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Nathan MacKinnon has goal and 3 assists in Avalanche’s 6-3 win over Lightning

24 October 2026 at 05:14

DENVER (AP) Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and three assists, Nazem Kadri scored his first goal of the season and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 on Friday night.

Devon Toews, Fedor Svechkov, Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas also scored as Colorado rebounded from back-to-back road losses. Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves.

Jake Guentzel scored twice and Charle-Edouard DAstous added another for the Lightning, who saw their three-game winning streak halted. Nikita Kucherov was held in check and remains a goal or assist away from becoming the franchises career points leader. He has 1,137 points and is tied with Steven Stamkos.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 of 23 shots, including one off the mask on MacKinnons liner.

Guentzels goal with 42.7 seconds left in the second period made it 4-2. The Avalanche unsuccessfully challenged the play for a missed stoppage. The Lightning went on the power play but couldnt score. They struggled on the power play all evening.

MacKinnons goal with 15:42 remaining gave Colorado a 5-2 cushion. Necas sealed it with a late empty-net tally.

Logan OConnor returned to the lineup after missing the start of the season with a lower-body injury. He recently lost his father, Myles, a former NHL defenseman, at age 59.

The game featured the leagues currently longest-tenured coaches in Jon Cooper and Jared Bednar. Cooper took over the Lightning in March 2013 and has won two Stanley Cups. Bednar was hired by Colorado in August 2016 and captured one Cup in 2022 over the Lightning.

Wyndham Clark, the 2026 U.S. Open champion, was in attendance and brought his trophy. Clark drank from the cup while receiving an ovation from the crowd.

Up next

Lightning: At Utah on Saturday night.

Avalanche: At Nashville on Sunday night.

DOJ orders some California counties to verify ballots in 48 hours

24 October 2026 at 04:30

Los Angeles (AP) — Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said may belong to noncitizens, according to the Los Angeles County registrar and a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

The letters are the latest escalation in a legal battle between California and President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which has recently focused on the state in its efforts to root out noncitizen voting ahead of the midterm elections. Data shows illegal voting by people who aren’t U.S. citizens is incredibly rare, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races.

Earlier this month, the federal government targeted Los Angeles County and the California Secretary of State’s office in a lawsuit that aimed to block them from counting the votes of roughly 20,000 people who are “likely” noncitizen voters. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Tuesday.

The Trump administration asked the 9th Circuit court of appeals to rule on the lawsuit barring a decision from the district judge assigned to the case. They set a deadline for Saturday.

Now, according to the LA County registrar’s office, at least 18 counties across the state have received similar letters. They have been given a 48 hour deadline to provide identifying information corresponding with ballots that the federal government believes were sent to noncitizens illegally registered to vote. The letter requests that county officials also sequester any ballots where citizenship cannot be verified.

“Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.

The Justice Department is asking counties to send information about the voters it suspects are noncitizens including social security numbers, ID information, a copy of their registration and more.

That information can help the government and state quickly assess each person suspected of illegally registering to vote, said the letter sent to San Bernardino County voting officials. The letter says the government’s list of suspected noncitizen voters includes 1,133 people from the inland Southern California county.

California’s secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar have opposed the federal government’s demands. In legal filings, lawyers for California say the request threatens to delay the certification of the vote and undermine the legitimacy of the November midterms. They have also argued that the federal government’s data is unreliable and that their demands risk disenfranchisement of citizens.

Voting is underway in California, with the state’s more than 23 million registered voters receiving ballots in the mail earlier this month. The state said in legal filings that over 330,000 mail-in ballots have already been counted.

The letters on Friday came on the heels of statewide sweep by federal authorities earlier in the week, where 28 people from the list of 20,000 were charged with illegally registering to vote. Some were also charged with illegally voting and lying on naturalization paperwork. Those charges could lead to years in prison.

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Melania Trump helps forge ceasefire deal in Russian-occupied town, White House says

23 October 2026 at 16:17

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump has brokered a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine in the war-ravaged city of Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid and the evacuation of civilians, the White House announced on Friday.

The localized ceasefire is set to begin Oct. 29.

The White House said that the first lady had initiated the discussions and that she and a representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to define the terms of the ceasefire. There has been no immediate comment from the Ukrainian or Russian governments.

Trump has made children in conflict one of her signature issues as first lady, hosting a U.N. Security Council meeting on the issue earlier this year. She also has personally written to Russian President Vladimir Putin to work to reunite children displaced by the war with their families.

Food and medical supplies have been scarce for months in Oleshky, which sits on the Dnipro River, separating Ukrainian forces from the city’s Russian occupiers. There’s no electricity, heat or running water. Roads leading from town are mined and dotted with burned-out cars. Menacing drones buzz overhead.

Once a city of about 24,000, Oleshky was captured by Moscow’s forces on the first day of their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Its buildings were shelled and burned, and its infrastructure damaged. Further calamity struck in June 2023 when floodwaters inundated the city after the Kakhovka Dam collapsed from an explosion that an Associated Press investigation found was likely caused by the Russian military, killing hundreds of residents.

Those left in the battered city along Ukraine’s southeastern front face death from hunger or disease as another harsh winter looms. Ukraine has appealed repeatedly for a local ceasefire to organize evacuations. Russia, which as the occupying power is obligated by international law to ensure civilians under its control have what they need to survive, had made no commitment.

The post Melania Trump helps forge ceasefire deal in Russian-occupied town, White House says appeared first on MS NOW.

Netanyahu’s office orders West Bank closed after soldiers kill 2 men behind alleged attack

23 October 2026 at 09:19

HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — Israeli soldiers shot and killed two men who the military said had launched an attack near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning. At least five people were injured, including some critically.

A few hours later, Israel ordered the army to prepare for a full closure of the West Bank. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it instructed security forces to immediately cordon off the city of Hebron and prepare to fully close all of the West Bank, starting Friday.

Earlier, the army said it prevented a “terror attack against Israeli civilians” and that the gunmen carried an M16 rifle and a handgun. It did not elaborate on the target of the alleged attack. There was also no word on the identities of the two dead and those injured.

The military subsequently set up roadblocks and closures in Palestinian towns in the area.

Emergency responders said five people were injured, some critically, and were being evacuated to hospitals in Israel. A statement from the responders said gunfire was still ongoing as they arrived at the scene of the attack near the Yehuda Junction in the morning.

Two men in their 20s had gunshot wounds to their lower limbs, one was unconscious and seriously injured, the responders said.

“We arrived at a difficult scene while shooting was still taking place in the area,” said Tzuriel Edri with the response team.

An investigation was underway, authorities said.

The deadly shooting comes as Israeli voters will decide next Tuesday whether to grant Netanyahu yet another term as prime minister — or usher in a new era of Israeli politics. The election comes three years after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.

Israel’s government has warned of potential attacks by the country’s “enemies” in the lead-up to the election.

Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, known for extremist views, said that the Hebron attack shows that Israel needs to restrict the Palestinians’ freedom of movement in the West Bank.

“The lives of the residents of Judea and Samaria, of the settlers, the lives of the soldiers, the lives of the police officers, the lives of our fighters are a million times more important than freedom of movement,” he said, using an Israeli reference to the West Bank.

Ahead of the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack that triggered the war, Netanyahu said the Palestinian militant group could attack Israel in a bid to influence the outcome of the elections. He did not provide evidence to back up the claim.

The post Netanyahu’s office orders West Bank closed after soldiers kill 2 men behind alleged attack appeared first on MS NOW.

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