News Wrap: Bannon indicted on contempt charges for defying congressional subpoena

Judy Woodruff:

In the day's other news: Longtime Trump adviser Steve Bannon has been indicted on two counts of contempt of Congress, after he defied a subpoena from the congressional committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.

Meanwhile, former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows failed to appear for his deposition before the panel today, prompting calls to hold him in contempt as well.

President Biden has nominated Dr. Robert Califf to head the Food and Drug Administration. The agency has been without a permanent leader since the president took office in January, amid the strain of fighting COVID-19 and rolling out vaccines. If confirmed, it will be Califf's second time leading the agency.

White House officials today estimate that more than 27 million Americans have now received a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot. That comes hours after Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed an executive order making every adult in his state eligible for a booster. That goes beyond current federal guidelines and was triggered by the state's recent spike in COVID cases.

Tensions are high on the border between Belarus and Poland, as thousands of migrants remain stranded trying to cross into the European Union. Russia sent paratroopers to join in military drills with Belarus today, while Poland and neighboring countries ramped up their security forces.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Belarus' actions, including those of its president, Alexander Lukashenko, were concerning.

Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State: I am not going to preview or get ahead of any possible sanctions, but we are looking at various tools that we have.

And, of course, this is broader then the effort to use migration as a political weapon. It goes to the conduct of the Lukashenko regime in Belarus and denying the citizens of Belarus the democracy to which they are entitled.

Judy Woodruff:

The E.U. and the U.S. are preparing to widen sanctions against Belarus, accusing President Lukashenko of using illegal border crossings to retaliate against E.U. sanctions on his regime over human rights abuses.

The government of Qatar agreed today to represent U.S. interests in Afghanistan. The Gulf nation will provide consular services for American citizens who remain there and others who want to flee Taliban control.

The U.S. closed the American Embassy in Kabul in August. The Biden administration estimates that several hundred Americans are still in the country.

A Myanmar court today sentenced American journalist Danny Fenster to 11 years in prison with hard labor. The charges against him include incitement for spreading false and inflammatory information. He faces additional counts of terrorism and treason. Human Rights Watch officials denounced the move and warned that the country's military rulers have not been deterred by foreign sanctions.

Manny Maung, Human Rights Watch:

It's clear that Danny is being made an example of, and what it shows is that the military junta do not care what the international community thinks.

What it also means is that these targeted sanctions against senior officials in the military and the junta are not enough, and the international community needs to do more and act, instead of just making these concerned statements.

Judy Woodruff:

Myanmar's ruling military has arrested about 100 journalists since taking power in February. Fenster's sentence is the harshest so far, out of seven convicted journalists.

Back in this country, a Los Angeles judge ended singer Britney Spears' conservatorship, which had been controlled by her father. Spears now has control over her own medical, personal, and financial decisions for the first time in 14 years. Hundreds of her fans celebrated the decision outside the courthouse, cheering and dancing to her music.

Johnson & Johnson announced today that it is splitting into two publicly-traded companies. The division that sells Band-Aids, Listerine, and over-the-counter medication will separate from its pharmaceutical and medical device business. The company says it hopes that the shift will help them better serve consumers and drive profitable growth.

For the record, Johnson & Johnson is a "NewsHour" funder.

There are new signs of turmoil in the U.S. job market. The Labor Department reported a record 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September. That is roughly 3 percent of the U.S. work force.

And stocks edged higher on Wall Street today. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 179 points to close at 36100. The Nasdaq rose 156 points, and the S&P 500 added 33.