Good Morning! Today’s edition is 959 words, a 4-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• Poison dart frog toxin

• Chinese Lunar New Year

• Networking for the socially anxious

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Big Stories

Frog Toxin Murder?

• Five Western governments said Saturday they believe epibatidine, a rare toxin derived from Ecuadorian poison dart frogs, likely killed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Laboratory analysis found the neurotoxin in samples from Navalny's body following his February 2024 death in a Siberian penal colony, according to a joint statement by Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

• Epibatidine does not occur naturally in Russia but can be synthesized in a lab. It is extremely lethal even at tiny doses, attacking the nervous system and causing paralysis, respiratory failure, and death. British officials said only the Russian government had the capability and opportunity to deploy it and reported the case to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. It is illegal to use chemical agents to harm people under international law.

• Russia denied involvement. Navalny previously survived a 2020 nerve agent attack he blamed on Vladimir Putin. Russia has also been accused in other high-profile poisoning cases, including Alexander Litvinenko's 2006 polonium poisoning and the 2018 Novichok attack on Sergei Skripal.

Godfather Actor Duvall Dies

• Robert Duvall, the commanding actor who earned a lasting place in American cinema as consigliere Tom Hagen in "The Godfather" and Lt. Col. Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now," died peacefully Sunday at his Virginia home. He was 95.

• Duvall won the Best Actor Oscar in 1984 for "Tender Mercies" and received seven Academy Award nominations across a six-decade career. He was a key figure in the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s, studying under Sanford Meisner alongside classmates Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, and James Caan. He made his film debut at 31 as Boo Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird."

• Duvall delivered the famous line "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" in "Apocalypse Now" and played Major Frank Burns in "M*A*S*H." His other notable roles included "The Natural," "Lonesome Dove," and "The Judge." He is survived by his wife, Argentine actor and director Luciana Pedraza.

AI Comes for Hollywood

• ByteDance's Seedance 2.0 AI video model is threatening Hollywood's economic model by generating professional-quality videos for pennies, prompting legal action from major studios. One creator reproduced an expensive shot from the film "F1" for just 9 cents, while a viral clip of Brad Pitt fighting Tom Cruise received 3.2 million views. The model also generated unauthorized characters from copyrighted franchises and actor likenesses.

• Disney and Paramount issued cease-and-desist letters, while SAG-AFTRA warned the technology "undercuts the ability of human talent to earn a livelihood." Motion Picture Association CEO Charles Rivkin accused ByteDance of operating "without meaningful safeguards against infringement." In response, ByteDance said it will "strengthen current safeguards" to prevent unauthorized use of intellectual property.

• The Beijing-based company, which owns TikTok, currently serves mainland Chinese users but plans to integrate Seedance into CapCut, a video editor used by TikTok creators worldwide.

When Is the Right Time to Retire?

Determining when to retire is one of life’s biggest decisions, and the right time depends on your personal vision for the future. Have you considered what your retirement will look like, how long your money needs to last and what your expenses will be? Answering these questions is the first step toward building a successful retirement plan.

Our guide, When to Retire: A Quick and Easy Planning Guide, walks you through these critical steps. Learn ways to define your goals and align your investment strategy to meet them. If you have $1,000,000 or more saved, download your free guide to start planning for the retirement you’ve worked for.

Find Your Retirement Timeline

Quick Stories

US News

• A father went on trial in Georgia for giving his teenage son the gun used to kill four people at school in September, despite being warned that the teen threatened violence. (More)

• The FBI found a glove with DNA near Savannah Guthrie's mother's Tucson home that matches gloves worn by a masked person seen outside the night she vanished three weeks ago. (More)

• A powerful storm slammed California on Monday with up to 8 feet of snow forecast in the Sierra Nevada mountains and dangerous flooding in Los Angeles. (More)

World

• China's Lunar New Year travel rush began with 9.5 billion trips expected over 40 days, the world's largest human migration. (More)

• North Korea built a new Pyongyang housing district for families of soldiers killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine. (More)

• Israel approved new rules Sunday making it easier for Jewish settlers to buy Palestinian land in the West Bank, moves Palestinians called a land grab for their future state. (More)

Business & Economy

• US stock markets closed mixed on Friday (S&P +0.05%, Nasdaq -0.22%, Dow +0.10%). Lighter than expected inflation data failed to spark a meaningful rally in the markets. (More)

• Tax refunds are averaging $2,290 so far this season, up nearly 11% from last year, IRS data shows. (More)

• Japan's economy grew just 0.2% in the last quarter and 1.1% for all of 2024, narrowly avoiding recession. New Prime Minister Takaichi promised tax cuts and more spending to revive growth. (More)

Sports & Entertainment

• The Dolphins cut star receiver Tyreek Hill on Monday, along with three other players, to clear salary cap room. (More)

• USA’s Elana Meyers Taylor, 41, won her 1st Olympic gold in monobob, her sixth career medal in the games. (More) | Olympic curling's cheating controversy spread beyond Canada on Sunday when British curler Bobby Lammie was called for double-touching a stone, the same violation alleged against two Canadian teams days earlier. (More)

• Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, topped the holiday box office with $83 million worldwide in its opening weekend. (More)

Science, Health, & Tech

• Apple will add full video podcast support to Apple Podcasts this spring, letting users seamlessly switch between watching and listening. (More)

• Four astronauts arrived safely at the International Space Station on Saturday, restoring the crew to seven after the previous team left early for medical reasons. (More)

• Scientists figured out how to predict where deadly scorpions will show up based on soil type and temperature, giving health workers a new way to prevent stings in places like Morocco and Brazil. (More)

Extra Credit

How to network when you're socially anxious.

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Logan Paul sells Pokémon card for record $16m.

Injured seabird pecks at ER door to get help.