US blocks Gaza cease-fire

Plus Trump faces asset forfeiture and each Beatle gets his won movie [View this email in your browser]( [Brand Logo]( US vetoes cease-fire, Trump owes bigly and the Beatles get biopics   Good morning, China is almost certainly America's main geopolitical rival, but Russia sure seems to be aiming for top arch-villain. In just today's news, Russia arrested a 33-year-old Russian American for donating a few bucks to Ukraine, fed fake allegations about the Bidens to an FBI informant, likely sent hitmen to Spain to murder a helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine, and refused to give Alexei Navalny's body to his mother and wife for burial. And then there's Moscow's Ukraine invasion. The U.S. isn't supposed to like bullies. Maybe the House could keep that in mind. Peter Weber The Week Digital     Today's INTERNATIONAL story US vetoes Gaza cease-fire resolution at UN What happened? The U.S. on Tuesday vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. America was the only country to vote against the resolution, though it offered its own draft calling for a temporary cease-fire "as soon as practicable." Who said what? "Demanding an immediate unconditional cease-fire without an agreement requiring Hamas to release the hostages will not bring endurable peace," said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour said "the message given today to Israel with this veto is that it can continue to get away with murder." The commentary This was the third U.S. veto of a cease-fire resolution since the start of the current fighting, and it "underlined America's isolation in its continued, forceful backing of Israel," The New York Times said. The alternate U.S. resolution marks "the first time Washington has put forth language using the word 'cease-fire,'" Politico said. What next? The U.S. said its proposed six-week pause, which also warns against Israel attacking Rafah, would support the complex diplomatic talks to secure the release of hostages Hamas took in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Thomas-Greenfield said she hopes the Security Council will approve the draft as soon as it is ready.     Today's BUSINESS story New York may seize Trump's assets for $450M penalty What happened?Former President Donald Trump likely owes $600 million from two civil judgments in New York: $355 million in disgorgement for ill-gotten profits, about $100 million in interest plus another $87,500 for every day he doesn't pay, and $83.3 million in defamation damages to writer E. Jean Carroll. The numbers Forbes estimates Trump is worth $2.6 billion, and he plausibly testified he has $400 million in cash assets, William & Mary Law School professor Jim Wheaton told NPR. "It doesn't take a strong mathematician to understand" Trump doesn't have enough liquid assets to pay up, said Forbes' Dan Alexander. Who said what? If Trump "does not have funds to pay off the judgment," New York Attorney General Leticia James told ABC News, "we will ask the judge to seize his assets." Fox News asked Trump how he plans to pay the $355 million penalty. "It's a form of Navalny," he replied, comparing his legal problems to Russia's abuses of late political dissident Alexei Navalny. What next? Trump, who's appealing the rulings, has 30 days to either put the entire penalty amount in escrow or secure a bond, ABC News said.   Advertisement by Betterment [Betterment is the automated investing app that puts your money to work](   Today's ENTERTAINMENT Story The Beatles are getting 4 intersecting biopics What happened? Director Sam Mendes will make four separate movies about the Beatles, each told from the perspective of one band member, Mendes and Sony Pictures said Tuesday. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the families of the late John Lennon and George Harrison have signed off on the project, with full life and music rights. Who said what? "I'm honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time," Mendes said. "We intend this to be a uniquely thrilling, and epic cinematic experience," said producer Pippa Harris. The commentaryWhen Mendes pitched his "grand vision" of "interconnected stories" from each Beatle, "just about everyone flipped their mop-tops for it," Mike Fleming Jr. said at Deadline. Now, "let the buzz begin on who might be right to play each Beatles member." What next? The four movies are "expected to roll out theatrically in innovative fashion," potentially "coexisting or intersecting in theaters," The Associated Press said. Releasing them in the same year, tentatively 2027, "would certainly be risky," Variety said, but music movies "have been surging at the box office."     On this day February 21, 1965 Civil rights activist and Muslim community leader Malcolm X is assassinated. The 39-year-old was ambushed and shot multiple times while preparing to give a speech in New York City. Three members of the Black nationalist Nation of Islam group were convicted of Malcolm X’s murder, though two would later be exonerated.     TODAY’S newspaperS ['I don't have hope for Russian justice']( A Russian American woman, Ksenia Karelina, became the latest U.S. citizen arrested in Russia, accused of treason for donating to a Ukrainian charity, the Los Angeles Times reports on Wednesday's front page. "I don't have hope for Russian justice. It does not exist," said Karelina's former mother-in-law, Eleonora Srebroski. The Washington Post says Spain has identified a corpse "found riddled with bullets and run over by a vehicle" as Maksim Kuzminov, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine in August. ► [See the newspaper front pages](     It's not all bad A drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis could also slow its progression in patients showing early symptoms or stop it entirely, King's College London researchers reported in The Lancet. In a clinical trial with 213 participants at risk of rheumatoid arthritis, half were given a drug called abatacept, while the others received a placebo. A year later, 92.8% in the abatacept group did not have arthritis, compared to 69.2% in the placebo group.   Advertisement by Betterment [Betterment is the automated investing app that puts your money to work](   Under the radar [The looming extinction of migrating animals]( As humans continue to destroy the habitats of migratory animals, their numbers continue to decrease. Many of these species play important ecological roles, and certain ecosystems will be altered dramatically as a result. In order to protect migratory species, nations will have to come together and take conservation action — after all, animals don't adhere to any political boundaries. About 44% of the world's migratory species are declining in population, a new United Nations report said, and of 1,189 monitored species, over one in five are being threatened with extinction. "When species cross national borders, their survival depends on the efforts of all countries in which they are found," the report said. Migrating species are being threatened by habitat loss, illegal hunting and fishing, pollution, and climate change. "Migration is essential for some species. If you cut the migration, you're going to kill the species," Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University, said to The Associated Press. "One country alone cannot save any of these species," said Susan Lieberman, vice president of international policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Experts are urging nations to make commitments to "restore and establish well-connected networks of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures," attempt to "halt human-induced extinctions and to ensure that any taking of wild species is sustainable, safe and legal," and promise to "address climate change and pollution," the U.N. report said. Ultimately, it is clear that ensuring the survival of migratory species is a collective responsibility.     Tall tale Meanwhile in Florida … A Florida man plans on eating raw chicken for 100 days — or until he ends up in the hospital. "What's the worst thing that's gonna happen? I'll s--t myself for a week or something, but I've probably done worse things than that before in my life," the man, who runs the Instagram account Raw Chicken Experiment, told Vice. He said the antibiotics-free chicken reminds him "scallop or shrimp" and "sort of tastes like sashimi."     Later today Fantasy fiction is thriving, probably because young readers (and older fans) want a way to escape the bleaker aspects of this world. But you know what also sells? Sex. Today's Evening Review looks at an exploding genre dubbed "romantasy" that combines fantasy tropes and steamy sex scenes. If you're romantasy-curious, we have some genre history and authors. If you aren't, we'll have you covered, too. Thanks for reading, Peter     Morning Report was written and edited by Catherine Garcia, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek. Image credits, from top: Fatih Aktas / Anadolu via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images; Mark and Colleen Hayward / Redferns ; Grant Faint / Getty Images   © Future US, Inc • [theweek.com]( [Unsubscribe from this newsletter]( [Privacy Policy]( The Week is published by Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036.