Kansas City Royals to join the New York Mets at the World Series
Kansas City Royals celebrates their 4-3 win against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6 of baseball's American League Championship Series on Friday, Oct. 23, 2015, in Kansas City, Mo. (Associated Press)
The Royals open the World Series on Tuesday night against the New York Mets, trying to do one win better than they did last year. In their first trip to the Fall Classic in 29 years, they lost in Game 7 to the San Francisco Giants with the tying run standing 90 feet from home.
It was a heartbreaking defeat that remained in the back of the Royals' minds all season, and ultimately spurred their return to the game's biggest stage.
World Health Organization reveals red meat consumption increases cancer risk
(Associated Press)
Hot dogs, bacon, cold cuts and other processed meats raise the risk of colon, stomach and other cancers, and red meat probably contributes to the disease, too, the World Health Organization said Monday, throwing its considerable authority behind what many doctors have been warning for years.
WHO's cancer agency analyzed decades of research on the subject and issued its most definitive statement yet, putting processed meats in the same danger category as smoking or asbestos, though that doesn't mean, say, salami is as bad as cigarettes.
Obama calls for less standardized testing in public schools
(Associated Press)
Students, parents and teachers have long lamented the hours that kids spend taking standardized tests, especially since the introduction of the Common Core academic standards. According to a comprehensive study of big-city schools, kids spend 20 to 25 hours per year taking these tests.
In connection with the study's release Saturday, President Barack Obama called for capping standardized testing at 2 percent of classroom time.
Hurricane Patricia causes less damage than anticipated
Residents walk through the debris of homes destroyed by Hurricane Patricia, in Chamela, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. (Associated Press)
Just a day after menacing Mexico as one of history's strongest storms, Hurricane Patricia left surprisingly little damage in its wake Saturday and quickly dissipated into a low-pressure system that posed little threat beyond heavy rain.
The hurricane's most powerful punch landed on a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico's Pacific Coast before the system crashed into mountains that sapped its potentially catastrophic force. The popular beach city of Puerto Vallarta and the port of Manzanillo were spared the brunt of the violent weather.
Middle East 7.5-magnitude earthquake kills in 170 people
A Pakistani carries a man who was injured from an earthquake in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. In the Pakistani capital, walls swayed back and forth and people poured out of office buildings in a panic, reciting verses from the Quran. (Associated Press)
A strong earthquake in northern Afghanistan shook buildings from Kabul to Delhi, cut power and communications in some areas and caused more than 150 deaths, mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistani officials said that at least 147 people were killed and nearly 600 others wounded across the country, while Afghan officials said 33 people were killed and more than 200 wounded.