million customers and generated $12 billion in additional sales. Amazon plans to spend $200 billion on AI this year.

A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison yesterday for leading an insurrection. Yoon declared martial law in December 2024 — the first such decree in over four decades — and sent troops to surround the National Assembly. The decree lasted just six hours before lawmakers broke through a military blockade and voted unanimously to lift it.
Judge Jee Kui-youn said Yoon's goal was to block lawmakers from gathering, arrest political opponents, and seize unchecked power. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty. Five military and police officials were also convicted, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who received 30 years.
Yoon has been in custody since July 2025 and is likely to appeal. He is the fifth former South Korean president convicted of a crime.

Federal agents can now detain refugees who haven't applied for a green card after one year in the US, reversing a 2010 policy that shielded them from arrest. (More)

President Trump gave Iran 10 days to reach a deal or face a military strike, while hosting world leaders for the first meeting of his new Gaza peacekeeping body. (More)

Four men were declared innocent of the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders yesterday after police tied the killings to a suspect who died in a 1999 police standoff. (More)

Peru elected its oldest-ever president, 83-year-old Jose Balcazar, after Congress ousted his predecessor for corruption. He's the country's fourth president this term. (More)

Paraguay lost power for five million people during a 116-degree heat wave, cutting off drinking water and forcing doctors to perform surgeries by cell phone light. (More)

Russia tricked 1,000 Kenyans into fighting in Ukraine by promising them jobs, Kenya's government told parliament. At least one died, and 28 are missing. (More)

US stock markets closed lower on Thursday (S&P -0.28%, Nasdaq -0.31%, Dow -0.54%). (More)

The US trade deficit jumped to $70 billion in December, and the full-year gap hit $901 billion — nearly unchanged despite a year of Trump tariffs. (More)

Mortgage rates fell to 6% this week, their lowest since 2022. Refinance applications have more than doubled over the past year as homeowners lock in savings. (More)

Megan Keller scored in overtime as the US women's hockey team beat Canada 2-1 for Olympic gold Thursday. (More) | Alysa Liu won the US its first women's figure skating gold in 24 years. (More)

The NBA is planning rule changes next season to stop teams from deliberately losing games to improve their draft position. (More)

The threat of “iPad kids” worries old-school toys in the new Toy Story 5 trailer. (More)

Meta is closing the standalone Messenger website in April. Web users will be redirected to Facebook.com, and those without a Facebook account can only use the mobile app. (More)

Washington University researchers found a blood test that predicts when someone will develop Alzheimer's symptoms within three to four years, which could speed up trials for preventive treatments. (More)

Scientists found the gene that protects bananas from a fungal disease threatening the global supply. The discovery could help breed disease-resistant bananas within years. (More)

Dog crashes Olympic cross-country ski race with a spring to the finish.

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Lonely Punch the monkey makes new friends.

Humanoid robots show off kung fu moves at Lunar New Year festival.

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