A Canadian court has ruled that a man who threw a trailer hitch at an indigenous woman in 2017, leading to her death, is guilty of manslaughter. Brayden Bushby, then 18, threw the metal hitch from his vehicle, which struck Barbara Kentner, 34, in the abdomen and led to internal injuries. Bushby had earlier pleaded not guilty to manslaughter but guilty to aggravated assault.

He faces a maximum of life in prison and will be sentenced in February. Thunder Bay Superior Court judge Helen Pierce said on Monday that it was proven “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Bushby’s action “was a contributing cause of her death that is not trivial or insignificant and which accelerated her death”, CBC News reported. “This was not a snowball.” The attack occurred on the morning of 29 January 2017 in a Thunder Bay, Ontario, neighbourhood. Ms Kentner, an Anishinaabe woman, was walking down the street with her sister when she was struck by the hitch.(BBC)…[+]

Moderna’s vaccine is safe and 94% effective, regulators say, clearing the way for US emergency authorisation. The analysis by the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) means it could become the second coronavirus vaccine to be allowed in the US. It comes one day after Americans across the country began receiving jabs of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The news comes as the US coronavirus death toll passes 300,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. Endorsement of the Moderna vaccine by FDA scientists was announced on Tuesday, two days before the vaccine panel meets to discuss emergency approval. The 54-page document said there were “no specific safety concerns” and that serious adverse reactions were rare.  If approved by the team of experts later this week, and by the FDA’s vaccine chief, shipments could begin within 24 hours. The FDA found a 94.1% efficacy rate out of a trial of 30,000 people, according to the document they released.(BBC)…[+]

A man armed with two pistols has been shot dead by police after opening fire near a cathedral in New York. Officers say the incident happened at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in Manhattan on Sunday near a crowd gathered for a Christmas concert. As yet the man – who yelled “Kill me” as he began shooting – has not been identified. Police Commissioner Dermot F Shea said it was “by the grace of God” that nobody had been injured.

The carol service – held outside because of Covid restrictions – had just ended when the shooting began. Cathedral staff wrote on Facebook that the man had “set off a round of gunfire into the air” from the front steps.

A new variant of coronavirus has been found which is growing faster in some parts of England, MPs have been told. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said at least 60 different local authorities had recorded Covid infections caused by the new variant. He said the World Health Organization had been notified and UK scientists were doing detailed studies. He said there was “nothing to suggest” it caused worse disease or that vaccines would no longer work.

Members of the US electoral college have begun casting their votes in a process that will see Joe Biden formally designated president-elect. The Democrat won November’s contest with a projected 306 electoral college votes to Republican Donald Trump’s 232. Under the US system, voters actually cast their ballots for “electors”, who in turn, formally vote for candidates weeks after the election. Despite this process, President Trump is not expected to accept the result.

Normally the electors do not get that much attention but this year, due to Mr Trump’s persistent efforts to question and overturn the results – involving legal challenges which have been rejected by courts across the country – the state-by-state vote is in the spotlight. Vermont, New Hampshire, Indiana and Tennessee were among the first states where electors gathered in capitals (or in Washington DC) on Monday to formally cast their votes.(BBC)…[+]

The US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has said it will proceed with emergency use approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine. In a statement, the FDA said it would “rapidly work toward finalisation and issuance” of the authorisation. US Health Secretary Alex Azar said the vaccine should be authorised within a couple of days. The Pfizer vaccine has already been approved for the public in the UK, Canada, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday the US recorded more than 3,000 deaths – the highest total in a single day anywhere in the world.

It’s been a week of split-screens in American politics. The nation’s attention is divided between the president and the president-elect; between the coronavirus vaccine and the rising death toll from the pandemic; between congressional attempts to reach compromise and congressional attempts to rebuff Donald Trump. As the days tick down until the holidays, and a new year, and a new Congress and a new president, here are some of the key political stories from this week.

US actor Harrison Ford is to reprise his role as adventurer Indiana Jones in the Disney movie franchise. The film, to be directed by James Mangold, is to be the 78-year-old actor’s fifth and final instalment as Indy. Disney made the announcement in a virtual presentation to investors where it also unveiled plans for Star Wars series spin-offs and Marvel series. In a 2013 interview, Harrison Ford said it was “perfectly appropriate” for him to return as the adventurer.

Twitter boss Jack Dorsey has donated $15m (£11.2m) to fund universal basic income programmes in the US. The donation, his second in support of the initiative, will help cities send cheques to more than 1,500 families. It comes as poverty rates in the US rise amid the economic collapse sparked by Covid-19. More than 12 million Americans are at risk of losing access to unemployment benefits at the end of the month, as the government’s virus aid expires. Negotiations over an extension have dragged on for months. “Philanthropy and charity is not justice but in the absence of leadership and action… our constituents need cash relief,” said Michael Tubbs, the outgoing mayor of Stockton, in California, who founded the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income Network in June.

The donation will provide the 30 cities in the network up to $500,000 each for their universal basic income programmes, many of which have been announced in recent months as the crisis has unfolded.(BBC)…[+]

The US Supreme Court has rejected a challenge against President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania. Republicans in the state wanted to overturn certification of the result, but justices rejected the request in a one sentence ruling. It is a blow to President Donald Trump, who has previously suggested without evidence that the election result would be settled in the Supreme Court. Mr Trump lost his bid for re-election last month. Since then he and his supporters have launched dozens of lawsuits questioning the vote results. None have come close to overturning Mr Biden’s victory.