--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Tuesday, April 18th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Welcome to the show, everyone. Let's get right into it.
--:-- John Bickley: Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems said Tuesday that they have reached a settlement agreement just moments before opening arguments were set to begin.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The deal ends a months-long legal battle in which Dominion accused Fox of spreading false information about the 2020 election, specifically relating to Dominion voting machines.
--:-- John Bickley: The terms of the settlement were not immediately available.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, the American journalist arrested in Russia in March, was denied bail Tuesday and ordered to be held in Moscow's Lefertovo prison as he awaits his trial.
--:-- John Bickley: Russian authorities have accused Gershkovich of spying, a claim that both his employer and the U.S. State Department have strongly denied.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Biden administration has said his release is a top concern and priority.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's U.S. Special Presidential Envoy Roger D. Carstens recently addressing the international fiasco.
--:-- [Audio clip of Roger D. Carstens]
--:-- John Bickley: Since Evans has been taken we had kind of a full court press within the State Department and U government writ large.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As you probably know, the very day that he was taken, members of the State Department met with members of the Wall Street Journal, his employer, to discuss what we knew at that point.
--:-- John Bickley: The very next day, Secretary Blinken issued a statement condemning the action and asking for more information from the Russians.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Since then, senior members of the U.S. government, to include Secretary Blinken, have met with their counterparts in Russia to try to press them to release Evans and to gain more information.
--:-- John Bickley: Taiwan will purchase roughly 400 harpoon land-launched anti-ship missiles crafted by Boeing as a measure of protecting its coastal zones against a potential invasion from China.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire reporter Brandon Dray has more.
--:-- Brandon Dray: The pending agreement comes after Congress approved a deal in 2020.
--:-- John Bickley: Pentagon officials announced a $1.7 billion contract with Boeing earlier this month.
--:-- Georgia Howe: However, the contract did not mention Taiwan as the buyer.
--:-- Brandon Dray: This comes as U.S.-China tensions are high, specifically over Taiwan, the self-governed island that China claims as part of its territory.
--:-- John Bickley: Beijing criticized the deal on Tuesday, saying that it would "undermine China sovereignty and security interests."
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Sudanese military and its opposing rebels, the Rapid Support Forces, announced on Tuesday that they would observe a 24-hour ceasefire.
--:-- John Bickley: Though reports indicate fighting has continued despite the agreement.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The announcement comes as a U.S. diplomatic envoy was attacked Monday night, leading to Secretary of State Antony Blinken requesting the temporary truce.
--:-- John Bickley: According to Axios, Blinken spoke with both the Sudanese army chief and the leader of the Rapid Support Forces.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk revealed he will create a third option to challenge Microsoft and Google's artificial intelligence platforms.
--:-- Brandon Dray: And warned that the technology could cause civilizational destruction without proper guardrails.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Regulations are really only put into effect after something terrible has happened.
--:-- John Bickley: If that's the case for AI, and we're only putting regulations after something terrible has happened, it may be too late to actually put the regulations in place.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The AI may be in control at that point.
--:-- Brandon Dray: Last month, Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, then stepped down from the company's board in 2018, registered a firm named XAI Corp.
--:-- John Bickley: The move came after he and other AI experts called for a six-month pause on advanced AI development.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A dispute over package delivery on Sundays between a Pennsylvania postal worker and the Postal Service has reached the nation's highest court and is being considered today.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire writer Tim Meads has more.
--:-- Tim Meads: Gerald Groff is a Christian and told his employer that he could not deliver packages on the Lord's day.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Lower courts have sided with the Postal Service, saying a demand for Sundays off meant extra work for other employees and caused tension.
--:-- John Bickley: Graff argues employers can too easily turn down employees' requests for religious accommodations, but if he wins, that could change.
--:-- Tim Meads: Randall Wenger of the Independence Law Center helped Graff take this case to the high court.
--:-- John Bickley: I think the message for everyone is our rights rise and fall together.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So be out there rooting for Gerald because that's the liberty that we can all enjoy.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for tuning in to the show. We'll be right back after this break.
--:-- [Audio clip of the Daily Wire logo and a sponsor]
--:-- John Bickley: Now get $250 off when you join Ramp. Go to http://www.ramp.com/WIRE.
