The Apr. 21 News Quiz: How did Fox News settle the Dominion Voting Systems defamation suit?

Fox News acknowledged that “certain claims” it made about Dominion were false as part of the settlement agreement reached on April 18, 2023. This was shortly before a trial was set to begin in Delaware Superior Court, sparing Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch a court visit. Dominion sued Fox News in 2021 for $1.6 billion, alleging that the network defamed it by broadcasting baseless allegations from former President Trump and his allies. Despite privately expressing skepticism and ridicule about the claims, Fox hosts repeatedly argued on air that Dominion was tied to the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, paid kickbacks to politicians, and flipped millions of votes from Trump to Biden. Fox News said it hoped the settlement would allow the country to move forward from the issues. Dominion said it represented “vindication and accountability.” Fox News did not apologize.

At the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers, Khartoum is Sudan’s capital and largest city. It’s also the seat of the country’s de facto ruler, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who clashed with his deputy, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (also known as Hemedti), the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This movement originated from the notorious Janjaweed militias that committed crimes against humanity in Darfur, a region in western Sudan, in the 2000s. On Apr. 15, 2023, the RSF attacked key government sites in Khartoum and other cities, sparking four days of violence that killed at least 185 people and injured more than 1,800. The clashes threatened the transition to civilian rule that began after the removal of longtime dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019.

The Order of Merit for special achievement is Germany’s highest distinction for a former leader. On April 17, 2023, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier honored former Chancellor Angela Merkel with this award for her near-record 16 years of leading the country. She was the first woman, the first East German-born, and the longest-serving chancellor since Otto von Bismarck in the 19th century. Only two other ex-chancellors received the honor: Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor of West Germany after World War II, and Helmut Kohl, the chancellor who oversaw Germany’s reunification in 1990.

Elon Musk gave his AI project that he says will try to understand the nature of the universe (and avoid annihilating humans) the name TruthGPT. He announced his plan to create his own rival to OpenAI’s Chat-GPT in an interview with Fox News’s Tucker Carlson on April 17, 2023. Musk also said he created the X.AI company in Nevada and approached AI researchers to join his team. Optimus is the name of Musk’s humanoid AI bot that he revealed at Tesla’s AI Day event in August 2022, which aims to replace workers at routine, repetitive jobs. No connection to Donald Trump’s Truth Social.

Montana passed a bill that makes it illegal for app stores to offer TikTok in the state. The bill was motivated by concerns about potential Chinese spying through the app. It specifies that the ban would be lifted if TikTok is sold to a non-Chinese company or Congress passes a law banning TikTok nationwide. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the unprecedented law on May 17, 2023, making Montana the first state to ban TikTok from app stores starting Jan. 2024. Nonetheless, it will face legal challenges from TikTok and other groups claiming it violates free speech rights.

According to JB Perrette, president, and CEO, of global streaming and games for Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO stands for “edgy, groundbreaking entertainment for adults” and is unsuitable for the upcoming Max service’s full range of content offers. This includes kids and family programming from Warner Bros., Discovery, and DC Comics. The company announced the name change at a press event on April 12, 2023. The updated service will launch on May 23 with three price tiers: Max Ad-Lite ($9.99/month), Max Ad Free ($15.99/month), and Max Ultimate Ad Free ($19.99/month), which will offer 4K content, offline downloads, and Dolby Atmos sound quality.

Fun Fact: Warner Bros. Discovery acquired the domain name “max.com” in 2023 from a nutritional supplement products company. Does that mean Max will also offer a free vitamin bottle with every subscription? We’re unsure.

Netflix announced that it would end its DVD-by-mail service on Sept. 29, 2023, after shipping more than 5 billion discs over 25 years. Launched in 1998, the service was once Netflix’s biggest money maker but became obsolete in the video streaming era. Netflix split its DVD and streaming services in 2011, creating a separate website called DVD.com for its mail-order business. They stopped disclosing the number of DVD subscribers in 2018 as the service declined in popularity and profitability.

Sega Sammy Holdings Inc, the Japanese gaming giant behind Sonic the Hedgehog, officially announced on April 17, 2023, that it planned to acquire Rovio Entertainment Oyj, the Finnish company behind Angry Birds, for 706 million euros ($776 million) in cash. Sega Sammy said the deal would boost its mobile gaming business. Rovio’s board unanimously backed the takeover offer, as did its major shareholders. The deal is expected to be launched on May 8, 2023.

Market fact: Rovio had previously received a 683 million euro takeover bid from Israel-based Playtika Holding Corp in January 2023, but the talks were called off in February 2023. China’s Tencent already owns a 5% stake in Rovio.

Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an upcoming animated fantasy film based on the story of Helm Hammerhand, a character from JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The prequel is set 183 years before 2002’s Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Succession’s Brian Cox will voice Helm Hammerhand, and Miranda Otto, who played Éowyn in the live-action trilogy, will return, this time as the narrator. The movie opens theatrically on Apr. 12, 2024.

Fun Fact: In an Apr. 14, 2023, interview with GQ promoting his role in the TV series Yellowjackets, Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins in the original trilogy, said he hopes the new films will be driven by a passion for Tolkien’s material and not just by a desire to make money.

The Phantom of the Opera ended its 35-year Broadway run on April 16, 2023, after 13,973 performances at New York’s Majestic Theatre. It became the longest-running show in Broadway history in 2006, surpassing the previous record-holder, Cats, and has grossed over $1.36 billion since its opening in January 1988. The Phantom of the Opera still plays in other countries and venues, such as London’s West End and Las Vegas. The musical is based on a novel by Gaston Leroux and features a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Fun Fact: The Lion King remains the highest-grossing Broadway show in history and the longest-running Disney musical, with over $1.8 billion on Broadway as of April 2023.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced on April 17, 2023, that September 23, the day Bruce Springsteen was born in 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey, will be officially recognized as Bruce Springsteen Day throughout the state. Murphy announced this at the inaugural American Music Honors event, held at the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University. Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa attended the event by video after testing positive for Covid-19 following a sold-out concert in Newark a day earlier. They are on tour with the E Street Band and will resume their European leg in two weeks, followed by a North American stadium leg in August. Springsteen will turn 74 on the first New Jersey Bruce Springsteen Day.