Capital One to buy Discover for $35 billion

NEW YORK - Capital One Financial said it will buy Discover Financial Services for $35 billion, in a deal that would bring together two of the nation’s credit card companies as well as potentially shake up the payments industry, which is largely dominated by Visa and Mastercard.

Under the terms of the all-stock transaction, Discover Financial shareholders will receive Capital One shares valued at nearly $140. That’s a significant premium to the $110.49 that Discover shares closed at Friday.

The deal marries two of the largest credit card companies that aren’t banks first, like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, with the notable exception of American Express. It also brings together two companies whose customers are largely similar: often Americans who are looking for cash back or modest travel rewards, compared to the premium credit cards dominated by AmEx, Citi and Chase.

Navalny’s mother appeals to Putin to release her son’s body

The mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appealed Tuesday to President Vladimir Putin to intervene and turn her son’s body over to her so she can bury him with dignity.

Lyudmila Navalnaya, who has been trying to get his body since Saturday, appeared in a video outside the Arctic penal colony where Navalny died on Friday.

“For the fifth day, I have been unable to see him. They wouldn’t release his body to me. And they’re not even telling me where he is,” a black-clad Navalnaya said in the video, with the barbed wire of Penal Colony No. 3 in Kharp, about 1,200 miles northeast of Moscow.

“I’m reaching out to you, Vladimir Putin. The resolution of this matter depends solely on you. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei’s body is released immediately, so that I can bury him like a human being,” she said in the video, which was posted to social media by Navalny’s team.

Ind. man charged with threatening to kill pro-Israel U.S. officials

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - A freelance reporter based in Fort Wayne, Indiana is facing up to five years in federal prison after allegedly threatening to “kill every Jew” in the city and “shoot every pro-Israel U.S. government official,” according to a federal affidavit filed in court last week.

Jeffrey Stevens, 41, is charged with posting threats using interstate communications, which carries a maximum of five years in federal prison. He was first reported to the FBI after “multiple concerning Facebook posts” following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, according to the affidavit.

In an interview with the FBI on Feb. 2, Stevens admitted to posting on the CIA’s website that he was going to shoot pro-Israel U.S. government officials, according to the affidavit. He also admitted to sending the Fort Wayne Police Department a message on Facebook saying he would “kill every Jew.”

Haley is sharpening contrasts with Trump in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Nikki Haley is using the closing days of her South Carolina Republican primary matchup with Donald Trump to hone her argument that she is the lone remaining candidate who can unite Americans, despite the former president’s electoral wins thus far and his popularity in her home state.

It’s a tall order for Haley as South Carolina prepares to vote on Saturday. Trump’s 2016 primary win helped cement his front-runner status, and he boasts support from all of the state’s top elected leaders and all but one of its congressional Republicans.

But Haley has maintained that her ability to stick it out in the race, having outlasted a dozen also-ran candidates, means that she’s in it for the long haul. Her amped-up fundraising could keep her going despite her earlier losses to Trump.

Part of Haley’s argument is her continued showcase of her foreign policy know-how, having served as Trump’s United Nations ambassador for two years, as more and more of her campaign appearances feature areas in which she says she would have acted differently than her former boss.

“I will absolutely put the hammer on our NATO countries that they do have to carry their weight, but you do that behind closed doors,” Haley said Sunday during a town hall on Fox News, broadcast from a venue in downtown Columbia.

Biden heads to California to rev up his fundraising

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden heads to California on Tuesday looking to soak up more cash for his reelection bid during a three-day swing through the state.

Going into the trip, Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that they had collected $42 million in contributions during January from 422,000 donors. Biden ended January with $130 million in cash on hand. Campaign officials said that is the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate at this point in the cycle.

- The Associated Press