News Wrap: Russian military withdrawing from Kherson in southern Ukraine

Judy Woodruff:

And in the day's non-election news: Russia's military announced that its forces are withdrawing from a key city in Southern Ukraine, a major new blow to its war effort.

Moscow said it is retreating from Kherson on the West Bank of the Dnipro River, as Ukrainian forces advance in the area. Russian state TV broadcast the decision in a conversation between its top general in Ukraine and the defense minister.

Sergei Surovikin, Commander of Russian Forces in Ukraine (through translator): Kherson and nearby settlements cannot be properly supplied or function. People's lives are in constant danger. The enemy is firing indiscriminately at the city. At present, all those who wanted to, more than 115,000 people, have left this area.

Judy Woodruff:

Officials in Kyiv suggested that any Russian retreat could actually be a trap to lure in Ukrainian forces.

In Russia, lawyers for American basketball player Brittney Griner say that she has been sent to a penal colony to serve a nine-year sentence for drug possession. They say that they don't know the exact location of the prison. Griner is facing a nine-year sentence, but President Biden said today that he hopes the Russians will get serious about a prisoner swap now that the U.S. elections are over.

There is word of a major new — or major new layoffs in the tech industry. Facebook's parent company, Meta, says that it is letting 11,000 employees go, around 13 percent of its staff. The company's stock has dropped 70 percent in value this year, as the tech boom during the pandemic has faded.

Florida bound storm Nicole strengthened into a hurricane tonight after making landfall in the Northwestern Bahamas this afternoon. The storm is on track to hit the state's Atlantic Coast as a minimal hurricane by early tomorrow, but, today, officials warned against taking it for granted.

Kevin Guthrie, Florida Director of Emergency Management: This will bring significant coastal flooding, strong winds, storm surge, heavy rain, beach erosion, and isolated tornadoes. Due to the size of the storm, strong wind gusts will be felt across the entire Florida Peninsula, Big Bend, and even over into the Panhandle.

I urge Floridians statewide to stay indoors in a safe structure and away from the coastline.

Judy Woodruff:

Several Florida counties ordered mandatory evacuations, and that included former President Trump's resort estate at Mar-a-Lago.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments today about favoring Native American families in adoptions of Native children. At issue is whether a decades-old federal law racially discriminates against non-Native Americans. A lower court struck down parts of the law. Tribal groups say that it is an attack on their sovereignty.

The World Health Organization reports COVID-19 deaths have dropped nearly 90 percent since February. There were just over 9,400 globally last week. That's down from 75,000 a week in February. Meanwhile, new lockdowns have hit a major Chinese manufacturing hub, again threatening global supply chains. Nearly five million people in the southern city of Guangzhou are affected.

And on Wall Street, uncertainty over who will control the Congress sparked a sell-off. Major indexes fell to 2 to 2.5 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 647 points to close below 32514. The Nasdaq fell 263 points. The S&P 500 dropped 79.

And a lot of news today. With, that is the "NewsHour" for tonight. I'm Judy Woodruff.

You can keep up to date with all the latest election results as they come in on our Web site. That's PBS.org/NewsHour. And join us again here tomorrow evening for more analysis.

For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.