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For me, a 4X is about conceiving and executing The Plan. These games offer many systems, which can be mani[CENSORED]ted by a range of factions, all of which informs said Plan. Picking a faction is a statement of intent: to achieve a certain victory in a certain way. Civilization has always been very good at that bit, but is sometimes less good at challenging you during the execution. Sid Meier has said games should be a series of interesting choices, but in Civ, it can feel like the most interesting choice you make comes before the game even starts. In Gathering Storm, this trend reaches its highest expression. The new civs are more intricate and distinctive than ever, and have kept me ‘one more turning’ as I see The Plan to completion. But the new systems don’t factor into The Plan all that much. For the most part, natural disasters are pure irritation. They’ll miss your civilisation at first, traumatising vast tracts of empty land, but as you expand, they’re common enough to become a real nuisance. They can kill your citizens and damage your infrastructure, forcing you to put The Plan on hold while you repair districts or make builders, and they have an annoying habit of recurring in the same place. In Gathering Storm, lightning does strike twice. You can protect yourself with dams and – much later – flood barriers, but there’s nothing you can do about droughts or storms. There are no interesting choices to be had here, and not much fun, either. Adjusting disaster intensity in the game setup is a welcome option, then, but it feels like an acknowledgement that one of this expansion’s main features isn’t for everyone. The mechanic becomes more interesting when you get the chance to make matters worse. Your carbon emissions will exacerbate many disasters and create new ones, such as rising sea levels. These looming problems raise a new question – whether to burn coal – during industrialisation, and once you suffer a ‘crippling blizzard’ that kills 20 of your citizens and damages or outright removes dozens of improvements, you’ll take that question seriously. But even if you opt out, it’s possible to get battered by apocalyptic hurricanes or swallowed by the sea because someone else is running a dozen coal plants. There’s an exciting sense of tense escalation to climate change, but also of inevitability – even when I tried to keep my own emissions down, some other civ would always fart them out. This can be frustrating, and though there are solutions, none are perfect. You can kick off at your environmentally-unfriendly peers, of course. But having captured their polluting power plants, the option to decommission them doesn’t exist, as far as I can see – the best you can do is convert them to low-carbon nuclear power, which is only possible if you have the technology The returning World Congress can pass environmental treaties, but it can’t be relied upon. When it meets, you can vote on two proposals that’ll change the game until the next session. Each has a positive and negative outcome – a player could get another trade route, or suffer a total trade embargo – and you can specify who will be affected by it. Unlike in Civ V, however, there’s no way to become host of the Congress, or to otherwise set its agenda. You have more control over the outcome of the proposals that come before it, but none over what those proposals will be. This is a shame. I rarely felt so cunning in Civ V as I did when I chose a proposal that dovetailed with The Plan, or screwed over a rival, and got it passed. In Gathering Storm, such proposals will crop up, but they’ll do so at random. When it comes to environmental treaties, the AI will vote in its interest: one such vote ended with clean(ish) nuclear power getting banned because most civs hadn’t developed it yet. The Congress is great when it works. As Eleanor of Aquitaine – a true Civ innovation, as the first leader to serve two civs – I had a belligerent Suleiman on my borders. A proposal offered the chance to increase a civ’s city growth rate but drop their city loyalty, and I cashed in a lot of diplomatic favour – the new currency of the World Congress – to ensure Suleiman won it. Together with Eleanor’s leader ability, the drop in loyalty led to a couple of his cities rebelling and joining me, which felt suitably Machiavellian (a feeling somewhat undermined when Suleiman’s AI, not realising the implications, voted for the proposal himself). It was a cool moment and made me wish I’d had some way to engineer it, but as it is, you can’t factor the World Congress into The Plan. You can only seize its opportunities ad hoc. I’m unsure about the new diplomatic victory for similar reasons. You need ten victory points to claim it, with regular motions in the World Congress awarding two, and occasional competitions or emergencies (such as aid requests) awarding one. As Sweden, I was on the cusp of victory on two occasions, but was frustrated by the rest of the world pooling their favour to stop me. If you lose a vote, the favour you spent on it is refunded, so if you’re producing more than everyone else you should eventually overwhelm them – in theory. Trouble is, as you add more votes to a motion, the price to do so will rise, so while you can have more favour than the rest of the world combined, that doesn’t mean you have more votes. I won the diplomatic victory on my third chance, helped enormously by two very tempting proposals on the same agenda that split the favour of my opponents. Again, that’s a factor that was beyond my control. The emergencies system has been folded into the World Congress, which is a sensible place for it, but if you like a fight, you probably won’t welcome the results. As Kupe I needed Suleiman’s land, and intended to play peacefully after I got it – honest – but the rest of the world made this difficult by passing military emergency motions against me twice, one of which punished a conquest I’d made before the Congress had even convened. In another game, Matthias of Hungary called an emergency on me for taking Calais dozens of turns after I’d not only already done so, but had taken France out entirely and moved on to Greece. All this leads me to make an odd declaration: if you’re a warmonger, you have my sympathy. Gathering Storm will be a tough time for you. You’re essentially required to amass as much diplomatic favour as possible to vote these emergencies down, and sometimes you’ll manage it, but sometimes it’ll be impossible, as half the world will dump all their favour on you (it seems the size of your army is a deterrent). Other civs have a long and vengeful memory, even on behalf of third parties, and even if you only want to do a little bit of killing. It feels like every city capture can potentially trigger a global pile-on. On the flipside, defensive wars feel much fairer. Diplomatic misbehaviour generates grievances, which are balanced between civs and thus give you credit to draw on if someone else catapulted the first boulder. After Matthias backstabbed me in my Inca game (seriously: Suleiman and Matthias are up there with Alexander for the ‘Civ’s biggest dickhead’ award), I was able to capture and keep one of his cities with my reputation intact. He still tried to declare an emergency on me – ages later – but the rest of the world was able to recognise I’d done nothing wrong. And yet it seems Gathering Storm has done little else to address one of the Civ community’s perennial complaints. The AI still issues odd attack orders in warfare, and attaches odd value to commodities in diplomacy. This has produced some frankly ridiculous requests: ‘Can I have all your Great Works, and, I dunno, a city so you can join me in a joint war against my neighbour? I’ll give you a luxury you already have and a bit of gold per turn when you’re already swimming in money’. As in Civ V, the AI seems to value strategic resources equally, which is absurd when they wax and wane in value. I’ve got away with ridiculous counter-proposals, such as talking someone down from 20 Oil to 12 Iron. However, the new, more granular approach to strategic resources is an excellent background change that poses some interesting questions: Do you want to power your cities, or maintain a modern military? Will you try to do both through conquest or diplomacy, or can you afford to wait while you tech up to renewable power? It’s basic strategy game stuff, but it’s more compelling in many ways than the big headline features. But where Gathering Storm really shines is in the new civs, which are brilliant. Firaxis has taken the rare step of weakening some in one way but strengthening them in another, defining their gameplay more sharply: Mali’s mines yield more gold but less production than anyone else’s, and their Suguba discounts gold and faith prices, so you’ll buy things rather than make them. The Maori can’t generate great writers and lose the amphitheatre’s Great Work slots, but get more culture, faith, and tourism from unimproved land – somehow, they’re conservationists in a genre part-named for exploitation. Dido can resurrect the old strategy of forward-settling, while Matthias turns a system that had been largely ignored – levying city-state troops – into a deadly weapon. I could go on. Aesthetic design is also outstanding. Reject a diplomatic proposal from Kristina, and she’ll give you an unblinking Hard Stare while huffily flipping a page of her book with her finger. Accept one from Mansa Musa and he’ll give a delicious sigh of deep contentment. I include the Maori in every game to enjoy one of their songs: a gentle tribal hymn as soothing as a zephyr blowing in from the sea. Whenever such breezy metaphors don’t whip themselves up into unavoidable hurricanes that massacre my people, Gathering Storm can be great fun. The new civs breathe life into systems both new and old, adding greatly to Civ’s replayability. And while it’s nice to have the World Congress back, I hope that a patch tunes its hostility to Domination players, and lets us set its agenda somehow. Until then, while it and the natural disasters don’t actively detract from the experience, they don’t add as much as they could.

Fortnite: holiday trees locations guide: Looking for Fortnite holiday tree locations? Here’s where you’ll need to dance at Fortnite holiday trees in different named locations. Fortnite’s new festive look, complete with snowmen and gold llama topped holiday trees, brings exciting winter-themed challenges to earn new Fortnite skins, emotes, and cosmetics. As part of the 14 days of Fortnite, these extra challenges will be running until January 6. For this Winterfest daily challenge, you’ll need to hunt down the holiday trees in Fortnite. So, where can you find them? When Fortnite’s map received an overhaul earlier this year, we were tasked with finding 13 named locations in Fortnite to unlock the new map. Now, those named locations come in handy, as you need to dance at the holiday trees at six of them. You’ll find the holiday trees in Fortnite in the locations marked below. Once you find the holiday trees, you’ll simply need to bust a move in front of each tree to tick another location off and complete the daily Winterfest challenge. FORTNITE: DANCE AT HOLIDAY TREES IN DIFFERENT NAMED LOCATIONS The Fortnite holiday trees can be found at Pleasant Park, Salty Springs, Lazy Lake, Misty Meadows, Retail Row, and Holly Hedges. Be sure to check in at the Winterfest Cabin to pick up your Fortnite presents, and be sure to check back for more Fortnite holiday challenges. If you’re keen to find out what’s next when the Winterfest challenges wrap up in the new year, here’s everything we know about the Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 2 release date.

Toyota's new hot hatch could get even warmer. Toyota hasn't even officially unveiled the GR Yaris, although Motor1.com had the opportunity to drive a prototype. Still, rumors have already started swirling about an even hotter GRMN version. Naohiko Saito, the GR Yaris' chief engineer, referred to the possibility while talking with Motoring from Australia by saying, "In the future, maybe we can." He also tempered expectations by adding the even hotter Yaris was "under consideration." Gallery: Toyota GR Yaris Prototype: Insiders indicate that the GRMN would weigh even less than the already lightweight 2,600-pound GR Yaris. According to Saito speaking to Motoring, the company commissioned a feasibility study for a full carbon-fiber body for the GR. Since the new model only received a carbon-fiber-reinforced-plastic roof, the team might have earmarked some of the other carbon components for the GRMN. In addition, the GR Yaris' 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder would receive an increased output. For reference, the prototype that Motor1.com drove had a claimed output of over 250 horsepower (186 kilowatts) and 258 pound-feet (350 Newton-meters) of torque, but the company was clear that these weren't the final specs. In terms of chassis revisions, there are reportedly extra braces available as dealer accessories in Japan for the GR Yaris, according to Motoring. These pieces would likely be standard equipment on the GRMN. The GR Yaris gets an official unveiling at the Tokyo Auto Salon on January 10. Prices reportedly range between €40,000 and €50,000 ($44,000 to $55,000 at current conversion rates). There's also an optional Performance Pack that adds Torsen mechanical self-locking differentials to the front and rear, rather than a single limited-slip unit in the standard version.

According to a recent Savills report published over the summer, renter demand has become more discerning. A wave of interest in “lettability” among potential tenants is driving rental market trends. It is forcing a higher standard of finish across UK, and largely, positions character as an important marker of “lettable” properties. The rise of designer developments – a show flat that offers you a taste of the lifestyle afforded to the inhabitants – is indicative of the wider move towards more discerning house-hunting behaviours in the prime residential sector; for example, design studio Elycion has recently unveiled its show flat at Chelsea Barracks, property developer Londonewcastle has just launched a show flat by Trilbey Gordon at Covent Garden’s Chapter House. Roksanda Ilincic, Suzy Hoodless, Tara Bernard and Sophie Ashby are creating lifestyle inspiration in show flats by designer developers, elegantly demonstrating to their buyers the true capacity for great design within the spaces they’re purchasing. This trend really does extend into the rental market. Residential retail company Uncle has cottoned on to the staggering figure that a quarter of the British po[CENSORED]tion is currently living in rental accommodation. Pair this figure with an evolving view of what constitutes a ‘lettable’ property amongst renters, and it is clear to see the niche the brand is filling. In an exciting new partnership, Uncle has instructed the Tollgard Design Group to create schemes for its UK-wide collection of apartment buildings with made.com furniture. Rental brand Tipi is also marketing itself on the design credentials of the apartments available, which have been co-designed with Samsung and John Lewis & Partners. One bedroom apartments in these kinds of developments will cost renters upwards of £1,500, with two bedroom homes reaching around £3,000. The benefits of living in new, design-savvy developments go beyond their purely aesthetic “lettability”. For example, Tipi run a no fees, no deposit programme, has on-site amenities like a gym, social spaces, secure parking and events for tenants. Uncle offers similar benefits, including co-working facilities. However, the aesthetic consideration of these rental spaces seems to be worth a premium, and all signs point to retail. As the overall quality of the UK’s rental market shifts with the whims of discerning tenants, it is inevitable that the homeware and design retail categories will benefit. Where furnishing your new apartment is concerned, Tollgard Design group founder Monique Tollgard suggests making two lists before you move in: a Want list and a Need list. She advises spending most of your budget on the pieces you need first. Leave some budget for the Want list, which should include a “final layer” of soft furnishings and accessories. Your bed and your sofa should be the first things on your Need list. If you’re renting in a city, the chances are you will have restricted space. Megan Holloway, marketing manager at Sofa Workshop, suggests one of the first things you should consider when buying a sofa is the way it will actually complement your living room. If you are tight on space, Holloway says: “Look for sofas that are lifted off the floor on slightly longer legs. This will give the impression of further floor space and give the room a lighter feel.” Your Want list should consist of things you truly love, putting your stamp on a space and creating homely warmth. Throws, ornaments and cushions are great places to start, especially as the nights draw in. H&M Home currently stock a range of highly textured throws in sumptuous autumnal colours, while Sheridan have launched a range of cushions for a sleek and glamorous look. Flexible furniture is also a must-have in rental spaces, which are often tight on floor space. This could include an extendable dining table, a sofa bed, or nesting coffee tables to provide some extra surface space when playing host. Mid-century extendable dining tables are beautifully made, and can absolutely be considered investment pieces. G-Plan models are personal favourites of mine and can be found listed on Vinterior, and Gumtree has some great options too if you’re prepared to do some scroll-miles. Look out for furniture that is modular. This will give you endless layout options, meaning you can easily reconfigure your living room for entertaining – for example British furniture brand Bisley has launched BOB, an innovative storage system that provides “infinite configurations” that click together with concealed magnets. The shelving has been designed in collaboration with designer Paul Kelly. Marketing director Helen Owen at Bisley says “modern-day storage should be smart and simple. In the office or at home, as a room divide or up against a wall, BOB can be used easily and effortlessly – everywhere.” String is another great option for sleek, minimalist shelving with a hit of mid-century modern style. The shelving can grow with you, allowing you to add more shelves to the simple bracket system. Another great tip for renters is buy items that are easy to clean and maintain. There is a range of fantastic wipe-able fabrics on the market today, including Andrew Martin’s new fabric collections created in collaboration with AquaClean. The fabrics are woven using treated yarns that allow day-to-day household stains to be removed with water alone. Made.com has published a useful guide – to looking after your fabrics, upholstery, woods and veneers on its website – which offers tips such as regularly ‘shaking’ your foam-, feather- or fibre-filled cushions as often as possible. Finally – if you’re lucky enough to have some outside space – even a small balcony or yard, make sure you use it to your advantage. Tollgard believes that one way to approach your outside space is to use it to create the illusion of increased internal square footage. She says, “outside lighting is a must, to extend the view from the inside of your apartment out onto the terrace. Without lighting on the terrace, the windows become a black mirror reflecting the interiors back.” She suggests, “using planter and floor standing lanterns to create pools of light.” Lighting Direct offer sleek LED-planter light models, while Fermob’s Balad Upright Stand light is a good option if you’re looking for floor lamps. Robert Soning, COO and founder of Londonewcastle, is an advocate of outside space as a place for mindfulness, especially if you live in a bustling city. He says, “gardens and outdoor spaces where you can enjoy nature can be beneficial in so many other ways. Having a tranquil space to practice mindfulness or a spot of yoga promotes good health, both physically and mentally. And if you share a collective outdoor space with others it can really bring a sense of community to an otherwise disconnected city.”

Ms Xu, from northeastern Heilongjiang province, contemplated going to an illegal clinic but decided against it – noting the women's bathroom door at the hospital was filled with ads for illicit clinics. Some individuals bypass China's strict laws on fertility by going abroad. Ms Xu said she had made enquiries but found it too expensive - agents told her that a treatment in Thailand would cost about 100,000 yuan ($14,273) and 200,000 yuan if she wanted to undergo the treatment in the US. When approached by Reuters for comment, the hospital said it could not speak to international media. An unmarried Chinese woman has taken a hospital in Beijing to court for not allowing her to freeze her eggs because of her marital status. Only married couples can use assisted reproductive technology in China and they have to show a marriage licence to verify they are wedded. Teresa Xu, 31, went to the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital at Capital Medical University in November 2018 and asked to freeze her eggs. A woman's eggs decline in quality as she gets older, which could pose barriers to conceiving. But a woman's eggs can be removed from her ovaries and frozen to be used at a later time via a medical procedure. Ms Xu, who writes about gender issues, said that on her first visit to the hospital for a checkup the doctor asked about her marital status and urged her to have a child now instead of freezing her eggs. The doctor told her she was not allowed to proceed any further during her second visit. "I came here for a professional service, but instead I got someone who was urging me to put aside my work and to have a child first," she said. "I have already received a lot of this pressure in this society, this culture." China's rapid economic growth has created the conditions for single women to become financially independent, but the country's policies and medical industry have not caught up. "This is a systemic issue, because the system has brought this difficult position for single women," Xu said. Ms Xu, who said her case was expected to go on for several months, added: "I personally feel that being able to arrive at this stage is already a sort of win. "For me I didn't feel like I was at court as an individual. I felt I was standing there with the weight of many other single women's expectations."

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Rainbow Six Siege leak reveals new Stadium map : Rainbow Six Siege continues to add new Operators every season, but new maps have slowed with recent releases. Now, however, a leak purporting to show a new Siege map has emerged. The map, named Stadium, is seemingly a tie-in for the 2020 Siege Invitational. It appears to have elements of the old Hereford Base, while some fans think it also contains parts of the existing maps Oregon and Kanal. While the new map appears to be legitimate, it’s worth bearing in mind Ubisoft has not confirmed it to be real – the publisher declined to comment when approached by PCGamesN. Siege’s 2020 Invitational is the game’s next big esports tournament. It will be held in Montreal, Canada in February, and this new leak suggests Ubisoft will also hold an in-game event mode for players around the world to join in on the fun. Check out the video below from Siege content creator RolyNoly. Siege has held a number of limited-time modes before, from the PvE Outbreak mode – which led to a fully-fledged spin-off in Rainbow Six Quarantine – via this summer’s Showdown mode to the recent Monster Hunt Halloween event. The latest Rainbow Six Siege Season, Operation Shifting Tides, launched just recently. It includes a rework of Theme Park and two new Operators, Kali and Wamai. Let’s hope this new map leak turns out to be real!

PUBG lets you fly for the first time with a Motor Glider: What do you get when you cross Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds with Microsoft Flight Simulator? The PUBG Motor Glider! The new contraption, which will let PUBG players fly for the first time (officially) in the battle royale, hits the game’s Labs for testing today, December 19, and there’s “no maximum altitude you can reach.” As posted on the PUBG website, the Motor Glider – bright yellow in the pictures – lets you and a pal take to the air and whizz around the map. It sounds pretty simple to use: “To take off, you’ll need to get the speed up to 70km/h (so not quite the 88 miles per hour you’d need for time travel) and once you’re moving you can use sticky throttle to lock in your forward acceleration.” You use the W and S keys to control the Glider’s pitch and A and D to manage its roll. Hold down the left shift and left control keys to adjust the aircraft’s throttle and simply hold the spacebar when you make contact with the ground to apply its handbrake. Simple. And to answer a question you’ll probably already be thinking, yes, you can fire shots and chuck some molotovs from the Glider, raining them down on your opponents below. Just watch out for any return fire – while it might be tricky to hit, the engine can be destroyed, and the wings damaged. The tyres are invulnerable, though, so you should be able to land. One thing to note is that it does only have so much fuel, so you’ll need to be a little mindful of how much you’re applying the throttle. PUBG Corp. does note, however, that “there’s no maximum altitude you can reach” – but the engine will naturally fade the higher you reach. If you’re keen to try the PUBG Motor Glider out, you’ll need to be quick – it’s only available on the game Labs from 23:00 PST on December 19 (02:00 ET and 07:00 GMT December 20)and live for 72 hours.

You can play Sea of Thieves totally solo by hopping aboard your tiny sloop, closing off your party to random matchmaking, and managing all the drudge work of your anchor, your sails, and your ship’s heading at once. It’s absolutely dreadful. Turning the sails, it turns out, is a lot less fun than shouting out the order to do so. When you play alone, you’re playing with the stark white bones of the game, stripped of its actual meat – which is other people. Cynically, you might posit that Sea of Thieves is the kind of bare multiplayer experience that can only be made tolerable by the company of people that you like. But that’s not fair, or true. Instead, it uses social interaction to weave magic. Every bare spot in the game’s design is actually a human-shaped hole, where the unpredictable decisions of another player fills in the blank to make the design work. It’s been nearly a year since Sea of Thieves first set sail but it’s only recently that it found a wide audience, picking up a large following on Twitch. It’s that new success that’s pushed us to go back to the high seas and see what’s changed. Though, there have been four major updates expanding what you can do in Rare’s pirate sandbox, the basics have remained pretty much the same. You pick up a quest from one of a handful of vendors, sail out to an island, and either dig up buried treasure, fight some skeletons, or solve a riddle. Then you take the resulting booty back to port, spend some gold on new cosmetics, and repeat the process. It’s a truly cooperative process, at that. A galleon has three sails, each of which has to be individually set and turned to capture the wind for whatever speed you want to sail at. You’ll need someone in the crow’s nest to look out for unknown dangers on the horizon, and then someone at the bow to watch as you come into port and give the order to drop anchor before you hit a deceptive shallow. Hopefully you’ve got someone left over to check the map below deck, shouting up directions to the rest of the crew about which direction you need to aim for. That filters through to whoever’s in the crow’s nest, as they try to decipher whether the peak in the distance is the island you’re heading for or some craggy rock that’ll tear up your ship. Then those instructions have to reach whoever’s at the wheel as they try to direct the bulky, slow-turning vessel, usually while the sails block the horizon from view. It feels a lot like the chaotic co-op action of a game like Overcooked, where you and your partners try to delegate roles sensibly, even as you start to stretch yourselves out because there are simply too many to fill. If you’re at the wheel in Sea of Thieves, you need to trust your crew to tell you whether you’re steering safely or not. As the helmsman, you have to make a trustworthy call on when to drop anchor before you run aground (I have abused this trust many times). While you’re doing all of that, other crews across your server are doing the same – running through the same mental gymnastics of teamwork while deciding on their own goals and picking up their own treasures. Whatever loot they have on board is exactly the same kind as that you’re sailing to capture – so why not try to take it directly from another crew? It’s pure business efficiency. That could mean a full-on naval battle, in which you try to scuttle the other crew’s ship and secure their treasure. It could mean sneakily hopping aboard an unprotected vessel while it’s docked and absconding with the loot while its crew is engaged in PvE battles. Or it could mean working together with another crew to take down NPC bosses and then sharing the loot. That third scenario is far more common than you might think. In fact, it’s roughly a coin flip over whether any given crew is going to greet you with a friendly wave or with cannon fire. The community that’s sprung up around Sea of Thieves over the past year is as devoted to camaraderie as to piracy, and that’s essential to its success. When you see another ship out there, you have no idea how that crew will receive you. So you approach each player encounter with caution, whispering with your crew about what you think is going to happen. Are they flying the Jolly Roger because they want to kill or because it looks cool? Do you think those pockmarked sails mean they’ve been through a big battle and are low on resources? Most importantly, how many of them are on board, and do you reckon we could take them if things turn violent? Sea of Thieves’s greatest success isn’t in being a pirate game, then, but its capacity to be a sandbox that encourages its players to act like cartoon swashbucklers who keep pushing their luck to the limits. You might be drinking a friendly grog with another crew at port in one moment, and then daringly firing yourself out a cannon at their ship in the next, so that you can have a duel and steal their cargo. Maybe the other lot are giving chase while you jump overboard, climb up their hull on the other side, and drop their anchor to secure your crew’s getaway. That whole experience has been with Sea of Thieves from the start, but each of the free updates – and it’s worth emphasising that they’ve all been free – have added a new danger to watch out for while you’re sailing around. The megalodon. Roving ships helmed by skeleton crews. A whole new island chain full of fiery volcanoes and boiling shallows. They’ve all entered the game as limited-time mini-campaigns with unique rewards, before becoming more broadly integrated into the game. Each new change has added a bit more texture to the game, and the most recent update – Shrouded Spoils – focused on making all that content feel much more immediate and important with new rewards, different variations on the skeleton crews, and more types of loot. Nothing so far has upended the experience, instead adding variety. Yet even then, variety is still the thing Sea of Thieves is most wanting for. There aren’t any upgrade trees, powerful weapons to unlock, or major quest lines to follow. That can be baffling for some, but there’s a respectable adherence to design philosophy behind that: every pirate spends the entire game on even footing. There’s no escaping the fact that you’re going to be doing exactly the same tasks in your first hour with the game as you will 20 hours later and beyond. Get some treasure, buy some cosmetics, and repeat. Usually, that formula fades into the background as a sort of MacGuffin to push you into cooperation and competition with other players. Sometimes, though, the stars fail to align, leaving your session as a dull grind for new junk. Sea of Thieves manages to push the pieces into place far more often than not, and dependably manages to inspire its players to play along with the pirate magic that keeps everyone engaged. Neither I nor my regular crew play every day, and I suspect that if we tried to, the cracks in the hull would become much more readily apparent. Instead, every few weeks one of us blurts out in excitement: “We should pirate this weekend!”. The hours with Sea of Thieves that have resulted over the past year have been among the most memorable I’ve ever had with a game, similar memories though they may be.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to say when Donald Trump’s trial in the Senate will go ahead, creating fresh uncertainty for the president after he was impeached by the House. Speaking to reporters shortly after the House passed two articles of impeachment against Mr Trump, she repeatedly refused to specify when they would be sent to the upper chamber. She said that would only happen if the Senate agreed to a fair process. With such a move, the speaker is leaving the issue of impeachment dangling over the president’s head. The White House, along with the Republican leadership of the Senate, would rather there was a vote against the articles – thereby saving Mr Trump – as swiftly as possible. On Wednesday evening, after around eight hours of speeches by legislators of both parties, Ms Pelosi strode into a post-vote press conference flanked by her committee chairs. “December 18, a great day for the constitution of the United States, a sad one for America, that the president’s reckless activities necessitated us having to introduce articles of impeachment against him,” said Ms Pelosi, who thanked her chairs for their “tremendous leadership” and dedicated the evening’s effort to her caucus’ “North Star”, the late congressman Elijah Cummings. “I could not be more inspired by the moral courage of the House Democrats,” she said, adding that she and her leadership team did not have to whip votes to get a majority. “I view this vote as something we did today to honour the vision of our founders...to defend our democracy, and the aspirations of our children.” When Ms Pelosi was asked if she viewed the House’s role as “complete” or if there was anything her caucus could do to ensure a fair Senate trial for Mr Trump, she responded: “You mean a more fair trial than they [Senate Republicans] are contemplating?” “We have legislation approved the rules committee to enable us to decide how we will send over the articles of impeachment. We cannot name managers until we see what the process is on the Senate side, and I would hope that would be soon,” she said. “So far we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us.” Pressed further on whether she could withhold the articles, she said she and her committee chairs would “make a decision as a group, as we always have”. When asked what she considered a fair trial, she responded that she did not consider it fair that majority leader Mitch McConnell “has stated that he’s not an impartial juror, that he’s going to take his cues from the White House, and that he’s going to work in total coordination with the White House Counsel’s Office”. House Judiciary Committee chair Jerrold Nadler said Mr McConnell’s statement was “certainly an indication of an unfair trial”, after which Ms Pelosi added that she hoped that the White House would make witnesses available. “But right now, the president is impeached,” she said. “We have done what we set out to do – the House has acted as a very sad day to protect and defend the constitution of the United States, and to do so in a manner that was fair and appropriate and urgent.” She added: “We will make our decision as to when we send it when we see what they are going to do on the Senate side. This is a serious matter even though the majority leader in the United States Senate says it is ok for the foreman of the jury to be in cahoots with lawyers of the accused.”

Most of us have our Christmas dinner methods sorted, but how do you get those roast potatoes crisp and fluffy if you’re catering for vegans and can’t use trusty old goose fat? And what about those little touches that really elevate a dish, or the meals for the days that spread luxuriously and lazily ahead from Boxing Day to New Year? We asked some of our favourite chefs, recipe creators and restaurateurs what they will be cooking at home over the festive season. Getting into the Christmas Spirit with Mr Lyan’s legendary Galle house punch Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, is an award-winning bartenders and founder of one of the World’s Best Bars, Lyaness, and sustainable cocktail restaurant, Cub. “I love making punches over the Christmas period. Not only are they suitably warming, they're good pacing drinks – both in terms of strength, and ease of service for when friends drop in. “Using a loggerhead – a warmed poker – is a great party trick. This heats up the punch, it lends a lovely caramelised note and an essence of wood smoke. "If you don’t have a poker, you can brew the tea, warm the ingredients on the hob, and then mix the two.” 1 teaspoon black peppercorns 2 cardamom pods 1 stick cinnamon ½ nutmeg 1 thumb ginger 6 cloves 500g sugar 250ml water 8 shots (200ml) golden rum 4 shots (100ml) dark rum 6 shots (150ml) 6 shots (150 ml) lemon juice 6 shots (150ml) cloudy apple juice 500ml dry cider Nestle a fire poker in the embers of a fire, in a bonfire or on the hob. To make a spiced syrup, bash the peppercorns, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves in a pestle and mortar. Add the water to a pot and heat. When boiling, add the sugar and the ground spices, then remove from the heat. Stir, allow to cool, then strain through a sieve. Place the tea bud in the punch bowl, add the boiling water and allow to steep for 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients plus 4 shots (100ml) of your spiced syrup. Remove the now red-hot poker from the fire and slowly plunge into the punch. When it stops fizzing, remove and ladle into cups. Festive game with Geetie Singh-Watson Geetie is an MBE and founder of the first official organic pub in Britain, The Duke of Cambridge, London, and owner of the The Bull Inn, Totnes. “We’ve been cooking this on Christmas Eve for years, and now I’ve worked with our head chef James Dodd to make it a little more special so we can put it on the menu at The Bull Inn. "Pheasant is such an underrated meat and as a wild bird it arguably has a much lower environmental impact than farmed chicken. By pairing the beautiful meat with the Christmas-spiced red cabbage and a kale-packed garlic butter, this is a truly seasonal celebration of homegrown food.” Pheasant Kiev with cavolo nero garlic butter, mulled red cabbage and crushed carrot and swede Serves 4 Pheasant 7 per cent salt brine (35g of salt dissolved in 500ml water) 4 skinless pheasant breasts (brined for 4 to 8 max hours, but this is optional) 250ml of sunflower oil for frying Garlic Butter 100g unsalted butter (room temperature) 2 garlic cloves 1 head of cavolo nero stripped 50ml olive oil 1tsp Dijon mustard Salt and pepper to taste 1 zest of lemon Bread crumb coating 120g breadcrumbs 4 tbsp plain flour 2 whole egg whisked Braised red cabbage 500g sliced red cabbage 100g demerara sugar 40ml red wine vinegar 80ml apple juice 40ml balsamic vinegar 80g dried cranberries Pinch of ground cinnamon, clove, coriander, ginger and a grating of nutmeg 4 strips of clementine peel Crushed swede and carrots 1 large swede 4 large carrots 100g butter 4 sage leaves Good sprig of rosemary salt and pepper to taste Start by making your salt brine for the breasts by whisking the salt into cold water. Once the salt is completely dissolved, put your pheasant breasts in a non-reactive container and pour the brine over them to completely submerge. Lid the container and put in the fridge for four to a maximum of eight hours. The longer the breasts are left in there the saltier they will be. Next make the butter by boiling the cavolo nero for four minutes. Once boiled, put into ice-cold water straight away to refresh. Squeeze as much of the water as you possibly can out of the cavolo, then blend to a smooth puree with olive oil and mustard. Then add your butter, making sure its room temperature, along with the garlic, lemon zest and salt and pepper. Blend to a smooth vibrant green butter, taste and adjust the seasoning to taste. To make the braised red cabbage, simply gently sweat the sliced cabbage down with a splash of oil just to take the bite off it. Then combine the rest of the ingredients into the pan with a lid and cook on a gentle heat for around 40 minutes, stirring every now and then. For the crushed carrot and swede, peel and wash both then roughly cut into 1cm chunks. Gently melt half the butter in a pan then add the diced veg, put a lid on and cook out gently stirring occasionally until soft enough to crush with the back of a spoon. Once cooked and crushed add the remaining butter, chopped sage leaves, rosemary and salt and pepper to taste. My personal preference is lots of pepper! Take your pheasant breasts from their brine, rinse in fresh cold water and pat dry. Using a sharp knife and going in from the thicker end of the breast, cut a deep pocket into the middle of the breast being careful not to cut through the other side else the butter will leak out while cooking. Then either push or pipe the butter into the middle, getting as much as you can in but not overfilling (don’t worry if there is left over butter, that works nicely melted and served in a jug alongside to pour over). Once all breasts are stuffed put them back in the fridge for the butter to go hard in them, this will make the coating process easier. Season your breadcrumbs with a pinch of salt and pepper, chopped sprig of rosemary and chopped sprig of thyme. Then in separate bowls line up in order your flour, whisked eggs and breadcrumbs. Take your breasts then in order lightly coat in the flour then the egg and then coat well in the breadcrumbs. Heat the oil in a frying pan, you will know it’s hot enough when a cube of bread dropped into it browns in 30 seconds. Once hot enough drop your breasts into the oil cooking till nicely browned on one side then flip and repeat the process of the other side. Fry until golden, about 2-3 minutes each side then transfer to an 180C oven and cook for 10-15 mins. The secrets to a perfect plant-based Christmas dinner with Kirk Haworth In a career spanning 16 years, Kirk has worked in some of the world's top restaurants, including three-Michelin-starred The French Laundry, Restaurant Sat Bains, The Square and Quay in Sydney. As Plates co-founder he takes all that nature has to offer and delivers modern, plant-based food with Michelin-standard execution Kirk Haworth’s Michelin-star chef lifestyle was meat, fish and dairy heavy. But, in 2016, a diagnosis with Lyme Disease led him to overhaul his lifestyle. After discovering that a vegan diet relieved some symptoms, his new plant-based ethos was born. The caramelised onion gravy served at his restaurant, Plates, takes three days to create but Kirk shares his quick wins for a delicious Christmas feast. “There are two secrets to good roast potatoes. The first is to use Maris Piper potatoes, the second is coconut oil. Simply, boil your potatoes up gently from cold water with a pinch of salt. “Place a deep roasting tray with 100g of organic coconut oil in the oven at 180C. Cook until al dente, drain the water, put the lid back on the pan and until fluffy around the outside. Place potatoes onto the hot tray and roast until golden brown for 45 to 60 minutes, turning them every 15 minutes. "Another secret is that brussels don’t need pancetta to be sexy. Instead, mix in some roast chestnuts and truffle oil and a good pinch of Maldon sea salt.” The leftover challenge with Douglas McMaster Pioneer of the zero-waste movement, Douglas has shared his food philosophy at TedX talks and at symposiums globally. He is the owner of Silo in Hackney. “First things first, using up leftovers is not a chore, it’s a creative challenge! At Christmas time especially, it’s important we all work together to be conscious of food waste. I always weigh my ingredients beforehand and aim for around 800g-1kg per person, so I don’t have excess waste. “I also try not to cook too many food items that can’t be reused, including – controversially – sprouts as well as dressed salads. My aim is to create ‘table abundance’ by cooking foods that can be easily reused, such as root vegetables that can easily be turned into a soup the next day.” Come out of your shell with Joel and Aiste Gazar Joel and Aiste Gazdar are dedicated to wellbeing and the founders of the Wild Food Café, which offers nourishing plant-based food in London “Christmas is the time when we pay respects to more traditional flavours and aromas. For us, it is all about those key dishes that everyone gathers together for, and ingredients that come out of their shell (quite literally!) and tune us in to the festive spirit," says Gazar. “This upside-down pie appeared on our winter menu one year and remained forever imprinted in our hearts. The combination of caramelised raisins, chestnuts and pine nuts is absolutely heavenly.” Upside-down chestnut and pine nut pie Topping 200g boiled chestnuts, roughly chopped 30g pine nuts 30g soaked raisins, drained Caramel 100g boiled chestnuts, roughly chopped 80g coconut sugar 30g pine nuts 2 tbsp coconut oil 4 tbsp water Wet ingredients for the pie 280ml almond milk 240ml maple syrup 110g coconut sugar 100ml olive oil 1 stalk of rosemary, leaves only 1 1⁄2 tbsp apple cider vinegar zest of 2 oranges 1⁄2 tsp salt Dry ingredients for the pie 230g gluten-free flour 40g chestnut flour 30g almond flour 100g boiled chestnuts 30g raisins 30g pine nuts 2 tsp baking powder To decorate Pine nuts Sprigs of fresh rosemary Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. First make the "topping". Spread the chopped chestnuts over the base of a 25cm (10-inch) round cake tin. Add the pine nuts and soaked raisins and set aside. Place all the caramel ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium-low heat, let it cook for approximately 10 minutes, then remove from the heat when the sugar has dissolved. Pour the caramel over the "topping". Add all the dry pie ingredients to a large mixing bowl and combine. Blend all the wet pie ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth then add to the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. Combine together with a whisk until the mix is smooth. Pour the mixture into the cake tin, making sure you cover the caramel mixture evenly. Bake for one hour, then remove from the oven and leave to cool. Flip the cake over so that the ‘topping’ is on the top. Decorate with pine nuts and sprigs of rosemary. Extracted from ‘WILD’ by Joel and Aiste Gazar (Vermilion, £20); photography by Wild Food Café Un Limited 2019

Both the four-door and Shooting Brake will get a PHEV powertrain. Mercedes-Benz kicked off 2019 with the debut of its new CLA-Class compact “coupe” sedan. Interestingly, the car was revealed not at a major auto show or standalone event, but at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Flash forward nearly a full year, and spy photographers camped out in the snowy northern reaches of Sweden caught a couple of CLAs with black tape over part of their badges, some round yellow stickers, and an extra fuel filler door on the right rear. The combination can only mean one thing – plug-in hybrid versions of the CLA are coming soon. How do we know these are plug-in hybrids? For starters, the aforementioned yellow stickers are required for test vehicles utilizing some form of electric motivation. The casual observer probably wouldn’t think twice about seeing a fuel door on the rear of these Mercs, but they also wouldn’t notice a second door on the other side. In this instance, liquid fuel goes into the left door, and a charging plug for electricity hidden on the right. If that’s not enough, the daring photographer got up-close and personal with the black tape covering the rear badge. Curiously, Mercedes leaves the CLA portion free and clear, but it’s easy to see 250e outlined beneath the tape. So here are the new CLA 250e and CLA 250e Shooting Brake before Mercedes wants you to see them. Gallery: Mercedes-Benz CLA PHEV Spy Photos: Extra fuel door notwithstanding, they obviously look just like the standard CLA on the outside. We expect much the same thing inside, but under the hood, our sources tell us to expect a 1.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder mated with a 75-kilowatt electric motor. All total it will produce 218 horsepower, and if it sounds familiar, it’s the same powertrain used in the new A250e PHEV revealed back in August. In the slightly larger CLA, the all-electric range is expected to be between 37 and 43 miles per Europe’s WLTP testing program. As for when it will debut, it’s tempting to say it will show up at the 2020 CES Show in Vegas, which is just a few weeks away. Mercedes will be there again, and there’s certainly some symmetry in unveiling another CLA with hybrid technology. There are already other plans in place, however, and as far as we know they don’t include the CLA. With that in mind, an official reveal later is 2020 is the most likely scenario.