China hails ‘important progress’ in US trade talks
Both sides are pushing to strike a deal before a 1 March deadline to avert an escalation in tariffs.
Trump condemns wall talks in New York Times interview
The president also claims he has been told he is not a target in Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Japan investigates alleged uranium online auction
Police are questioning both the seller and several bidders about the unlikely online offer.
Donald Trump Hints He’ll Try Building Border Wall Without Congress
In an interview with The New York Times, Trump said he was going ahead with the wall and that Pelosi couldn’t stop him.
How Arrow is Building Toward a Future That Doesn’t Include Oliver Queen
The CW’s “Elseworlds” crossover was definitely an entertaining spectacle, but the most exciting aspect of this year’s annual Arrowverse mashup was what it revealed about where the CW’s superhero universe might be headed. Not only are we now officially slated to get the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” adaptation every DC fan has been praying for since The Flash pilot aired, it seems as though the network may be considering what to do with the series that started it all.
Arrow will wrap up its seventh season this year, and the dangling “Elseworlds” plot thread of a mysterious deal between Green Arrow Oliver Queen and multiverse guardian the Monitor leaves the CW with several options for how to continue it. The CW has just renewed Arrow (and the other DC TV shows) for another season, but at the moment there’s no guarantee that it will look anything like the show we’re watching now. Why? Well, for starters, it feels a lot like Arrow could be looking for a way to write out its lead. According to THR, CW boss Mark Pedowitz “said it’s highly likely that the ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ crossover would feature a character death” when speaking to reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour this week.
Disco Review: The Klingons Are Back – With a Big Secret!
Full spoilers follow for this episode.
And finally… the Klingons return! Not only are L’Rell (Mary Chieffo) and Tyler/Voq (Shazad Latif) back for the third episode of Disco Season 2, answering some long-lingering post-war questions while also teeing up a bunch of new ones, but there are also B and C storylines this week that keep “Point of Light” jam-packed and pumping speedily along… even while setting up that Section 31 spin-off series we’ve been hearing about lately.
The Chancellor and her torchbearer have been missed since last season’s finale, so catching up on all the intrigue going on in the Klingon High Council chambers — the Klingons are always good for palace intrigue — is long overdue. L’Rell, who ascended to the leadership of the Empire in that finale, is under siege from various political enemies, who are suspicious of not just a woman leader, but one who keeps the counsel of a human. Of course, Tyler/Voq isn’t really human — he’s some kind of human/Klingon hybrid. But still, try explaining that to your average angry, human-hating Klingon.
Alita: Battle Angel Review
The iconic manga Battle Angel Alita tells a story about the distant future, when a teenaged cyborg is found on a giant scrap heap, and discovers who she is – and who she wants to be – through one amazing action sequence after another. It’s an astounding work of fiction, and it’s now an astounding-looking motion picture, which crams so much plot into one film that there’s practically no room for the actual point.
The film, renamed Alita: Battle Angel, stars Rosa Salazar (Bird Box) as Alita, the amnesiac cyborg who views this dystopian world with wide-eyed wonder. Christoph Waltz co-stars as Ido, the kindly cyborg repairman who repairs Alita and becomes her surrogate father. Ido wants Alita to find her own destiny, free of the baggage that comes with her high-tech body. Nobody seems to know where she came from, why she’s so advanced, and why she’s an expert in a long-lost cyborg martial art.
US envoy Stephen Biegun reveals North Korea nuclear pledge
North Korea has pledged to destroy all its nuclear enrichment facilities, Stephen Biegun says.
New Xbox One Console Exclusive Announced, Launches Day One On Game Pass
Zen Studios has announced its upcoming RPG, titled Operencia: The Stolen Sun, will release as an Xbox One console exclusive. The game will also be enhanced on One X and launch day one on Xbox Game Pass.
“Much of our development team grew up on classic RPG series like Wizardry, The Bard’s Tale, and Eye of the Beholder–and we’re just not seeing many games like those these days, especially on console. So not only would creating a CRPG for Xbox One be something we want to play–it would also fill a void,” Zen Studios creative director Chris Baker wrote in a blog post.
Operencia represents yet another title that the Epic Games Store has managed to nab away from Steam. The RPG was originally scheduled to launch on Valve’s store when it was first revealed during the Kinda Funny Games Showcase. However, in a blog post, Zen Studios announced that Operencia caught the eye of Epic after the showcase, and a deal was made. Epic has quickly become a competitor to Steam’s dominance of the PC gaming market by grabbing impressive exclusives, like Hades and Ashen, and securing triple-A games that were originally scheduled for Steam, such as The Division 2 and Metro Exodus. Valve described the loss of Exodus as “unfair” to customers.
Operencia takes place in the fantastical, titular place. The land of Operencia is referred to in several folktales told in Central Europe, and the game takes the concept of these fictional stories to deliver an expanded universe that incorporates both fantasy creatures and real historical figures. The game is played in first-person and has tile-focused, turn-based combat. For a more challenging experience, you can turn on permadeath mode and/or turn off automapping.
Operencia: The Stolen Sun is scheduled to launch on Xbox One and PC in Spring 2019.