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Next steps for Chile - After 69 days underground and a rescue mission costing up to $20 million, 33 miners have finally been extracted from the bowels of the Earth. To roaring applause, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera placed a metal cap on top of the rescue hole early Thursday - and marked the end of a rescue operation that captivated the world.

But in a way, the story is just beginning - for the miners, who must live with their new status as folk heroes and the spotlight that comes with it, the country and the government, whose attention turns to protecting workers' safety. CNN will be taking a look at what's next for each of these key players.

O'Donnell and the Delaware debate - Wednesday's highly anticipated showdown between two candidates considered surprise contenders for Delaware's U.S. Senate seat featured Christine O'Donnell displaying the conservative credentials that gained her Tea Party backing while Chris Coons, put on the defensive at times, generally backed Democratic policies favored by President Obama.

The debate gave O'Donnell an opportunity to reintroduce herself to voters, define her views and chip away at the 19-point deficit in polling she must overcome to defeat Coons. It also provided a chance to do the opposite. CNN.com's Kristi Keck breaks down how O'Donnell did Wednesday night.

Foreclosure auctions hit record - Bank repossessions and foreclosure auctions hit record levels in the third quarter, RealtyTrac said Thursday. It said 372,445 foreclosure auctions were scheduled in July, August and September, while lenders repossessed 288,345 properties over the same time period.

Those numbers come after top prosecutors in all 50 states announced Wednesday a coordinated probe into improper foreclosures by the nation's largest loan servicers, but they stopped short of calling for a freeze on all foreclosures.

Afghan killings - First, Justin Stoner blew the whistle on his platoon. In photos obtained by CNN, Stoner sports bruises and abrasions on his back, chest and near his neck — the marks of a beating inflicted by fellow soldiers as payback for reporting their rampant hashish use, the Army said. At the time, those close to the investigation tell CNN that Stoner just wanted the smoking in his tent and around him to stop. So he went outside his group and reported the drug use to his superiors.

But that move, and the subsequent beating he endured for being viewed as a snitch, triggered a wide-ranging criminal investigation that has left some soldiers accused of killing innocent Afghan civilians and others accused of posing in gruesome photos with the dead or keeping body parts as war trophies. Now the Army is doing everything it can to limit the publicity its own explosive account created. Stoner, who's back in the United States, agreed to speak with CNN about the torment he went through earlier this year. CNN's Drew Griffin will report on what the soldier had to say. The interview will be shown at 10 p.m. ET Thursday on "AC360."