This might be the morning to go easy on your friends who are fans of the Red Sox or Braves (unless you think it's pay-back time for abuse they've given you in the past).

Until Wednesday night, no Major League Baseball team that had an 8-game lead for a playoff spot in early September had failed to qualify for post-season play, NPR's Tom Goldman says.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has cancelled a sentence to flog a woman for defying the country's ban on women driving, according to multiple reports in news outlets including Al Arabiya television and Forbes.

COMMERCE - Hall of Honor ticket sales continue through Friday at the Commerce ISD Administration Office, with events next Friday, October 7 during homecoming. The luncheon and induction will be held at noon and tickets are $15 each.

This year's inductees are Alvis Alderman, Ann Champion, Bill Fuhrmeister, Dr. Mary Hendrix, Loretta Kibler and Janet Peek. The Hall of Honor was instituted last year to honor former students and staff of the District who have made an impact at the school or in their career.

The first inkling that something was amiss in the counterterrorism training given to local and federal law enforcement came in March. That's when NPR reported on the cottage industry of independent counterterrorism trainers who signed up to teach local and federal law enforcement officials about terrorism.

When prospective jurors file into a Detroit courthouse next week for the start of a major terrorism trial, all eyes will be on the defendant, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The young man from Nigeria may be best known for allegedly trying to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear on a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day 2009. Lately, his decision to fire his lawyers and defend himself is putting him back in the spotlight all over again.

The German parliament is expected to approve a plan Thursday that would expand the power of a European bailout fund for troubled countries that use the euro.

For Chancellor Angela Merkel, it's considered one of the biggest parliamentary votes of her career.

But before this bailout move has been approved by all the necessary European parliaments, many economists already feel the measure may not be sufficient to calm markets and stem a new global downturn.

The Tampa Bay Rays rallied from a seven-run deficit Wednesday to beat the New York Yankees and advance to the playoffs. The win shuts out the Boston Red Sox, who lost a close game to the Baltimore Orioles.

A federal judge has upheld much of a controversial Alabama immigration law, considered to be the toughest in the country. It takes effect Thursday.