Pete Alonso hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off All-Star closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning and the New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 to win their NL Wild Card Series. With their latest thrilling comeback in the decisive Game 3 against Milwaukee, the Mets advanced in the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2015 National League pennant. They move on to a best-of-five Division Series beginning Saturday in Philadelphia against the NL East champion Phillies. It will be the first postseason meeting between the heated rivals. Read moreMets advance in playoffs with 4-2 win over Brewers as Alonso homers to spark 9th-inning rally

Tunisia's President Kais Saied faces few obstacles to winning another term in the country's presidential election Sunday because his major opponents have been imprisoned or left off the ballot. Five years ago, Saied rode a wave of anti-establishment backlash to win a first term. But since then, Saied has garnered criticism from Tunisia's allies and opposition parties for rewriting Tunisia's constitution to consolidate his own power. Authorities have arrested and imprisoned journalists, lawyers, activists and civil society figures. The presidential election is Tunisia’s third since protests led to the 2011 ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali during the Arab Spring and will gauge popular opinion about the trajectory that Tunisia’s fading democracy has taken since Saied took office. Read moreTunisia votes Sunday in its third presidential election since the Arab Spring

Hundreds of colorful hot air balloons are scheduled to take off together for the 52nd annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The nine-day festival starting Saturday is one of the most photographed events in the world. It draws hundreds of thousands of spectators and pilots to New Mexico each fall for the rare opportunity to be within arm’s reach as the giant balloons are unpacked and inflated. Propane burners roar and the uniquely shaped balloons speckle the sky with vibrant colors. Everyone usually bundles up in layers to protect against a morning chill that helps pilots stay in the air longer, but organizers say this year’s fiesta could be the warmest on record. Read moreInternational fiesta fills New Mexico's sky with colorful hot air balloons

Work, classes and flights resumed across Taiwan after Typhoon Krathon brought torrential rainfall to the island but finally dissipated over a mountain range. Krathon brought much of the island to a standstill for three days but weakened to a tropical depression early Friday. Schools and businesses reopened with the exception of the city of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, and some parts of Hualien County and New Taipei. Domestic flights, which had been grounded for two days, resumed. Krathon lashed Kaohsiung with 78 mph winds, felled trees and flooded roads. Heavy rains and flooding also occurred along Taiwan’s southern and eastern coasts. Two deaths were reported and a person swept off a bridge was still missing. Read moreWork and travel resumes across Taiwan after Typhoon Krathon finally dissipates

Kirk Cousins threw for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime that gave the Atlanta Falcons an improbable 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a wild fourth quarter that featured a blocked field goal, a fumble and an interception, Cousins and the Falcons got the ball back at their own 20 with 1:14 remaining in regulation and no timeouts, trailing 30-27. Cousins completed five passes to push Atlanta to the Buccaneers 29, then hustled to the line to spike the ball with a single second on the clock. Younghoe Koo knocked it through from 52 yards to force overtime. The Falcons won the coin toss in overtime and scored. Read moreCousins throws for 509 yards, hits Hodge in OT to give Falcons 36-30 win over Bucs

The Milwaukee Brewers couldn’t have set things up any better for themselves as they headed into the ninth inning of the deciding game in their NL Wild Card Series. They owned a 2-0 lead over the New York Mets. They had retired 12 consecutive Mets batters. And they had two-time NL reliever of the year Devin Williams coming out of the bullpen. Then everything fell apart in stunningly swift fashion. Williams gave up four runs in the ninth inning of a 4-2 loss that ended the Brewers’ season. He had allowed just three runs all year before Thursday. Read moreBrewers closer Devin Williams makes no excuses after Mets' stunning 9th-inning comeback

Pete Alonso was having a rather disappointing evening in what could have been his final game for the New York Mets. Then everything changed with one swing of the bat. The slugger broke out of a prolonged slump by smashing a three-run homer off closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning to put the Mets ahead for good in a 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in the decisive third game of their NL Wild Card Series. Read moreAlonso's night turns around with season-saving homer for Mets in 9th inning

The search for victims of Hurricane Helene is dragging into its second week. With at least 215 dead, lack of phone service and electricity continues to hinder efforts to contact the unaccounted for. That means search crews must trudge through the mountains to learn whether residents listed as missing are safe. Exhausted rescue crews and volunteers continue to work long days — navigating past washed out roads, downed power lines and mudslides. Sheriff Quentin Miller of Buncombe County, North Carolina, has a message for those still waiting: “We’re coming to get you. We’re coming to pick up our people.” Read moreAs search for Helene's victims drags into second week, sheriff says rescuers 'will not rest'

As record numbers of South Americans come to the U.S. seeking better economic opportunities, many are landing in communities that are unprepared for them — and sometimes outright hostile. Many migrants have also been unprepared for the realities of their new home. Last year, nearly 900,000 women and girls tried to cross the U.S. southern border, more than a fivefold increase over the last decade. Finding a job and an affordable place to stay has been anything but easy. Women migrants face their own particular challenges in the U.S. Some women find many of their options for earning a living turn out to be sex work. Read moreFor migrant women who land in Colorado looking for jobs, a common answer emerges: No

After a tumultuous and unproductive session of Congress, nearly 50 House members have decided either to not seek reelection or to run for a higher office. That leaves vacancies in several tight races that could tilt control of Congress to either party. Both Republicans and Democrats have had their fair share of turnover. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, was the most prominent. But Democrats are also losing a number of prodigious fundraisers who have successfully held off GOP challengers in recent years. The party is now counting on fresh faces to holds the swing seats, but Republicans sense openings in four races in Virginia, Michigan and California that no longer have an incumbent. Read moreDepartures in House create crucial Republican targets in the fight for majority control

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are trying to get the upper hand with working-class voters in the closing weeks of the presidential campaign. Harris is visiting the union stronghold of Flint, Michigan, on Friday. Organized labor has been a bedrock of Democratic support, but Harris has been unable to secure endorsements from some unions that backed Joe Biden four years ago. Trump is eager to make inroads with unions in the election. He's heading to Georgia, where he'll appear with Gov. Brian Kemp, and North Carolina on Friday. Read moreHarris and Trump battle for labor support as dockworkers suspend strike

Mike Pence is no longer standing beside Donald Trump, and has refused to endorse the Republican nominee’s bid to return to the White House. This schism started days before rioters roamed the halls of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, threatening to “hang Mike Pence." Trump told his vice president that people are going to “hate your guts” if he failed to stop the 2020 election certification. The exchanges between both men are detailed in special counsel Jack Smith’s court filing this week. They show the extraordinary lengths Trump went to overturn the 2020 election, even as he lays the groundwork to challenge this one, if he loses. Read moreFiling in Trump case details remarkable schism with Pence over rejecting 2020 election loss

Donald Trump's staffers are on edge. There have been death threats directed at his aides, and his team isn’t as able to quickly organize the mass rallies that have always been the signature of his campaigns. The attack at a Pennsylvania rally and an assassination attempt that followed have dramatically reshaped his campaign, including where he can hold rallies. The former president and GOP nominee continues to faces ongoing death threats from Iran, which has also been blamed for hacking top campaign officials and allies. Read moreAssassination attempts and new threats have reshaped how Donald Trump campaigns

Abortion rights groups have outraised opponents by a nearly 8-to-1 margin in campaigns for ballot measures across the U.S. this year. But the advantage doesn't show in ad buys in Florida, which has the most expensive campaign of the nine states where voters are being asked whether they want to enshrine abortion rights into state constitutions. The Florida numbers don't reflect what the state GOP or Republican-controlled government agencies have spent. One factor in the funding gap nationally is that some groups that fought an Ohio ballot measure in 2023 have not put money into this year's races. Read moreAbortion-rights groups are outraising opponents 8-to-1 on November ballot measures