News Wrap: Parts of western Afghanistan hit with second strong earthquake in a week

Geoff Bennett:

In the day's other headlines: A strong new earthquake rocked the same parts of Western Afghanistan that are reeling from Saturday's deadly tremor.

This latest quake was centered on the outskirts of Herat and shook more villages into rubble. At least one person died, and about 120 others were injured.

Juma Gul, Herat Resident (through interpreter):

We don't have any houses or food left. We're scared that people here will die from hunger and the cold. Nothing was left. Nothing. We are alone and have nothing.

Geoff Bennett:

The country's ruling Taliban has said more than 2,000 people died across Herat in the previous earthquake.

Hurricane Lidia has largely dissipated after striking Mexico's Pacific coast overnight, killing two people. The storm made landfall in a sparsely populated area near the resort of Puerto Vallarta before heading inland north of Guadalajara. Locals took shelter as winds up to 140 miles per hour and rain drenched the region. It did some light damage, but quickly broke apart as it moved over land.

NASA unveiled the first samples from the asteroid Bennu today two weeks after the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returned them to Earth. The samples were harvested nearly 60 million miles away. Since then, scientists have been examining the ancient rocks, pebbles and dust in a climate-controlled glove box.

They say the material is rich in carbon and shows evidence of water.

Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator:

Carbon and water molecules are exactly the kinds of material that we wanted to find. They are crucial elements in the formation of our own planet. And they're going to help us determine the origin of elements that could have led to life.

Geoff Bennett:

More specimens are inside the main chamber of the capsule that OSIRIS-REx dropped off in a flyby. It has not been unsealed yet.

There's yet more data that students in the nation's high schools are falling behind. The ACT college admissions test reports, scores for the class of 2023 fell to the lowest level in more than 30 years. Overall, scores have dropped for six straight years and the trend accelerated during the pandemic.

The Biden administration proposed a ban on junk fees today on everything from concert tickets to hotel rooms. Officials say companies advertise low prices, then take customers by surprise at checkout with the added fees. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says eliminating such fees will actually reduce competition.

And, on Wall Street, stocks advance despite a report showing wholesale inflation in September was worse than expected. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 65 points to close at 33804. The Nasdaq rose nearly 97 points. The S&P 500 was up 18.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": how misinformation about the war in Israel is spreading rampantly on social media; and the Supreme Court considers a racial gerrymandering case in South Carolina.