U.S. and world news for Feb. 20

Trump on Navalny: In his first comment on the death in a Russian prison of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, Donald Trump failed to identify who Navalny was, failed to state that Russian President Vladimir Putin previously tried to murder him, and failed to express regret at Navalny’s death and extend condolences to his widow. Trump is a supporter of Putin, has relied on Russian funds for real estate acquisitions and before being elected in 2016 wanted to build a Trump building in Moscow.

Navalny’s body: Russia has refused to release the body of Alexey Navalny to his family members and said it would continue to be held for at least two weeks. The Russians said they need to continue running tests on the body. It is believed that the Russians could be testing to see whether a poison used to kill Navalny still is detectable and will release the body only when no traces of the poison are evident. The Russians have not identified a cause of death other than to say that Navalny collapsed while walking in the prison where he was being held. Navalny previously had been poisoned but survived.

Assange court case: Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange went to court in London today to begin a hearing on whether Assange should be allowed to appeal a decision ordering him to be extradited to the U.S. to face espionage charges. If convicted in the U.S., Assange could face prison sentences totaling 175 years. Assange is wanted in connection with the publication of classified government documents.

California weather: More heavy rain produced new flooding in California yesterday, with 35 million people under flood warnings. Landslides blocked a number of roads in the Los Angeles area. The Santa Barbara airport had to be closed due to flooding. First responders rescued dozens of people throughout the state who had been stranded by rising waters. In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, heavy snow caused road closures.

Vizio-Walmart deal: Walmart and Vizio announced today that they have entered into an agreement for Walmart to acquire Vizio for approximately $2.3 billion. Vizio is known as a TV set manufacturer whose products are featured at Walmart and other retailers. Vizio has a smart TV operating system known as SmartCast. It has more than 18 million active accounts and has grown approximately 400% since 2018. SmartCast is used for streaming TV shows to Vizio sets.

Capital One – Discover: Capital One Bank is acquiring Discover Financial Services for $35.3 billion. Discover credit cards are accepted at an estimated 70 million merchant locations in more than 200 countries and territories. Discover has about 100 million cardholders. The transaction is expected to close late this year or early next year. Capital One bills itself as the only major bank with no fees, no minimums, and no overdraft fees.