December 24, 2020, Thursday (1:30 p.m.) Newsline read by Ms. Yamamoto Miki

1. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says 888 new cases of coronavirus infection, a new daily high, were confirmed in the Japanese capital on Thursday. The previous record was 821, marked a week ago.     2. Sources say former agriculture minister Yoshikawa Takamori has admitted receiving cash from a former corporate executive while in office. He occupied the post from October 2018 to September of last year.                                                                                                                                                                        3.Britain has detected another new variant of the coronavirus in contacts of people who have travelled from South Africa.