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Japanese PM Suga to hold news conference amid third coronavirus wave

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, is set to hold a news conference to provide an update on the country’s pandemic response on Friday, his first since coronavirus case numbers surged in November.



Yoshihide Suga wearing a suit and tie sitting in front of a curtain: FILE PHOTO: Yoshihide Suga speaks during a news conference following his confirmation as Prime Minister of Japan in Tokyo

© Reuters/POOL
FILE PHOTO: Yoshihide Suga speaks during a news conference following his confirmation as Prime Minister of Japan in Tokyo

Suga is expected to explain his backing of a widely criticised travel subsidy campaign meant to help revive the economy amid infection controls.

In recent weeks, a third wave of the coronavirus has arrived in parts of the country, and some medical groups and experts blame it on a government campaign to encourage domestic tourism.

His news conference will take place at 6 p.m. local time (0900 GMT), according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Suga’s approval ratings have dipped, with many unhappy with his handling of the pandemic, polls showed. That could deal a

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Oscars Will Hold ‘In-Person Show’ in 2021

There will be no “virtual” Oscars.

“The Oscars in-person telecast will happen,” a rep from the Academy and ABC tells Variety exclusively.

This year, the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences moved their annual telecast back two months to April 25, 2021, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sources inside the Oscars say that by pushing the awards ceremony back, the Academy hoped that theaters would be open again in the spring, thus allowing for more movies to compete in the annual celebration of the year’s best films.

But even if movie theaters stay closed, by holding the Oscars later in spring, organizers are now focusing to make sure that the event continues as it always has live. That may still create some questions as to exactly how many people are allowed inside the 3,400-seat Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where the ceremony traditionally takes place.

“The Academy has

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Ortega media enrich his family, entrench his hold on Nicaragua | Nation

In 2018, an Ortega plan to increase social security contributions and lower pension payouts sparked demonstrations.

At first, Murillo told state and allied outlets not to cover the unrest. “The order was to ignore everything,” said Carlos Mikel Espinosa, then an editor at El 19 Digital, a state-controlled online news portal. Espinosa quit when the upheaval intensified and the government response grew violent.

Foreign governments, the United Nations, and human rights groups denounced Ortega and Sandinista allies for reported killings, beatings, detentions and torture of many protesters. Police raided newsrooms of opposition media, seizing equipment and supplies needed for publishing.

They arrested Miguel Mora, founder of 100% Noticias, a Managua television station, and shut its broadcasts. The government, Mora told Reuters, claimed the channel owed unpaid taxes, an assertion he denied. “It was a brutal attack to make us change our editorial line or to make us bankrupt,” said Mora,

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Special Report: Ortega media enrich his family, entrench his hold on Nicaragua

By Drazen Jorgic, Ismael Lopez

MANAGUA (Reuters) – In early 2010, Nicaragua’s Canal 8, an independent television network, had a new owner.

FILE PHOTO: A demonstrator holds a sign showing Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and former President Anastasio Somoza during a protest against police violence and the government of President Ortega in Managua, Nicaragua April 23, 2018. To match Special Report NICARAGUA-POLITICS/ORTEGA REUTERS/Stringer

Details of the deal – the identity of the buyer, the purchase price, an exact date for the transaction – remained secret. The seller died of cancer soon after.

But a familiar face soon took charge at Canal 8: the son of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. The leftist leader, who rose to prominence in the late Cold War with his Sandinista revolutionaries, had reclaimed the presidency three years before.

Canal 8 was long known for scrutinizing administrations both left and right. But new chief executive Juan Carlos

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Will a ‘GLOW’ Movie Happen? Alison Brie Says ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’

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Fans of Netflix’s “GLOW” were dealt a wallop of a disappointment last month when the planned fourth and final season of the popular comedy series about women’s professional wrestling was axed due to the pandemic. Cast member Marc Maron shortly thereafter stoked fans’ excitement when he suggested that the best way to wrap the series would be a two-hour movie to give the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling one more shot in the ring. Alison Brie, according to a recent discussion as part of The Playlist’s “The Fourth Wall” podcast, shares that sentiment, but is also pessimistic about the return.

“I certainly think a [‘GLOW’] movie could tie everything up,” said Brie. “Our creators, Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, are incredible writers. And they’re so devoted to these characters that they created. I think a movie would be a great way to wrap it

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Allison Brie Warned ‘GLOW’ Fans Not To ‘Hold Your Breath’ On A Movie

Of all the surprise decisions Netflix has made about its programming, canceling GLOW an episodes into shooting its fourth season is perhaps the most puzzling. The cancelation news had its list of reasons, of course — shooting during a pandemic would have been difficult and the streaming service often likes to keep show runs short in favor of greenlighting new ideas — but each time a less-beloved show gets renewed the talk of GLOW getting another chance pops back up again.

There’s even some talk of a GLOW movie to wrap things up, as show star Marc Maron suggested shortly after it officially got the axe. But another star of the show, Allison Brie, is being careful not to get fans too excited about that possibility just yet. Brie has done a number of pandemic-altered promotional tasks for works shot prior to the COVID-19 era, and a reported appearance on

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Alison Brie on a Possible GLOW Movie: ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’

One of the more recent casualties of Netflix’s new harsh habit of canceling shows unceremoniously is GLOW, which, rather than being canceled, was actually ‘un-renewed.’ Which is to say it had already been picked up for a fourth and final season before Netflix changed its mind and pulled the plug completely, leaving fans in limbo with an unfinished story.Obviously, in times like these, viewers might clamor for that one extra season, even if it’s a shortened version, just to give some closure. Or, in this case, a GLOW wrap up movie, which fans (and star Marc Maron) have asked for.

While talking to The Playlist’s podcast, The Fourth Wall, Brie opened up about the possibility of a movie – and why she’s not exactly counting on it happening.

“I certainly think a [GLOW] movie could tie everything up,” Brie said. “Our creators, Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, are incredible writers.

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Oil keeps climbing on hopes OPEC+ will hold back supply as COVID-19 cases rise

FILE PHOTO: The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. REUTERS/Angus Mordant

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Oil prices rose in early trade on Thursday, taking the week’s gains to more than 12% on growing hopes that the world’s major producers will hold off on a planned supply increase as soaring cases of COVID-19 dent fuel demand.

Algeria’s energy minister said on Wednesday that OPEC+ – grouping the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other suppliers including Russia – could extend current production cuts of 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) into 2021, or deepen them further if needed.

The weakening outlook has piled pressure on OPEC+ to delay a supply increase of 2 million bpd scheduled for January, which the market is now pricing in, analysts said.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed

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Australian politics live: Senate votes to hold inquiry into media diversity | Australia news

More on the vaccine announcement from the health minister, Greg Hunt, earlier, following news that pharma giant Pfizer and partner BioNTech have developed a Covid-19 vaccine.

Hunt said today that by March both the Pfizer vaccine and a separate vaccine being developed by pharma company AstraZeneca are likely to be available in Australia. So far, Australia has secured access to 10 million doses from Pfizer [two doses are required] and 33.8 million from AstraZeneca.

Hunt said the first doses, likely to be the Pfizer vaccine, would be given to populations of priority, including health workers, the elderly, and aged care workers.

However, other vaccines are in development, though they may take a little longer to be rolled out than the Pfizer vaccine, with phase three trial results not yet released. But Australia has secured doses of these other vaccines underway, including 40 million doses from Novavax, 51 million from the

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Tokyo Festival Prize Awarded to ‘Hold Me Back’

Japanese comedy-drama “Hold Me Back” was Monday announced as the winner of the Tokyo International Film Festival. Azerbaijan drama, “In Between Dying” was named winner of the Tokyo Filmex Festival, which this year cooperated and overlapped with TIFF.

Among the changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, TIFF festival this year ditched its regular prizes decided by a jury. It replaced them with a single audience award.

“Hold Me Back” is the story of a woman who lives on her own and is guided through life by a consultant hard-wired into her brain. Matters become complicated when she falls in love with a salesman and questions the consultant’s guidance.

Directed by Ohku Akiko (“Tokyo Serendipity”) the film had its world premiere in the festival’s Tokyo Premiere section, which was a one-off mashup of the festival’s international competition, Asian future and Japanese cinema splash sections, with 32 films from across the

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