News Wrap: Blinken visits Israel for 11th time since start of war with Hamas

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• Geoff Bennett:

  The day's other headlines start in the Middle East.

  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on his 11th trip to Israel since the war with Hamas began. He arrived this morning in a bid to revive cease-fire talks following Israel's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week. Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials throughout the day.

  He urged Israel to use Sinwar's killing to its advantage at the negotiating table.

  Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State: I believe very much that the death of Sinwar does create an important opportunity to bring the hostage at home, to bring the war to an end, and to ensure Israel's security. This is and we have to make sure that this is a moment of opportunity to move forward.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Blinken also urged Israel's leaders to allow more humanitarian aid into Northern Gaza amid a renewed Israeli offensive there. The U.S. warned last week that it could cut Israel's access to weapons funding if it doesn't let more supplies in.

  The State Department said today that more aid trucks have entered since then, but more needs to be done.

  The FBI said today that it's investigating an unauthorized release of classified U.S. documents. They relate to Israel's plans for a possible retaliatory strike on Iran for its ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier this month. Marked top secret, the documents first appeared last week on the Telegram messaging app and spread to channels that are popular among Iranians.

  White House national security spokesman John Kirby said it's unclear if the documents were leaked or obtained through hacking, but officials do not expect more to be released.

  Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed world leaders to a summit of the BRICS block of developing economies. That initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, but the alliance has since expanded to embrace Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and others. Among the more than 20 world leaders in attendance are a number of U.S. adversaries, including the president of Iran and China's Xi Jinping, but there are also U.S. allies, including India's Narendra Modi.

  The summit will last for three days and is seen as a chance for Putin to counter the Western narrative that Russia has been isolated on the world stage following its invasion of Ukraine.

  Cuba is working to get the lights back on following Friday's massive power outage, even as parts of the island deal with deadly flooding caused by Hurricane Oscar. Many of the two million people living in the capital, Havana, have been living in darkness for days, with some using wooden stoves to cook food before it goes bad.

  Power was partially restored in the city last night, but anger and frustration persist, with protesters taking to the streets for a second night.

• Marley Gonzalez, Protester (through interpreter):

  We have been without power for four days. The food has spoiled. The children are struggling. We have no cold water. We have nothing.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Meantime, communities in the east of the country are facing massive flooding left behind by Hurricane Oscar, which has killed at least six people since making landfall on Sunday. Cuba's president said on state TV that some areas are still hard to reach and that search-and-rescue efforts are ongoing.

  Officials in North Carolina say they overcounted the number of official deaths from Hurricane Helene. Officials in Buncombe County, which includes the city of Asheville, now say there were 42 deaths there as a result of the September storm. That's down from the initial report of 72 lives being lost and aligns with the state's overall counting of fatalities.

  Authorities say the reasons for the change include updated causes of death and communication challenges after the storm knocked out cell phone service to some areas.

  Federal health officials say that an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's quarter-pounders has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states. One person has died and 10 others have been hospitalized, including a child. The CDC says the infections were reported between September 27 and October 11. They occurred in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

  Federal and state health officials are investigating the outbreak.

  Federal agents arrested the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch on charges that he ran a sex trafficking and prostitution operation from 2008 to 2015. The indictment alleges Mike Jeffries lured young men with promises of modeling work and coerced them into sex acts.

  Two alleged co-conspirators, including his romantic partner, were also arrested. Jeffries helped revitalize the struggling retailer during his two-decade tenure, during which it became known for its sexualized marketing. He stepped down in 2014. Prosecutors said today's charges are proof that powerful people in the industry can no longer take advantage of those most vulnerable.

  Breon Peace, United States Attorney For Eastern District of New York: To anyone who thinks they can exploit and coerce others by using the so-called casting couch system, this case should serve as a warning. Prepare to trade that couch for a bed in federal prison.

• Geoff Bennett:

  The arrests come after similar allegations were first reported in a BBC investigation last year. A lawyer for Jeffries says he will respond to the charges in court.

  On Wall Street today, stocks ended little changed. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped just six points, so basically unchanged. The Nasdaq managed a slight gain, adding just over 30 points. The S&P 500 was also virtually flat on the day.

  And Thelma Mothershed-Wair has died. She was one of a group of Black students known as the Little Rock Nine who integrated an Arkansas high school in 1957. The U.S. Supreme Court had declared segregated classrooms unconstitutional three years earlier, but the governor of Arkansas had ordered the National Guard to block the students from enrolling at Little Rock's Central High School.

  Mothershed-Wair and her eight classmates had to be escorted in by federal troops. In 1999, they were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by then-President Bill Clinton. Thelma Mothershed-Wair died this past weekend in Little Rock. She was 83 years old.