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March 24 (UPI) — Authorities in Washington, D.C., are hunting for at least two suspects after a U.S. Park Police officer was shot while on undercover duty in the nation’s capital.

The shooting occurred at about 7:30 p.m. EDT Monday near the 5000 block of Queens Stroll Place SE and the 4600 block of Hillside Road SE, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement.

U.S. Park Police Deputy Chief Scott Bretch told reporters in a press conference that the officer was riding in an unmarked police car as part of an ongoing U.S. Park Police investigation when the office was “ambushed” by at least two gunmen.

The officer was struck by gunfire, he said. Authorities said police did not return fire.

Bretch said the police vehicle continued down the street until it pulled over, where the wounded officer received first aid before being airlifted to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Bretch would not say what kind of investigation U.S. Park Police was working on or how the suspects fled the scene. It was unclear how many police officers were in the targeted police car.

Interim Metropolitan Police Chief Jeff Carroll said that they believe the suspects had targeted the U.S. Park Police officer in the vehicle for being law enforcement.

Authorities are searching for two suspects both described as Black males. One was dressed in a white hoodie with blue jeans, and the other was dressed all in black with a white stripe down his sleeves and pant legs.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she had been briefed on the shooting.

“Our prayers are with the officer for a quick recovery and we are grateful for all our law enforcement officers and first responders for their quick response,” she said in a statement.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was also briefed on the shooting by Bowser and Carroll, stating the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies will assist the Metropolitan Police Department “in any way we can.

“Please pray for the officer’s recovery,” she said.

Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points in 25 minutes and the Clippers pummeled the Milwaukee Bucks 129-96 on Monday night.

Brook Lopez added 19 points, Darius Garland had 15 points and six assists, and the Clippers won consecutive games after four straight losses. They made all 18 of their free throws and got back to .500 with 10 games remaining in the regular season after having a 6-21 record on Dec. 18.

Gary Trent Jr. paced the Bucks with 20 points off the bench. Ryan Rollins led their starters with 13, and Milwaukee had five players in double figures. The Bucks have lost 10 of their past 14 games, including three of four since sitting superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo because of a left knee injury.

The Clippers dominated the three-point line at both ends of the court, making 17 of 38 shots from long range (45%) while frustrating the Bucks before they used a meaningless fourth-quarter flurry to finish at 39% (16 for 41). That included the Clippers sinking 11 of 22 attempts in the first half, including a seven-for-12 stretch to help fuel a 43-point second quarter.

Brook Lopez looks to pass against Bucks forward Bobby Portis in the second half.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The onslaught continued into the second half as the Clippers went up by 46. Even the 7-foot-1 Lopez got in on the fun, shooting four of five on threes in the third quarter.

Leonard, who sat out the fourth quarter, shook off a sluggish start to go eight for 18 from the field and make nine foul shots. He had 16 points in the second quarter.

In his 14th NBA season, Leonard is averaging a career-high 28.3 points per game, helping push the Clippers back to an all-but-certain spot in the play-in tournament following their miserable start.

On a day when No. 1 seeds dominated, UCLA wasn’t the exception.

The top-seeded Bruins led wire-to-wire, beating No. 8-seed Oklahoma State 87-68 in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Monday night at Pauley Pavilion to advance to the Sweet 16.

They will face No. 4-seed Minnesota on Friday in Sacramento.

While UCLA started much better than it did in its opening-round game, there were still elements to nitpick. The Bruins were outscored 21-18 in the third quarter, Oklahoma State won the offensive rebounding battle and outside of Lauren Betts — who scored a career-high 35 points while shooting 15 of 19 — the offense fell flat at times in the second half.

But with arguably the best post player in the country, the Bruins overcame all of that.

UCLA (33-1) jumped out to an 11-2 lead while the Cowgirls (24-10) went the final 4:26 without scoring and shot 0 for 8 from the field during that span. The Bruins turned that into a 25-point lead and were up 46-26 at halftime.

Unlike the first-round victory over California Baptist on Saturday, UCLA came out cold to start the third quarter. The Bruins missed six shots in a row while Oklahoma State went on a 9-0 run to narrow the deficit to 13.

UCLA guard Kiki Rice, left, fights for the ball with Oklahoma State forward Achol Akot during the Bruins’ win Monday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

The Cowgirls shot 51.4% from the field in the second half to stay within striking distance while UCLA’s offense went mostly cold. But Oklahoma State’s leading scorer, Achol Akot (23 points), had four fouls by the start of the fourth quarter and had to spend much of the quarter on the bench.

Betts scored 11 consecutive UCLA points in the final four minutes of the third to put the Bruins ahead by 19. In addition, she finished the game with nine rebounds and five assists.

Gianna Kneepkens (15 points) made a couple of key shots in the fourth quarter to help jolt the Bruins’ shooting, but it was still Betts’ dominant showing that kept UCLA well ahead. Of UCLA’s 87 points, 50 came in the paint.

UCLA’s next opponent, the Golden Gophers (24-8), advanced on a buzzer-beater against No. 5-seed Mississippi on Sunday. The Bruins beat Minnesota 76-58 on the road during conference play earlier this season.

Troy Terry scored on a breakaway 1:29 into overtime for his second goal of the game after Mikael Granlund tied it late in regulation and the Ducks rallied to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-5 on Sunday night.

Anaheim ended Buffalo’s seven-game road winning streak when Tage Thompson couldn’t keep in the puck in the Ducks’ zone and Terry held on a 2-on-0 break to score on a backhander.

Granlund tied the score at 5 with 1:44 remaining in the third period on a power play with Ville Husso pulled for an extra attacker.

Chris Kreider and Jackson LaCombe had power-play goals in the first period, Beckett Sennecke also scored, Husso made 24 saves and the Ducks have won consecutive games as part of a four-game points streak.

Alex Lyon had his 10-game road winning streak — tied for the third-longest by a goaltender in NHL history — snapped after giving up six goals on 33 shots. That included giving up goals to Sennecke and Terry on two of the Ducks’ four shots in the second period.

Alex Tuch, Josh Doan, Jack Quinn, Owen Power and Zach Benson scored for the Sabres, who extended their franchise-record road points streak to 14 games. It was their second loss in the last 14 games overall.

Lyon hadn’t lost a road start since Dec. 8, when Buffalo was last in the Eastern Conference with a 2-9-2 record outside of upstate New York. The Sabres had since won 20 of 24 road games as part of an astonishing turnaround that has them set to end the longest playoff drought in the NHL and on track to claim a first division title since 2009-10.

A victory for Lyon would have tied San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov in 2009-10 and Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk in 2014-15 for the longest undefeated road run in league history.

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick bounced back from an agonising near miss at the Players Championship to win the Valspar Championship,

Fitzpatrick had led last week’s Players by one shot on the 17th tee but a par-bogey finish cost him as American Cameron Young closed birdie-par to snatch victory.

But Fitzpatrick earned redemption on Sunday at Palm Harbor, Florida, sinking a 14ft-putt to birdie the 18th hole and beat American David Lipsky by one shot.

The 31-year-old carded a three-under-par 68 to finish on 11 under and had to wait for two groups to complete their rounds before his third PGA Tour win was confirmed.

“To come away with a win this week is really special, considering last week’s performance as well,” said Fitzpatrick, who last won on the tour in 2023.

“I’ll be honest, it wasn’t an ideal putt [on 18]. I wouldn’t say I was overly keen on it considering my putting performance but to get it done was special.”

Fitzpatrick, who won the DP World Tour Championship in November, says he will have a two-week break before preparing for next month’s Masters.

“I’m obviously very confident in my game right now but what it takes to win a major is very different to what it takes to win on the PGA Tour,” added the 2022 US Open champion.

“Particularly the Masters, there’s extra pressure on the Masters, no matter who you are. It just has that standing above all the other events, as well as the majors.

“I’m coming away from this week delighted with where my game’s at but there’s stuff I want to improve.”

Fellow Englishman Jordan Smith, 33, was third on nine under – his best finish on the PGA Tour.

Smith’s compatriot Marco Penge, South Korea’s Sungjae Imm who had led for three rounds, and Ameircan Xander Schauffele were all tied for fourth on eight under.

Movsar Evloev rallies after a point deduction against the unbeaten Lerone Murphy to win the contest in London.

Russia’s Movsar Evloev ‌overcame a point deduction for a foul to edge a majority ⁠decision win over ⁠Lerone Murphy at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 270 at the O2 Arena, likely punching his ticket to a title fight against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski ⁠in his next bout.

With the two fighters putting their undefeated records on the line to decide who will face the 37-year-old Australian Volkanovski for the belt, ⁠the bout turned into an intriguing clash of styles.

Evloev, who is known for his wrestling, tried to showcase his striking, while Murphy displayed some superb defensive work on the ground.

Murphy evaded the fearsome grappling attack of his Russian opponent for the ‌first two rounds of the five-round bout, using a selection of stiff right hands to keep him at bay. Evloev took the chance to exhibit some of the dangerous spinning strikes he has added to his repertoire since his last fight in December 2024.

Evloev finally managed to take the fight to the mat early in the third round, but Murphy was quickly ⁠back to his feet, uncorking a spinning back kick of ⁠his own shortly afterwards.

However, it was his opponent who finished the frame strongest with a big overhand right, followed up by a flurry of strikes.

His momentum was derailed somewhat when he landed ⁠a second kick to Murphy’s groin early in the fourth round, and referee Marc Goddard deducted a point from ⁠Evloev for the foul.

Knowing that the deduction could be ⁠decisive if the fight went to the judges’ scorecards, Evloev turned up his energy-sapping grappling attack in the fifth and final frame as he chased a finish, but again Murphy was able to ‌get back to his feet with relative ease.

Despite not really threatening to submit his opponent on the ground, it proved to be enough for the 32-year-old Evloev, ‌with ‌two of the judges scoring the fight 48-46 in his favour and the third scoring it a draw 47-47 after the point deduction was taken into account.

Alex Killorn broke a tie off a scramble at 9:09 of the second period, Lukas Dostal stopped 29 shots and the Ducks beat the Utah Mammoth 4-1 on Friday night to pad their Pacific Division lead.

After the puck was cleared off the goal line behind goalie Vitek Vanecek, the Ducks’ Beckett Sennecke ended up with it on the left side and slipped a pass to Killorn for a shot before Vanecek was set. Killorn also had two assists.

Ryan Poehling, Cutter Gauthier and Mikael Granlund also scored to help the Ducks — playing without suspended defenseman Radko Gudas — rebound from a 3-2 overtime loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday night at home. They moved three points ahead of Edmonton in the division.

Gudas served the fourth game of a five-game suspension for kneeing Auston Matthews in a loss at Toronto on March 12. Matthews tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and will miss the rest of the season.

Poehling tied it with 6:23 left in the first, beating Vanecek with a nifty move on a shorthanded break. Poehling took a pass from Killorn, sped down the left side, cut right and shot against the grain to the left.

The Ducks (38-27-4) put it away with two empty-net goals, with Gauthier scoring his 36th goal on the first.

Dylan Guenther scored his 34th goal of the season for Utah — at 1:48 of the first of the Mammoth’s second shot on goal.

Utah remained six points ahead of the Kings for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The Mammoth (36-28-6) opened a four-game homestand. They had won two straight on the road, beating Dallas 6-3 on Monday night to snap a four-game losing streak and topping Vegas 4-0 Thursday night.

Up next for the Ducks: vs. Buffalo at Honda Center on Sunday.

SPANISH sun and a sense of calm was what I was expecting to greet me at Lanzarote Airport – instead I spend the first three hours of my holiday queuing to get out of the arrivals hall.

Because thousands of travellers like myself were stuck in huge queues, thanks to the new EES system – and with Easter and summer season on the way, I can see it getting worse.

My Jet2 flight landed at half past one on a Thursday afternoon in early March and I didn’t get out until just after half past four.

The queues stretched along the corridor and zigzagged all the way through the arrivals hall that took passengers to EES registration.

I’d already signed up to EES, having visited Lithuania a few months ago – but that was no use at all.

There was no separate queue for – or any staff for that matter – advising those who have registered to head straight to the passport e-gates.

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While this was frustrating, what was even more so was that only half of the EES machines were actually working.

When I finally made it to my bus transfer, even the Jet2Holidays rep said she’d ‘never seen delays this bad’.

While Lanzarote has had a bad rep for lengthy queues in recent weeks, they are by no means the only ones.

The Sun travel team has been to various airports across Europe since the start of 2026 and many of them have had much longer queues than usual.

Like in Lanzarote, in some places only half the EES machines are working.

In other destinations, all of the machines are switched off until around midday. So it’ s pure luck as to whether you’ll even get to sign up.

Thanks to its winter sun offering, Lanzarote is one of the first airports to really show what an issue the new system could be for Brits this summer – when millions of visitors arrive for their annual holidays across Europe.

Lanzarote Airport has been subject to ‘bottlenecking’ which is a term used when there are too many flights at once and it causes congestion in the airport.

It’s no surprise really, Lanzarote is a small island with a small airport.

Around 100 planes land at the airport each day and over one million British tourists visit Lanzarote each year, with more heading there over the Easter and summer holidays.

Looking at planned flights on flightradar24 for Thursday 19 March 2026, there are almost 40 from the UK alone, with just under 100 flights in total scheduled for the day.

Between 2pm and 3pm there are 10 flights due from the UK.

Two from Glasgow arrive at the same time, and others are within five and ten-minute intervals.

With the queues in Lanzarote reportedly reaching four hours, I’ve seen parents fearing travel chaos for their upcoming holiday.

One mum even started a forum on Mumsnet with the subject ‘Lanzarote airport actual chaos or exaggerated drama’.

In the comments, one recent visitor described the airport as a ‘madhouse’.

Another, who went on holiday around the same time as me, described it as an “absolute nightmare” and has even cancelled their booking in April as a result.

The lengthy wait times are likely to crop up at other European destinations too because of the new EES requirement.

Delays have been reported at airports like Brussels, Lisbon and Prague, and officials have even called for the EES to be delayed until after the summer holidays.

Other airports are looking for solutions.

At some operated by Aena, like Ibiza, Menorca, Malaga and Palma, Majorca – there could be a Brit only lane at border control to ease congestion.

As for Lanzarote, if you want to make the most of your arrival on the island, then I’d suggest booking an earlier flight so you’ll still have the afternoon to explore.

Otherwise all there is to do is line up and wait patiently.

For more about the new travel requirements this summer – here’s everything you need to know about EES.

And for more travel inspiration, here are the bucket list 2026 holidays you should go on for every month of the year.

Neither Alexander Straus nor Mark Parsons were around when Angel City played its first NWSL game in 2022. But they didn’t miss much; in four years the team had one winning season and made just one playoff appearance.

So Straus, in his first full season as coach, and Parsons, 15 months into his job as sporting director, decided to raze the club and its sad history and start over. That break from the past couldn’t have been much clearer than it was in the opening game of the team’s fifth season Sunday, one which ended in a 4-0 rout of the Chicago Stars.

Three of the goals — from Evelyn Shores, Ary Borges and Maiara Niehues — came from players who weren’t on the roster at the start of last season. Borges also picked up her first Angel City assist.

The performance was the most dominant in club history and the margin of victory matched Angel City’s largest ever. It was also the team’s first season-opening win since 2022.

“There is a little bit of a new beginning,” Straus said.

“We’re a completely different organization than we were at the end of last year,” Parsons added.

Angel City proved that when teenager Kennedy Fuller opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, dribbling up the right wing and into the box before driving a right-footed shot off Chicago keeper Alyssa Naeher and just inside the near post.

Shores doubled the lead in the 53rd minute, heading in a Fuller corner for her second NWSL goal before Borges, a Brazilian international, made it 3-0 13 minutes later, jumping on a short goal kick by Naeher, then beating the keeper cleanly with a left-footed shot from the center of the box.

Niehues, another Brazilian international, closed the scoring in the 70th minute on a right-footed shot from the center of the box. Iceland’s Sveindis Jonsdottir got the assist on that goal. Of the four goal-scorers for Angel City, only Borges is over 21.

Angel City dominated the match statistically as much as it did on the field, outshooting Chicago 17-7 and putting six of those shots on target. Angel City keeper Angelina Anderson needed to make just two saves to record the clean sheet.

The announced crowd of 16,813 on a beautiful sun-splashed afternoon was the smallest for an Angel City opener.

CHICAGO — This was hardly a masterpiece of Big Ten basketball, what with the barrage of bricks and busted possessions. Nor was it the sort of night to convince you of UCLA’s chances as a surefire conference contender.

But amid the mess of its 72-59 win over 14th-seeded Rutgers on Thursday night, UCLA showed the sort of mettle it may need to keep its season kicking this March.

It started with Donovan Dent, whose masterful month continued with his first career triple-double — and the first triple-double in Big Ten tournament history. The senior tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. He and Tyler Bilodeau, who added a game-high 21 points, were the rare bright spots on offense for the Bruins.

Otherwise, UCLA struggled to find any sort of rhythm. It shot just 38% from the floor, worse than it had in any win this season. And still, the Bruins were in control for most of the game after pulling away early in the second half.

None of that will fly against No. 3 seed Michigan State on Friday at 6 p.m. PDT, which beat UCLA by 23 points the last time they met.

But until Thursday it’d been quite some time since UCLA actually managed to win away from home. Not since Jan. 29 had it won outside of L.A., and only once this season had it won outside of the Pacific time zone.

For a while, it didn’t seem like UCLA intended to win Thursday, either. Even as Rutgers gave it every chance to pull away.

The Bruins did shut down Rutgers’ Tariq Francis, who was fresh off a 29-point performance in a first-round win over Minnesota. Francis didn’t score until the nine-minute mark in the second half. He finished with six points on two-of-11 shooting.

The two teams spent most of the first half trading wasted possessions and taking turns with their respective shooting slumps. Four minutes scoreless for Rutgers. Three scoreless for UCLA. Four scoreless for Rutgers. Then three scoreless for UCLA. Back and forth they went in their futility.

The Bruins had plenty of chances to build a lead early. While Rutgers struggled to find rhythm on offense, settling mostly for contested shots inside the arc, UCLA got its share of open shots all around the floor. It just wasn’t able to hit many of them. Both teams shot a meager 31% before halftime.

Those shots fell more frequently in the second half, as UCLA pushed its lead to 15. The Bruins still struggled to put the Knights away, until Dent took matters into his own hands late, pushing UCLA to victory.

BOSTON — Charlie McAvoy scored 39 seconds into overtime and Jeremy Swayman stopped 14 shots on Tuesday night to earn the Boston Bruins their 13th straight victory at home, 2-1 over the Kings.

Mason Lohrei scored midway through the third period to break a scoreless tie. But the Kings tied it five minutes later when Drew Doughty’s shot from the blue line deflected off the heel of Bruins forward Elias Lindholm and into the net.

It was the seventh straight time the teams had gone to overtime in Boston.

In the overtime, Mark Kastelic blocked a shot in the defensive zone and made a long pass to David Pastrnak, who waited for McAvoy to come into the zone. The Bruins’ defenseman and U.S. Olympian, who went to the locker room at the end of the second period after taking a puck off his mouth, skated in on Darcy Kuemper and went to his backhand for the winner.

Kuemper stopped 21 shots for the Kings, who entered the night one point out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The victory kept Boston in possession of the East’s second wild-card spot.

Swayman tied his career high with his 25th win of the season. The Bruins haven’t lost at the TD Garden since before Christmas.

After the game, Kings forward and future Hall of Famer Anze Kopitar stayed on the ice to shake hands with the Bruins after what is expected to be his last game in Boston.

THE woman charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting up Rihanna’s home called the pop superstar a “witch” and claimed she was going to “die” in a disturbing video before the attack.

A string of unhinged posts shared over the last few weeks lay bare 35-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz’s alleged obsession with the Diamonds hitmaker.

Police claim the suspect fired multiple shots using an AR-15-style rifle – with several bullets striking Rihanna’s front gate and an RV parked on the driveway – after she drove to the star’s $14million Los Angeles home on Sunday.

Mom-of-three Rihanna was reportedly at home at the time of the disturbing incident but was not injured.

It is unclear whether anyone else, including her partner, A$AP Rocky, or their young children were in the property at the time.

Ortiz, from Orlando, Florida, remains in custody, and bail has been set at around $10.2million, officials confirmed to The U.S. Sun.

SHOCK ATTACK

Woman charged with attempted murder after shooting at Rihanna’s LA mansion

In the months leading up to the crime, Ortiz blasted the star in videos on her YouTube channel,c where she shares daily clips with the title, Praying Woman’s Journal.

“Rihanna, when you die, God is taking me to my future,” she tells viewers in one bone-chilling video from two months ago.

“You want to kill me? Shut the f*** up. Okay, shut the f*** up. Yeah, she’s a witch. She’s a witch. I’m a watchman. She’s a witch. Get that stupid girl out of here, okay,” she continues to ramble incoherently.

Other posts shared on Ortiz’s Facebook mention celebrities, including Rihanna, as she seemingly threatens the pop star.

On February 23, she wrote, “@badgalriri — Are you there? Cause I was waiting for your AIDS 5-head self to say something to me directly instead of sneaking around like you’re talking to me where I’m not at.”

She also shared a photograph of rapper Drake, with the caption, “When Drake found out Rihanna has AIDS #champagnepapi.”

There is no suggestion that her posts are true.

She referenced Rihanna as far back as December, even claiming she was “with @badgalriri” a month later, along with other stars tagged in her disturbing posts.

Ortiz also seemed angry at many female celebrities on her page, branding Kim Kardashian a “stupid b****,” adding, “Your turn hiding b****, stop begging for a look.”

Pictures show her in full glam with different hair styles, and in one, she appears next to several awards, writing, “Posing with my pageant trophies. Miss Teen Illinois Latina Princess 2006.”

She lists herself as living in Florida and is featured in earlier posts with a young girl, thought to be her daughter.

The U.S. Sun obtained filings from December 2025 that show a Florida appeals court upheld a ruling stripping Ortiz of all time-sharing rights with her child in her legal fight with ex, Jed Nikko Valdez Sangalang.

Ortiz had appealed a temporary order issued by a judge in Orange County that revoked her time-sharing entirely and barred her from having any contact with their child.

She filed for divorce in 2015, and the case docket shows it is still ongoing years later.

She was also previously charged after an alleged violent attack on her ex-partner in front of their young child, according to records.

Details about the exact outcome of that case remain limited, but Ortiz has a history of legal issues in Florida, including allegedly violating pretrial release conditions. 

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Sangalang for comment.

Meanwhile, Rihanna has yet to comment on the shooting incident.

A dispatch call from the Los Angeles West Division was reviewed by The U.S. Sun, and features an operator asking officers to attend to an address on Heather Road after reports of gunfire.

The call crackled over the radio, with the dispatcher relaying that the shots had come from across the street and that no one at the scene had a clear view of the suspect.

Witnesses said the gunfire came from a white Tesla, which was seen speeding away down Coldwater Canyon after “ten shots” were fired at the property’s gate.

For more than 10 minutes, officers scrambled for information as they tried to determine the Tesla’s exact model and license plate while investigators worked to pull nearby surveillance footage.

Authorities later said the suspect, described as having braided hair and wearing a cream blouse, was tracked by helicopter to a shopping center parking lot in Sherman Oaks and arrested around 30 minutes after the initial call.

When officers stopped the car, they allegedly found an assault rifle and seven shell casings inside the vehicle.

Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, Nathan MacKinnon secured his fourth consecutive 100-point season with a third-period assist, and the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche ended the Ducks’ five-game winning streak with a 5-1 victory Tuesday night at Honda Center.

Parker Kelly scored two goals and Scott Wedgewood made 27 saves for the Avalanche, who have won three straight and four of five since the Olympic break. Martin Necas got his 27th goal and Gabriel Landeskog also scored to complete Colorado’s back-to-back sweep of the Southern California clubs.

Cutter Gauthier scored his 29th goal and Lukas Dostal stopped 21 shots for the Ducks, whose eight-game home winning streak since Jan. 2 also ended.

The Ducks would have moved into first place in the Pacific Division with a point, but the loss kept Vegas one point ahead. The Ducks are in a playoff race down the stretch for the first time since 2018.

After two fruitless Ducks power plays in the opening minutes, Makar put the Avalanche ahead from the slot with his 18th goal.

Necas added his seventh power-play goal of the season 2 1/2 minutes later, beating his Czech Olympic teammate with a high shot. The goal was just the second on the power play in the last 12 games for the Avalanche, who inexplicably have the NHL’s worst man-advantage unit despite their overall excellence.

Gauthier hammered home a one-timer early in the second after a superb cross-ice pass from Jackson LaCombe, but Kelly got his 14th goal later in the period.

Landeskog then scored a goal in his second straight game, connecting early in the third on a one-timer from MacKinnon, who got his 59th assist to go with his NHL-leading 41 goals.

Loud explosions have been heard in Doha, the capital of Qatar, as defence systems shot down incoming Iranian missiles. Falling debris ignited large fire that sent plumes of black smoke rising above the city. Iran has hit multiple Gulf states as it responds to US-Israeli attacks.

The U.S. military used a laser to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) drone over southwest Texas earlier this week, U.S. officials confirmed to The War Zone. We now know that this drone was small in size and was engaged by AeroVironment’s LOCUST directed energy weapon. The friendly fire incident spurred expanded airspace restrictions over the Fort Hancock area that will last for four months. It also gives credence to the FAA’S concerns about the operational deployment of counter-drone laser weapons along the border. The same system was used to fire at suspected Mexican cartel drones flying across the southern border into Texas two weeks ago, which resulted in a large airspace closure, general confusion and major headlines.

LOCUST Laser Weapon System

Federal officials confirmed last night that some kind of incident occurred on Wednesday, although a joint statement held back from making a definitive conclusion on exactly what happened.

“This reported engagement occurred when the Department of War employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace,” the Defense Department, CBP, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in their statement.

“The engagement took place far away from populated areas, and there were no commercial aircraft in the vicinity,” the statement added.

The Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) covered an area located roughly 50 miles southeast of El Paso, the scene of a drone incident earlier this month, and the U.S. Army base at Fort Bliss, a facility that has counter-drone operations as part of its training remit. The TFR lasts until June 24 and prevents most pilots from flying over the area. Emergency services, like medevac flights and search and rescue operations, will be allowed to fly in the area if they contact Albuquerque Center, which will coordinate with U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Task Force-Southern Border, which is overseeing military operations in this area.

In an earlier statement, the FAA noted that an incident had led to it expanding a temporary flight restriction that was already in place around Fort Hancock. The restriction was issued for “Special Security Reasons,” the FAA added, and did not impact commercial flights in the region.

An unnamed U.S. official previously told CBS News that a laser weapon was used to down the drone in the area of Fort Hancock, a small community located on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Democrat Representatives Rick Larsen, André Carson, and Bennie Thompson, all members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, also issued a joint statement. “Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high-risk counter-unmanned aircraft system,” they said, criticizing an apparent lack of coordination between the agencies involved.

Earlier this month, CBP personnel reportedly used a laser directed-energy weapon to take down an object, which they assumed to be a drone operated by a Mexican drug cartel. Multiple reports said that the object turned out to be a Mylar balloon. A U.S. official told us at the time that the incident was the first time a laser weapon had been fired at drones in the continental U.S.

The system involved, identified by Reuters as an AeroVironment LOCUST laser counter-drone weapon, was lent to the CBP by the U.S. Army.

It was reported on that occasion that flight restrictions were imposed around El Paso as a result of a breakdown in coordination between the U.S. military and the FAA over the employment of a counter-drone system armed with a laser-directed energy weapon.

As we discussed at the time, the chaotic aftermath of the El Paso incident underscored the policy challenges and impediments the U.S. still faces in defending against drone incursions over the homeland. These are significant national security concerns that TWZ has been at the forefront of reporting on for years.

Under a federal statute commonly referred to as 130(i), “DoW can mitigate drone threats to protect military installations and missions inside the U.S., but it does not have general domestic airspace policing authority,” Scott Shtofman, Vice President & Counsel, Regulatory Affairs for the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), told us in the wake of the El Paso incident.

Safety concerns about using directed energy weapons, and especially kinetic ones, to take down drones in the U.S. have been a major factor in why they haven’t been previously used in this role. A little less than a year and a half ago, officials at U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), which has coordinating authority for counter-drone efforts in the U.S., said the use of such weapons was not yet on the table. The reason is that they can create dangerous or otherwise serious collateral effects that are less of a concern in a war zone.

While the details of this week’s incident are still to be established, it appears almost certain that this is the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of U.S. efforts to counter small drone incursions over the country.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

PHOENIX — Two nights after losing to the Orlando Magic in a heartbreaker, the Lakers focused on trying to beat a Phoenix Suns team missing key players.

In the end, the result was the same — disappointment.

The Lakers lost 113-110 after Austin Reaves missed a three-pointer as time expired, the Suns coming up with the clutch shot on Royce O’Neale‘s three with nine-tenths of a second left to send the Lakers to their third consecutive loss Thursday night.

On the final play, Marcus Smart inbounded the ball and LeBron James and Maxi Kleber set a double-screen to get Reaves open. Reaves floated to the corner and took a cross-court pass but his shot bounced off the rim, sending the Lakers to another loss despite Luka Doncic‘s 41 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair before the Suns built a 12-point lead with 6:28 left. The Lakers quickly recovered and tied the score on a Reaves three-pointer with one minute left. O’Neale scored on an offensive rebound to give the Suns a 110-108 lead before James scored on a put-back to tie the score.

The Suns then called a timeout to set up O’Neale’s winning shot.

Phoenix, which had lost six of eight, played without All-Star guard Devin Booker (right hip strain), Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture) and Jordan Goodwin (left calf strain).

Still, the Lakers (34-24) knew the Suns (34-26) would play hard and throw up a lot of three-pointers — Phoenix shot 22 for 50 from three-point range.

When the Lakers went up by three early in the fourth, things looked good. But then the Suns went on a 13-3 run.

Lakers coach JJ Redick was forced to call a timeout after Oso Ighodaro rolled in for an uncontested dunk, putting the Lakers down 96-86 with 7:43 left.

The Lakers went down by 10 points in the second quarter, but took a two-point lead late in the quarter on a Reaves three-pointer. But Grayson Allen scored on a layup to tie the score 49-49 at halftime.

The Lakers opened a 13-point lead in the third quarter, but ended up tied 80-80 entering the fourth.

Allen carried the Suns in the third, scoring 16 points. He missed just one of his shots and just one of his five three-pointers in the third.

James finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. Reaves scored 14 points and Smart had 13 points.

The Lakers lost to Orlando on Tuesday by one point on a botched play when Doncic didn’t shoot a three-pointer and instead passed the ball to James, who missed a last-second three-point attempt.

It was a tough way for the Lakers to end their eight-game homestand, going 4-4 over that stretch.

Redick was asked if it is easy to move on after a tough loss.

“Well, I think that’s not in general,” Redick said. “I think there are specific times throughout the season where you talk about what just happened, more than just your normal review. You’re not going to do that after every game. So, we had a great practice and meeting on Monday after the Boston game and you don’t need to belabor every single loss.”

ETC.

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura didn’t play against the Suns because of an illness, the team said. But backup center Jaxson Hayes, who missed the last game with right ankle soreness, played 21 minutes against the Suns, finishing with eight points and three rebounds.

Feb. 26 (UPI) — The Department of Defense shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone, Democratic House lawmakers said Thursday, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to expand its no-fly zone near El Paso, Texas.

Little information about the shootdown has been made public. UPI has contacted the Pentagon and CBP for comment.

“Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high-risk counter-unmanned aircraft system,” Reps. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., Andre Carson, D-Ind., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement.

“We said MONTHS ago that the White House’s decision to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, [the Department of Homeland Security] and the FAA was a short-sighted idea.

“Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence.”

The FAA told UPI that it expanded the temporary flight restriction in place over Fort Hancock, located about 50 miles southeast of El Paso.

The TFR has been in place since Dec. 23 for “Special Security Reasons.” It has been “expanded to include a greater radius to ensure safety,” the FAA told UPI. The restriction is in place through 8 p.m. local time on June 23, according to the Notice to Air Missions.

The statement was distributed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, on which Larsen serves as the ranking member. Carson is ranking member of the Aviation Subcommittee and Thompson is ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

This is a developing story.