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Britney Spearsis in the news again, but not for her music. Fans, including celebrities, are speaking out in support of the 1990s pop princess following the release of The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears,currently streaming on Hulu. If you're wondering why you keep seeing the hashtags #FreeBritney and #wearesorrybritney, read on.

A Spears-focused episode of the documentary series The New York Times Presents came out on Feb. 5. The show, Framing Britney Spears, runs about an hour and 13 minutes, and has "generally favorable" reviews on CNET sister site Metacritic. Chicago Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper calls it "a thought-provoking retrospective on Spears' life and career, up to and including the conservatorship battle as Spears continues to fight her father in court."

The filmmakers contacted Spears and her family for interviews, the show's credits reveal, but none ended up in the film. However, friends, supporters, former employees and reporters all speak on camera about Spears' life, career and the campaign to end or adjust her conservatorship. Two contributors to the documentary, Babs Gray and Tess Barker, are launching a podcast series that will focus on Spears' life, including the legal struggle with her father, and the birth of the #FreeBritney movement to release her.

Back in 2008, a California court put Spears under a conservatorship, meaning her father, Jamie Spears, has complete control over her assets and business affairs.

Spears' father remains her conservator, and he's now the sole person in that role, since lawyer Andrew Wallet resigned from a co-conservator role in 2019. Some fans support a movement they dub #FreeBritney, hoping social media pressure will convince the courts to release the now-39-year-old singer from the legal arrangement. The singer herself called the conservatorship "voluntary" in court documents filed on Aug. 31, but also said she is "strongly opposed" to her father continuing as the sole conservator.

In November, Spears' court-appointed lawyer said she will not perform again as long as her father remains in the conservatorship role,The New York Times reported. "My client has informed me that she is afraid of her father," the lawyer said.

The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for this week, Feb. 11.

The singer hasn't directly addressed the matter, but on Feb. 9, she posted to Instagram and Twitter, and many fans believe she was hinting at the situation. Spears posted a video and wrote "can't believe this performance of Toxic is from three years ago!!! I'll always love being on stage .... but I am taking the time to learn and be a normal person ..... I love simply enjoying the basics of everyday life."

And in a follow-up tweet, Spears wrote, "Each person has their story and their take on other people's stories!!!! We all have so many different bright beautiful lives! Remember, no matter what we think we know about a person's life it is nothing compared to the actual person living behind the lens."

In addition to Spears' fans, some famous people have weighed in on the singer's issues since the documentary came out. Singer Courtney Love was among the many people who tweeted using the hashtag #wearesorrybritney.

Singer Bette Midler also tweeted her support, using the #FreeBritney hashtag.

Actor Valerie Bertinelli tweeted that Spears' story "makes me crazy grateful for my parents and how they protected me as a young girl in this insane business."

Journalist Tamron Hall wrote, "Finally watched the 'Framing of Britney Spears' on Hulu. It's an understatement to call it heartbreaking."

Actor Heather Matarazzo delivered a heartbreaking message, writing, "The rage and sadness I felt watching #FramingBritneySpears last night traveled with me into my dreams. I woke up wanting to burn everything down and be her friend."

Older commentary about Spears is also under a microscope. Some people are calling outjournalist Diane Sawyer for a 2003 interview with Spears that appears in the documentary, while others are praising talk-show host Craig Ferguson for saying on air that comics shouldn't joke about Spears' troubles. Other fans have criticized Spears' former boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, and others who were involved in some way with the singer, or who once offered commentary on her troubles.

If you've somehow managed to get to 2021 without ever hearing of Britney Spears, here's the briefest of rundowns. Spears was just 11 in 1992 when she was cast on The Mickey Mouse Club. Her debut album, 1999's ...Baby One More Time, sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, and is one of the best-selling albums of all time. She's won a Grammy Award, six MTV Video Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards, and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. There's no question she's one of the best-selling, best-earning, and most-searched stars of all time.

But her personal life has often outshone her career successes. She wed childhood friend Jason Alexander in 2004 and that marriage was annulled after just 55 hours. She later starred in a reality show, Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, with eventual husband Kevin Federline -- whose girlfriend was still pregnant with his child when he started dating Spears. Spears and Federline had two sons of their own, and she later lost custody of both of them, with the couple's various parental battles always making news.

Entertain your brain with the coolest news from streaming to superheroes, memes to video games.

Her mental health and other struggles became excruciatingly public: In 2007,Spears shaved her head, reportedly saying she was "tired of people touching me." But public sympathy often seemed to favor Spears, who came off as a troubled young woman who found fame and fortune too early and was understandably unable to cope with it.

The New York Times Presents Framing Britney Spears is now available on FX and FX on Hulu. You can watch it on streaming service Hulu, on the FX cable channel, or on FX's website as long as you pay for a cable subscription that includes FX, or subscribe to a streaming bundle that includes the channel.

The official FX YouTube channel has also been exceptionally free with clips from the show, if you don't mind getting highlights in two-minute video blocks.

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Framing Britney Spears documentary on Hulu and #FreeBritney: What to know - CNET

But e-mails between himself and Atul Gupta suggested the opposite because Pamensky gave advice to him on the matter.

Where did you get the information you were talking about in the e-mail communication to Atul about 'acquisition of Optimum Coal' where you stated that you were 'happy to get involved in this acquisition'? asked Seleka.

I met Mr Atul Gupta on the 22nd [November 2015] and for the first time he said they are looking to buy OCM. After I met him I wrote the e-mail to state what our discussions were and the discussion ended there, he said.

But why did Pamensky send another e-mail to Atul Gupta on December 10, congratulating him on the successful acquisition of OCM, thanks to a R1.6bn prepayment assistance from Eskom?

This information, too, had reached him by chance through media reports and he had not used his Eskom position to lobby for the Guptas, the commission heard.

This transaction was publicly announced and, again, I had never been involved in it. There is nothing untoward about me congratulating him based on what I saw in the press.

I knew nothing, everything I gained was from the press. I have never been involved in this transaction, fortunately enough.

Pamensky is due to appear again at the Zondo commission on a date yet to be determined.

TimesLIVE

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Gupta family 'luck' landed in the lap of former Eskom board member Mark Pamensky - TimesLIVE

TOKYO -- Embattled Nissan reported a 19 percent increase in operating profit in the latest quarter as cost control, better pricing power and lower incentives bolstered results.

Operating profit rose to 27.1 billion yen ($262.5 million) in the automaker's fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, the company said on Tuesday in its financial results announcement.

But Nissan's quarterly net loss expanded to 37.8 billion yen ($366.1 million), from 26.1 billion yen ($252.8 million) the year before. Revenue fell 11 percent to 2.22 trillion yen ($21.50 billion) in the October-December period, as global sales declined 9.6 percent to 1.08 million vehicles.

In the just-finished fiscal third quarter, North American sales fell 20 percent to 323,000 units. Regional operating profit retreated 33 percent to 14.5 billion yen ($140.4 million) in the period.

Sales in Europe decreased 16 percent to 109,000 vehicles, while the regional business there rebounded to a narrow operating profit of 3.1 billion yen ($30.0 million) from a year-earlier loss.

Citing continued uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the global semiconductor shortage, Nissan trimmed its global sales forecast for the current fiscal year ending March 31. It now expects volume to total 4.02 million vehicles, down from its earlier forecast of 4.17 million. The new target represents a 19 percent drop from the previous fiscal year.

COO Ashwani Gupta predicted the semiconductor bottleneck would clear up by May or June.

Despite cutting the sales outlook by 150,000 units, Nissan upgraded its full-year profit outlook.

It now expects an operating loss of 205.0 billion yen ($1.99 billion) in the year to March 31, as opposed to a negative 340.0 billion yen ($3.29 billion) forecast in November. Despite the upgrade, the new target still represents a record operating loss for the company.

Still, CEO Makoto Uchida said improved cost control and a better mix of retail volume and value pricing is gradually lifting profitability. In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, for example, Nissan said revenue per unit is up 1.7 percent, the rental mix is down 6 points, inventory is down 25 percent and fixed costs are 12 percent lower.

A stream of new product, such as the redesigned Rogue crossover in the U.S. and the next-generation Note e-Power in Japan, are boosting Nissan's brand and pricing power.

Uchida and Gupta are spearheading a recovery plan called Nissan Next that chops global production capacity, slashes 300 billion yen ($2.91 billion) in fixed costs and focuses on new product. But the COVID-19 pandemic is complicating the recovery.

Regarding media reports that American tech giant Apple is canvassing global automakers for a partner to make its upcoming car, Uchida dodged a straight answer when asked whether Nissan had been approached. But he said Nissan is open to collaborating with new industry entrants.

"We need to work with the companies who are knowledgeable with good experience, through partnership and collaboration. So, this is an option that we may take," Uchida said.

"So, when new companies emerge in the auto industry, that's a possibility too."

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Nissan operating profit rose in latest quarter on better cost control, lower incentives - Automotive News Europe

Polish games developer CD Projekt Red, the outfit behind Cyberpunk 2077, starring Keanu Reeves, and The Witcher series, has been hacked.

In a statement released on social media on Tuesday, the company said it had been targeted in a cyber attack by an unidentified actor that compromised some of its internal systems.

We are still investigating the incident, however at this time, we can confirm that to our best knowledge the compromised systems did not contain any personal data of our players or users of our services.

We will not give in to the demands nor negotiate with the actor, being aware that this may eventually lead to the release of the compromised data, CD Projekt Red said.

The company also released the ransom note, which said: We have dumped FULL copies of the source code from your Perforce server for Cyberpunk 2077, Witcher 3, Gwent, and the unreleased version of Witcher 3!!

The ransom note threatens that if an agreement isnt reached, the source codes will be leaked or sold online and CD Projekt Reds documents will be sent to their contacts in gaming journalism, giving an ultimatum of 48 hours.

The company is in touch with law enforcement authorities and the Personal Data Protection Office.

CD Projekt Red was in the news late last year when their release of Cyberpunk 2077 went awry. The much anticipated games release was delayed. When it was finally released, users complained of glitches until Sony pulled the game from its online store until further notice and agreed to provide customers full refunds.

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Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher Games Developer CD Projekt Red Hacked, Refuses to Pay Ransom - Variety

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Nucleus Biologics, The Cell Performance Company, today announced the availability of NB-AIR, the world's first Artificial Intelligence Research platform for optimizing cell culture formulations for cell and gene therapies. Leveraging cutting-edge AI algorithms, the system empowers scientists to create optimized formulas based on meta-analysis of peer-reviewed articles. AI guided formulations will allow scientists to improve the performance of their cell therapy and shorten the time to get these lifesaving therapies into patients faster.

Cell and gene therapy in 2019 was a $1 Billion market and is estimated to be growing at 36% CAGR.Most cell therapy companies struggle to achieve reproducible potency in their cell therapies.The media used for in vitro cell growth have a documented impact on cell quality and hence therapeutic efficacy.Until now, scientists have had to rely on major suppliers who sell proprietary media formulations.These black box formulations limit the scientist's ability to chemically modify their media. This slows down discovery and introduces supply chain risk.Until now, no tool existed that allowed scientists to research and select components and formulations based on current published knowledge on conditions that impact cell performance.

"This is an industry transforming tool. Imagine being able to take months of research and reduce it to minutes through the power of machine learning. We are democratizing formulations enabling scientists to tap into the collective knowledge of their peers, become experts quickly and own their media formulation." said David Sheehan, Founder, President and CEO of Nucleus Biologics. "Our vision is that we can create a constantly evolving technology ecosystem that allows therapy providers to create intellectual property that improves cell performance and reduces development time."

Initially targeted for developers of cell therapies, NB-AIR speeds formulation development by providing peer-tested compounds and formula recommendations based on cell type and critical quality attributes. It is directly connected to NB-Lux, a cloud-based ordering and tracking portal, to allow online ordering of lot sizes from 2L to 2000L, allowing media scaled from bench to bioreactor. Further, changing even one component in your media can improve therapeutic yields, phenotype, and efficacy. Giving scientists the tools to optimize at a component level and control their media will help speed the time from discovery to cure.

Media Contact:Michael Morgan[emailprotected], (858) 251-2010

About Nucleus BiologicsNucleus Biologics, The Cell Performance Company, is the leading provider of custom cell-growth media, tools, and technologies for cell and gene therapy. Their mission is to speed the time from scientific discovery to cure by delivering innovative, transparent and cGMP products and services with the goal of disrupting the market and eliminating antiquated practices and products. Ultimately, Nucleus Biologics strives to create a new paradigm that serves both scientists and clinicians, while reducing the environmental footprint of cell culture. http://www.nucleusbiologics.com

SOURCE Nucleus Biologics

https://nucleusbiologics.com

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Nucleus Biologics Launches Artificial Intelligence Research (NB-AIR): The World's First AI Platform for Media Configuration That Gives Control Back To...