welcome to bbc news. i'm simon pusey. our top stories: a former minnesota police officer is found guilty of manslaughter for killing daunte wright during a traffic stop. the moment that we heard "guilty" on manslaughter one — emotions, every single emotion that you could imagine just running through your body at that moment. researchers in britain say people catching omicron are up to 70% less likely to need hospital care, compared with previous coronavirus variants. the former south korean president park geun—hye, who was jailed on corruption charges, is being pardoned by the government. and the renowned american journalist and author joan didion dies

at the age of 87. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. a jury in the us state of minnesota has found a white former police officer guilty of manslaughter for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man. the prosecution argued that kimberley potter had shown culpable negligence when she killed daunte wright during a routine traffic check in april. the jury was shown bodycam footage, stopping short of the moment when the victim died. taser, taser, taser! kimberly potter told the court she thought she'd drawn her taser, rather than her handgun, when she shot mr wright in the chest. outside the court, his mother, katie wright, gave her reaction to the verdict.

the moment that we heard "guilty" on manslaughter one — emotions, every single emotion that you could imaginejust running through your body at that moment. i kind of let out a yelp, because it was build up in anticipation of what was to come while we were waiting for the last few days. and now we've been able to process it. we want to thank the entire prosecution team, we want to thank communities, support, everyone who has been out there who has supported us in this long fight for accountability. well, daunte wright's killing sparked several nights of angry protests. it happened just ten miles from the court where another white police officer, derek chauvin, was being tried for the murder of george floyd. let's speak now to sonia gipson rankin, a law professor at the university of new mexico. she's also former president of the new mexico black lawyers association.

given prosecutors agreed this was a mistake and an accident, are you surprised at all by the verdict? �* , . , are you surprised at all by the verdict? �* , .,, , verdict? i'm pleased by the verdict. i'm _ verdict? i'm pleased by the verdict. i'm not _ verdict? i'm pleased by the verdict. i'm not sure - verdict? i'm pleased by the verdict. i'm not sure about| verdict? i'm pleased by the i verdict. i'm not sure about the word surprised. i think macron�*s mum said it best, you feel every emotion because this was an avoidable death —— daunte wright. you pointed out was use of the firearms was reckless, the use of force was unreasonable, but most critically this accident was actually criminal.- critically this accident was actually criminal. would you sa it actually criminal. would you say it could _ actually criminal. would you say it could be _ actually criminal. would you say it could be a _ actually criminal. would you say it could be a seachangel actually criminal. would you i say it could be a seachange in terms of how these convictions of these also carried out, because we have seen a lot of these cases recently, but they're obviously a lot more cases where maybe the police don't have this kind of verdict and they are not held, may become accountable.- and they are not held, may become accountable. you raise a really good _ become accountable. you raise a really good point. _ become accountable. you raise a really good point. what - become accountable. you raise a really good point. what we - become accountable. you raise a really good point. what we are i really good point. what we are looking at is this case was dealing with weapons confusion. and we have less than 20

instances in the united states instances in the united states in the last two decades or so of weapon confusion, of law enforcement reaching for tasers as opposed to firearms. and out of those, about one third of the police officers have been indicted. three were found guilty. so we are not sure we are necessarily going to see a seachange, but we are really going to be diving into this deeper question, what is the implicit reason that someone like kim potter looked at daunte wright and reached for a weapon in the first place? that is what the prosecutor was most concerned about.— concerned about. prosecutors were saying — concerned about. prosecutors were saying a _ concerned about. prosecutors were saying a weapon - concerned about. prosecutors were saying a weapon of- concerned about. prosecutors were saying a weapon of any. were saying a weapon of any sort shouldn't be involved here, they should have dealt with this in a way that didn't involve any force or violence? exactly. even the decision to reach for a taser was outside of the standard operating procedures that the police department had told their teams. , ., ., ., teams. there is a lot of discourse _ teams. there is a lot of discourse aromas - teams. there is a lot of discourse aromas at - teams. there is a lot of| discourse aromas at the teams. there is a lot of— discourse aromas at the moment. is there any kind of that laws

need to change or is it through these courts an example is being said and maybe that will trickle down to the rest of the police force? i trickle down to the rest of the police force?— police force? i believe it is coin: police force? i believe it is going to — police force? i believe it is going to have _ police force? i believe it is going to have to _ police force? i believe it is going to have to be - police force? i believe it is going to have to be both i police force? i believe it is i going to have to be both and. we're going to to continue to see the laws that are very clear about what kind of behaviours are going to be found to be illegal and we are going to have you have real one on one individual training and better oversight and assessment of our law enforcement officers as they go into these very tense moments. it as they go into these very tense moments.— tense moments. it will be interesting _ tense moments. it will be interesting to _ tense moments. it will be interesting to see - tense moments. it will be interesting to see the - tense moments. it will be - interesting to see the senders thatis interesting to see the senders that is given. that is all we have diver. sonia gipson rankin, live in albuquerque, thank you for speaking to us. —— all we have time for. a study from the british government offers hope that the 0micron variant of coronavirus is less likely to cause severe disease than delta, the previously dominant strain. earlier studies from the uk and south africa also suggest that 0micron is causing a more mild version of the disease, although the sheer number of cases could still overwhelm health systems. our medical editor fergus walsh reports.

a powerful illustration of the dangers facing the unvaccinated and the pressure on nhs staff, filmed in the intensive care unit of royal liverpool hospital, where four out of five covid patients are notjabbed. the intensive care society said at least two thirds of covid patients were unvaccinated in 12 out of 16 critical care units it contacted in england. it's not for us to judge people who haven't been vaccinated, it's for us to look after them as well as we can, but it's very sad when people come into hospital who haven't been vaccinated. they're very unwell and they ask to have the vaccine then, which of course they can't, because you have to get better from covid before

you can be vaccinated. evidence that 0micron causes milder disease has been reinforced by preliminary analysis from the uk health security agency. it suggests that someone infected with 0micron is 30—a5% less likely to attend a&e, compared to a delta patient, and between 50 and 70% less likely to be admitted to hospital. but the extra protection that the boosterjab gives against the infection does wane more rapidly against 0micron than delta, being about 15 to 25% lower ten weeks after the booster jab. it shows that people with 0micron have a reduced risk of hospitalisation compared to delta. now, it's very early days, only a small number of individuals, about 100 were admitted to hospital with 0micron in this period, but nonetheless, it is the first signs of cautious optimism

we can have for a while. as daily cases hit another new record, uk researchers estimate that half of people with cold—like symptoms actually have coronavirus. fergus walsh, bbc news. ecuador is to make the covid—i9 vaccine mandatory for most people over the age of five. those with a medical justification will be exempt. the government says it's necessary because of a rise in infections and the spread of variants such as 0micron. the country suffered a crippling first wave of the virus in 2020, with dead bodies left on the streets as hospitals and mortuaries were overwhelmed. the former south korean president park geun—hye, who was jailed for 22 years on corruption charges, is to be granted a pardon by the government. miss park was impeached and removed from office in march 2017 after widespread protests in south korea. the 69—year—old has been in hospital three times due to chronic shoulder and lower back pain.

the current president moonjae—in had previously ruled out a pardon. let's get more details from our correspondent, laura bicker. how big a surprise is this, the president had ruled out a pardon. president had ruled out a ardon. ., president had ruled out a ardon. . , , ., pardon. earlier this year he ruled out — pardon. earlier this year he ruled out a _ pardon. earlier this year he ruled out a pardon - pardon. earlier this year he ruled out a pardon saying l pardon. earlier this year he j ruled out a pardon saying it was premature. remember, this is a liberal president who would be pardoning a conservative, a far right conservative, a far right conservative president. in fact, conservatives in this country see her as their princess. she was gelled back in march 2017 after being impeached and removed from office and she was sentenced to 22 years —— jailed. the entire scandal ignited protests right across south korea. it's hard to put into words the kind of ire, the anger on the streets as the links between big

business, wealthy family—owned conglomerates, and the presidential policy were revealed. and when it came to her sentencing, certainly many people felt that it was the right thing to do in the circumstances and it showed that justice circumstances and it showed thatjustice could be served. she was the first president to be impeached in this way and president moonjae—in, the current president, ran to office on a kind of ticket of saying he would rule out corruption. that is why it has, such a surprise. i would like to just give you a statement from the blue house, the presidential is, and from president moon that has just been released. he says he hopes to is time for south korea to step forward from the painful past two a new era, we need to gather our strength to courageously meet the future together, ratherthan courageously meet the future together, rather than be buried in the past. there is a note saying that in the case of former president park they have considered her heavy health decline caused by almost five

years in prison. she is said to be in rather ill health. 0bviously health laying a big part. we have talked about the process and the controversy about this over the years, know this has happened pretty recently, it is breaking news, but what is the reaction likely to be like amongst the public? i think i have already seen a number of liberals who are extremely upset at this announcement. they think it is happening on humanitarian grounds but they do not understand the decision. conservatives have obviously welcome the news. there are a number of protest being organised as we speak saying not only should you be released immediately, notjust on new year's day in the pardon will be granted, but you should be reinstated as president. it must be said that far right conservatives have always held the vigil in the centre of seoul, where they have been calling for her release for many years. so they have welcome this news. i think we will see over the next few hours the ramifications of this decision. it hours the ramifications of this decision. , decision. it will be interesting - decision. it will be interesting to - decision. it will be interesting to see | decision. it will be - interesting to see what the public mood is like and whether there are any protest about

that. laura bicker live their insult. thank you for that. —— live there in seoul. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: with christmas just around the corner, we take a look at the man preparing for his busiest night of the year. the world of music's been paying tribute to george michael, who's died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. the united states' troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said that it's failed in its principle objective to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle| was hastily taken away. m its place. — the russian flag was hoisted over what is now— no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. | day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's maid of the seas, nosedown in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane

eight storeys high, a football pitch wide falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: kimberley potter, a former minnesota police officer, has been found guilty of manslaughter — for killing daunte wright during a traffic check. researchers in britain say people catching 0micron are up to 70% less likely to need hospital care, compared with previous coronavirus variants. russia's president has again insisted that the west must give russia guarantees that nato won't expand eastwards and admit ukraine as a member. vladimir putin rejected accusations that russia is preparing to invade ukraine, after amassing thousands of troops on the border between the two countries. 0ur moscow correspondent

steve rosenberg reports. it's the most wonderful time of the year, if you happen to like long news conferences. vladimir putin's end—of—year press briefing is always a marathon affair. forfour hours, the kremlin leaderfielded questions, and he used the event to vent his resentment at how nato enlarged after the fall of the soviet union. translation: "we won't move one inch towards the east," _ they told us in the 1990s, and what happened? they deceived us. they brazenly tricked us. there were five waves of nato expansion, and now missile systems are appearing in romania and poland. is this russia's response? a build—up of russian troops near ukraine's border. the kremlin denies it

plans to invade, but this is pressure, and on the west, too, as moscow demands an end to nato enlargement and nato military activity in eastern europe, what it calls security guarantees. translation: you must give us guarantees. - you must do it immediately, now. we won't be palmed off with decades of idle chatter about the need of security for all while the other side carries out its own plans. vladimir putin spoke for a long time, but gave little away about his intentions regarding ukraine, about whether, as the west fears, he's planning a large—scale military operation there. but what we do know now is that next month, us and russian officials will sit down to discuss the security guarantees that moscow is demanding, so there's still hope for a diplomatic resolution. vladimir putin has done 17 of these press conferences now as president.

you need plenty of stamina to do this and to listen to it, and since all main tv channels in russia show it live, it's wall—to—wall putin, a reminder, as if russians didn't know it, who's in charge here. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. world athletics has approved new regulations which will see the soles of all competitors' shoes limited to a stack height of 20 millimetres. the change will come into play in november 202a. shoe technology has been in the spotlight since records started to tumble, with questions raised over the balance between innovation and unfair advantage. marley dickinson is writer for canadian running magazine and a brooks running athlete, hejoins me live now from toronto. marley, how will athletes and coaches react to this news? i think they'll be happy with it. i mean, itjust levels the playing field for all athletes.

and ultimately, you know, it really engages the brands to make a product that's just as good, that fits under the rules and relations —— regulations. for those of us not elite level athletes why is stack height so important? it’s athletes why is stack height so important?— important? it's the amount of shoe mention _ important? it's the amount of shoe mention -- _ important? it's the amount of shoe mention -- measured i important? it's the amount of. shoe mention -- measured from shoe mention —— measured from your foot to the ground. the shoes that produces the records, the nike vaporfly, it has a carbon plate in the middle of a bunch of film. it will combine with the plate and give you more flight and propulsion. it will give you a 2.5% increase in performance. one the most famous examples is kipchoge in recent years, and a lot of fuss made over that. until now, it was anything

goes? if nike comes out and says, "we're going to give you 100% more?" says, �*we're going to give you 100% more?"— says, "we're going to give you 100% more?" there was a bit of world athletics _ 100% more?" there was a bit of world athletics said _ 100% more?" there was a bit of world athletics said all - world athletics said all prototypes had to be available to the public for athletes eligible to compete at the international level. and the guidelines were 25mm for track and field performance. so there were kind of rules there. but i think with all the records that have been broken in the past three to five years, especially looking at the 5,000m record thatjoshua from uganda broke, a few years — a couple of years ago, running 12.35, it really tells you how instrumental the new track spikes are.— tells you how instrumental the new track spikes are. would you sa the new track spikes are. would you say the standardisation - new track spikes are. would you say the standardisation and - say the standardisation and making that rules clear have come slightly too late? just a

bit, come slightly too late? just a bit. yeah- _ come slightly too late? just a bit. yeah. i — come slightly too late? just a bit, yeah. ithink— come slightly too late? just a bit, yeah. i think world - bit, yeah. i think world athletics was caught by surprise that nike had this technology in their arsenal when they first were released in 2017. �* , ., in 2017. athletes are getting better and — in 2017. athletes are getting better and so _ in 2017. athletes are getting better and so is _ in 2017. athletes are getting better and so is innovation. | better and so is innovation. marley dickinson, that's all we have time for, thank you. thank ou. joan didion, who chronicled 1960s and �*70s american culture, with screenwriting credits including the film, a star is born, has died at the age of 87. her award—winning book on grief, the year of magical thinking, was inspired by the deaths of her husband and daughter. earlier i spoke to the author and book critic, adam dalva, who teaches didion's writing to university students. i asked him what her work means to him. i think she represents several things to every american writer. didion herself said, "i have already lost touch with a couple of the people i used to be." so the two things i think she is most remarkable for is her use of creative fiction and the personal essay, which totally changed

the genre, there are dozens sharing today that she was their favourite writer and they would not have known how to write without that. and, as you said, her writing in grief later on in her life is one of the most fabulous elegiac writing that we have. and you teach students her work, obviously, goodbye to all that, how they react to pieces like that? well, you know, goodbye to all that, which is the first leaving new york essays. it's the story about a young didion coming to new york and having a kind of mythical experience but also puncturing that mythical experience because she's aware of it. just today i had a student e—mail me about an hour before it went on to say thank you for teaching me that essay. a student in 2020, an 18—year—old, saying that about an essay written in 1968, speaks of how fresh and contemporary didion feels. she teaches students so much about how much to describe things and how to show personal vulnerability in a limited perspective.

a lot of people in social media today saying it helped them in times of trouble. the book that focuses on grief. is that something you agree with and kind of understand? 100%. it is such a challenging book because it is so painful and sad. but i think anyone going through a difficult situation perhaps anticipating a difficult situation will see themselves in the magical thinking that didion is talking about, which is essentially leaving a pair of shoes so that her late husband can come back to them. these ideas of... americans don't handle grief very well, as i'm sure you might know, and didion really captures how it feels. it is a remarkable. alongside that she was also a pretty cool character, right? yes, actually, there is a tote bag with her on it that was the hottest item in new york in 2017. she had her cigarettes and the sunglasses. a young harrison ford was a carpenter in the 1970s in california.

she threw amazing parties, she hung out with the doors. she could not have weighed more than 80 lbs and james may cigarettes. this idea of the writer as a character really helped her in her writing and we all loved her. she was a prickly presence and that made her really fun. i'd gather you have one passage in particular that means a lot to you. would you mind reading that out for us? i would be honoured. thank you very much. this is the very end of the year of magical thinking and she is writing about her late husband. "i think about swimming with him in cave the portuguese bank on the tide had to bejust right. we had to be in the water at the very moment the tide was right. we could have only done this a half—dozen times at most during the two years we lived there but it was not i remember. each time we did it was afraid of missing this well, hanging back, timing is wrong. john never was. you had to feel the swell change. you had to go with the change. he told me that. no eyes on the sparrow. but he did tell me that." that is adam dalva reading

a passage from the year of magical thinking in new york. the duke and duchess of sussex have issued the first photograph of their daughter lilibet on their festive card. the image shows meghan raising lilibet in the air as she sits alongside prince harry, who is holding their two—year—old son archie on his knee. it's the first time lilibet, who was born injune, has been seen in a publicly—released image. the photo was taken at their home in santa barbara, california. it's very nearly here — the big day itself. all around the world people are making final preparations for christmas. last—minute presents are still being bought — food and drink is already being consumed. but for one man in particular — the next day or two are going to be quite a challenge — as the bbc�*s tim allman explains. be it delta or omicron, nothing stands in the way of a man on a mission. # on the road again. # just can't wait. # to get on the road again # from his home in lapland, father christmas sets off

for what will be a very, very long journey. let's give time to children. and young people. and do something together. let's make this christmas happy and unforgettable for everyone. christmas is about hearts full of hope. of course, he did have time to carry out a few errands before he left. this was santa, really, honestly, going for a dip in an aquarium in paris. like you do. apparently it's an annual tradition around here. it certainly impressed the local children. " it was nice," said these sisters. " he played his part well, he swam well. we thought it was good." once he dried out, he headed to italy, to descend down the outside of a chimney at this hospital in rome. then he handed out presents to the

young patients inside. a quick pop across the atlantic, and father christmas was giving out food parcels rather than toys. they were queuing up at this favela in rio dejaneiro, grateful for any help they can get. translation: i'm very happy because today all the people i here in the community are satisfied that our christmas will be a happy one. and since he was in the area, he paid a quick trip to the amazon, to hand out a few pressies there as well. how does he get to so many places in such a short space of time, you wonder? it must be the magic of christmas — probably. definitely been a busy man. well, you can reach me on twitter. you can get more news on our website. including that breaking news from seoul, about the former prime minister

there, in south korea. but for now, thanks very much for watching and stay tuned to bbc news. hello there. snow has been falling across the hills of scotland through the night. that will continue, although it is tending to peter out. we could have several centimetres lying towards morning. also fog is going to be an issue for those travellers on friday morning, quite thick patches in places, reducing the visibility, and that's because we've had a lot of mild and moist air move northwards during the day on thursday. still with us friday, but so too that cold air, and where those weather fronts bump into the cold air, as i say, across scotland at the moment is where we are likely to see the snow. but that boundary may come further southwards into christmas day. so, several centimetres over the hills, relatively low levels, that's 100 metres or so, some fog though into the clearer skies further south where it's at least milder, but it's the light winds that we've got an issue with here. so going through the day

on friday, we've got that mild air with us, the fog issue slow to clear, and then our rain starts to sweep into the southwest across wales later. some drier weather, just drizzly rain for northern ireland, our weather fronts petering out across scotland and northern england, but the best of the sunshine will be in the far north here after a frosty start with some fog patches here too. but it's here where we keep that cold air through the day, while for most, because we've still got that legacy of atlantic air, it is a little bit milder, 9—11 celsius. but that cold air looks like it may well be on the move, so as we head through friday night, christmas eve into christmas day, that may well push a little bit further southwards. our weather fronts still with us coming into that cold air. so the likes of the pennines possibly the hills of north wales just might see a smattering of sleet or snow. but it looks like some good spells of sunshine across the north and perhaps northern england, and then further south on christmas day, we've got some more wetter...some more rain to come in. so, again, we will have the contrast, still that mild air across western areas,

but perhaps a crisp start in northern and eastern parts, a little bit of wintriness, as i say, over the hills. so we are not going to be the records of christmas day across the four nations, they are not going to be that high, the temperatures, as i say, more likely 4—5s in the north, 11—12 in the south, but the next few days, we are most likely to see if we see snow, it will be over the high ground of the northern part of the country from north wales northwards. at lower levels, most likely we'll see some rain. so for boxing day, still that cold air around with us, and you can see we've got some unsettled weather as well. you can keep up to date online.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: a former police officer who killed a black man in a routine traffic stop has been found guilty of manslaughter at her trial in minneapolis. kimberley potter mistook her handgun for a taser when she shot daunte wright. a uk government study has shown that people who catch the omicron strain of covid are far less likely to end up in hospital but there is concern the boosterjab protection begins to wane after 10 weeks. the former south korean president park geun—hye is to be granted a pardon by the government. ms park was impeached and removed from office in 2017 and jailed for 22 years on corruption charges. the renowned american author joan didion has died at the age of 87. in an illustrious career, she chronicled contemporary us life in the 1960s and �*70s. didion worked as a novelist, screenwriter and journalist. now on bbc news, it's the media show.