US forces strike vessel allegedly tied to narco-terror group killing 2 as crews search for lone survivor
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U.S. forces executed a lethal kinetic strike Friday on a vessel allegedly operated by a designated terrorist organization, killing two suspected narco-terrorists.
U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) said intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in trafficking operations.
USSOUTHCOM activated its search-and-rescue system to search for one suspected narco-terrorist, who officials said survived the strike.
The Department of War last conducted a kinetic strike in the Eastern Pacific on Dec. 31, targeting three suspected narco-trafficking vessels traveling as a convoy.
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U.S. officials carry out lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, engaged in “narco-terrorism operations,” according to the U.S. Southern Command. (U.S. Southern Command via X)
The three ships, allegedly operated by designated terrorist organizations, were traveling in international waters.
Officials claimed those aboard transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes.
Three narco-terrorists were reportedly killed on the first vessel, while those on the other two ships jumped out before follow-on engagements sank the vessels.
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USSOUTHCOM announced another kinetic strike against alleged naro-terrorist vessels on Wednesday, Dec. 31. (@Southcom via X)
It is unclear how many survivors escaped.
Despite extensive coordination with international rescue coordination centers, Department of War partners, and Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER) system vessels, the Coast Guard said available assets were “extremely limited due to distance and range constraints,” prompting them to suspend the search Jan. 2.
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“Suspending a search is never easy and given the exhaustive search effort, lack of positive indications and declining probability of survival, we have suspended active search efforts pending further developments,” U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Patrick Dill, chief of incident management in the southwest district, wrote in a statement on Jan. 2.
“At this stage of the response, the likelihood of a successful outcome, based on elapsed time, environmental conditions, and available resources for a person in the water is very low,” Dill added.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
How to watch Dwayne Johnson’s ‘The Smashing Machine’ on streaming platforms?
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s sports biopic The Smashing Machine has officially made its way to streaming, giving viewers an easy way to watch the film from home after its brief theatrical run.
For fans wondering how and where to watch it, the way is straightforward, with multiple options now available across platforms.
The film, directed by Benny Safdie and co-starring Emily Blunt, tells the story of legendary mixed martial artist Mark Kerr.
Johnson undergoes a dramatic transformation to play Kerr, a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion who rose to the top of the sport while struggling with opioid addiction and a deeply troubled personal life.
The movie takes inspiration from the 2002 HBO documentary of the same name that first introduced many viewers to Kerr’s complicated journey.
Where and how to stream ‘The Smashing Machine’?
If you’re looking to stream The Smashing Machine, it will be available on HBO Max starting Friday, January 23, according to Warner Bros. Discovery.
New releases typically appear on the platform at 3:01 a.m. ET / 12:01 a.m. PT, making it possible to watch as soon as it drops.
The film will also air on the HBO television channel on Saturday, January 24, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT for those who prefer traditional TV viewing.
For viewers who don’t have HBO Max, the movie is also available digitally.
The Smashing Machine, which was released in theaters on October 3, 2025, can currently be rented or purchased on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home.
These options allow audiences to watch instantly without a subscription.
‘The Smashing Machine’ review:
Although the film struggled at the box office, debuting with $6 million, Johnson has been vocal about the personal impact of the role.
“From deep in my grateful bones, thank you to everyone who has watched The Smashing Machine,” he wrote in an October 6 Instagram post.
He added, “In our storytelling world, you can’t control box office results — but what I realised you can control is your performance, and your commitment to completely disappear and go elsewhere. And I will always run to that opportunity.”
Johnson also reflected on the challenge during a post-premiere Q&A at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2025, saying he had waited a long time for a role that truly pushed him. “I pushed for more and I wanted more,” he said.
Whether you’re watching for Johnson’s dramatic turn, the real-life MMA story, or simply to see what the buzz is about, The Smashing Machine is now just a few clicks away on streaming and digital platforms.
DHS releases image of illegal immigrant accused of abandoning his 5-year-old son while fleeing ICE
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday released an image of the father of a preschooler who authorities said was abandoned by his father as he fled from federal law enforcement.
Fox News obtained the image of Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, who is the father of 5-year-old Liam Ramos.
Conejo Arias is an Ecuadorean citizen who was in the United States illegally and was released into the country by the Biden administration.
WHITE HOUSE, DHS PUSH BACK ON CLAIMS ICE TARGETED 5-YEAR-OLD IN MINNESOTA
Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, the father of Liam Ramos, is being detained with his son in Texas after being arrested by federal immigration authorities. (Obtained by Columbia Heights Public Schools / Department Homeland Security)
DHS has no record of him or his family entering the U.S. via the Biden-era CBP One cell phone app as the family attorney had claimed. Fox was told by the agency that Conejo Arias a process known as VR, voluntary return, to leave the U.S. with no immigration consequences, but he declined.
Democrats have claimed that Ramos was “kidnapped” as his father was being detained in Minneapolis. Columbia Heights school district superintendent Zena Stenvik said Ramos was “used as bait.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., as well as other Democrats, shared an image of a 5-year-old boy online and claimed he was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while coming home from pre-school,
DHS officials said officers were approaching Conejo Arias when he ran and left his son.
Media outlets were quick to parrot Democrats, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who shared an image of a five-year-old boy and claimed he was detained by ICE while coming home from pre-school. (Obtained by Columbia Heights Public Schools)
“This little boy was abandoned by his own father. His own father was being approached by ICE agents when he darted, ran, and abandoned the child,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “Our law enforcement in these frigid temperatures stayed with the child, tried to bring him into custody with the mother, who actually would not take the child into custody, which is so sad, so horrific.”
On Friday, ICE officials said authorities were targeting the father, not the child.
“My officers stayed with the child. They cared for him. Took him to get something to eat from a drive-thru restaurant and spent hours ensuring he was taken care of,” ICE Executive Assistant Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Marcos Charles told reporters. “Again, my officers did that, not his father … his family refused to open the door and take him back.”
MINNESOTA RESTAURANTS BY THE DOZENS PLANNING TO SHUT DOWN FRIDAY TO PROTEST ICE ENFORCEMENT
The Department of Homeland Security said a child who was reported detained by federal immigration agents in Minnesota this week was “abandoned” by his father, not targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). (Columbia Heights Public Schools)
“My officers did everything they could to reunite him with his family,” he added. “Tragically, when we approached the door of his residence, the people inside refused to take him in and open the door. Let me say it again. They saw the young boy, and they refused to open the door and take him back.”
McLaughlin said officers tried to get Liam’s mother to take him, but she refused to accept custody. The boy and his father are being detained together at the Dilley Detention Center in Texas, which holds families.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas., on Friday said she plans to visit the detention center next week to “conduct oversight and will demand answers on the whereabouts and wellbeing of Liam.”
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“If it were up to me, we’d be at the Dilley Detention Center RIGHT NOW getting answers,” she wrote on X. “But let’s be clear about what’s really happening here: the Trump Administration is illegally blocking Members of Congress from conducting lawful oversight.
Crockett added that she was outraged, saying her heart “aches for Liam’s family” while promising to get answers.
McLaughlin said Conejo Arias asked to keep Ramos with him after the child’s mother refused to take him. Before that, Ramos was given food from McDonald’s and listened to music, she said.
“Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates,” McLaughlin said. “This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement.”
Robert Pattinson shares his toddler has seen ‘so many’ of his movies
Robert Pattinson’s daughter is already daddy’s biggest fan!
In a recent chat with GQ, the Twilight Saga alum shared some rare insights into his and partner Suki Waterhouse’s toddlers’ recent watch history.
The actor was asked if the 22-month-old had watched her parents’ movies.
Pattinson replied, “Oh, she has seen so many of them already.”
“If I’m not getting any respect, I’ll be like, ‘Who’s this? Who’s that on the screen?’ And she’s like…[blank stare]. And I’m like, ‘It begins with a D! Ends with a Y!'” the Die My Love actor continued.
He further revealed his daughter is currently “watching Mickey-17.”
For those unversed, Pattinson and Waterhouse first sparked dating rumors in 2018.
After dating for five years, the pair got engaged in 2023. Later in March 2024, the couple welcomed their daughter. The doting parents have not shared their daughter’s name yet.
In a previous chat on Today, Waterhouse gushed over Pattinson’s parenting skills, saying he “excels” at tasks like changing diapers.
“He thinks it’s fun. The surprise, and everything,” she said on the show in 2024.
While in a later interview with the same outlet as part of their “8 Before 8” video series in December 2024, she shared a sweet insight into her and Pattinson’s mundane day with their toddler, and how they do “silly” things with their little one.
“I think just getting the baby. We have a routine of putting her in the swimming pool and jumping in and out of the pool,” Waterhouse noted.
“That’s just always the most fun. End of the day, 5 p.m., we all get in the pool and be silly. It’s amazing.”
Post Office and Fujitsu accused of delaying £4m damages claim
Post Office and Fujitsu have been accused of driving up legal costs and delaying a former sub-postmaster from suing them for £4m in damages over the Horizon IT scandal, the High Court heard.
Lee Castleton OBE was pursued by the Post Office to recover £25,000 of cash it alleged was missing from his branch in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, in 2007. His two-year legal fight saw him declared bankrupt following legal costs of £321,000.
At the first hearing in his claim on Friday, the court was told that Fujitsu, the company responsible for the faulty software, had already racked up more than £700,000 in legal costs.
Mr Castleton is the first individual to take legal action against both organisations.
Friday’s preliminary hearing was about how the case should proceed.
The court heard that “hurdles” were being put in front of Mr Castleton to make his claim as “difficult, time-consuming and expensive as possible”.
His legal team allege the Post Office’s decision to pursue its 2007 civil claim against him was an “abuse of process of the court”, and that the eventual judgment was obtained by fraud.
They also all claim the state-run institution conspired with Fujitsu to pervert the course of justice by “deliberately and dishonestly” withholding evidence.
Mr Castleton was one of 555 sub-postmasters who took the Post Office to court in an epic legal battle, led by Sir Alan Bates.
They won their case in 2019 and agreed a settlement but they never received proper compensation because the money they received was largely swallowed up by the huge costs to fund their case.
Mr Castleton wants that settlement to be set aside, alleging it was fraudulently obtained involving “sharp practice” by the Post Office.
Both Post Office and Fujitsu are yet to file a defence to Mr Castleton’s claims but called for his case to be split into two trials.
They want a court to decide if the settlement agreement bars the former sub-postmaster from proceeding with his own individual claim and if it does, this would “dispose of the proceedings in their entirety”. Doing it this way, they argued, would save time and money.
But in written arguments on behalf of Mr Castleton, the court heard the reverse would be true and that his claim was of the “utmost simplicity.”
His barrister, Paul Marshall KC, rejected the need for a separate trial.
But at the conclusion of the hearing, Mr Justice Trower and Judge Francesca Kaye ordered for the trials to be split in two, saying they would give the reasons for their decision at a later date.
The Post Office, which is owned by the government, said it had made every effort to engage with Mr Castleton to overturn his civil judgment and remained more than willing to do so, but it did not accept his current claim was “a good one and it had a duty to its shareholders to defend it”, the court heard.
Mr Castleton wants “vindication” that the judgement against him, that had “blighted” his and his family’s life for 20 years, was obtained dishonestly by the Post Office and for a judge to decide what he is owed.
Speaking outside of court, Mr Castleton told the BBC: “We know what we need to do and we’re very happy where we are.
“We’ll get a defence and that’s what we’ve been waiting for. The facts aren’t going to change. It’s just the money.”
Welcoming the court’s decision, the Post Office said it believed holding separate trials would resolve legal issues quickly and keep costs down.
“Our priority remains that Mr Castleton and all other affected postmasters get fair resolution and closure, and we remain hopeful that this matter can be resolved via the existing Horizon redress scheme,” a spokesperson added.
Ruby Franke’s son breaks silence on jailed YouTube mom, reads diaries from before arrest: ‘I was brainwashed’
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The son of convicted 8 Passengers YouTube blogger Ruby Franke is speaking out nearly two years after his mother was sentenced to up to six decades in prison for aggravated child abuse.
Chad Franke, 20, is sharing his side of the story in a series of TikTok videos by reading diary entries from 2023, one year before his mother sentenced in a Utah courtroom, according to People.
“Hi, my name is Chad, and I used to be very brainwashed,” he said in the first video. “And, no, I’m not kidding. You can look me up.”
Throughout the video, Chad explained he has received countless requests from his TikTok followers to “write a book on my story” but conceded he feels he is not a “very good writer” and does not want a third party telling his side of things.
The demise of Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt ended with the pals and business partners in prison. (Instagram/@moms_of_truth)
“Then I remembered I kind of wrote my own story myself,” Chad said, pointing to a journal in which he wrote every day during that period of his life.
“And to show you guys how real it was for every single day of the year, I will go back to 2023, two years ago, and read every single journal entry that I wrote.”
In the second video installment, Chad read an entry dated Jan. 22, 2023, detailing how he visited church with his roommates before playing Mario Kart and later cooked “funeral potatoes.”
Chad Franke discusses his relationship with his mother, Ruby Franke, in Hulu’s “The Devil in the Family” documentary series. (Hulu)
“And then I called mom,” Chad said.
“We talked for two hours about removing lust. It’s a little more complicated and difficult than I thought,” he said, adding he was working as a lifeguard at the time.
“Being at the pool has many opportunities to show God I will not lust anymore,” he continued, before listing a series of goals he wanted to accomplish within the upcoming week. “Scripture study, scripture notes, traveling to work, finishing and starting a finance book, finish a 12-hour Python coding course, and keep on cooking.”
UTAH POLICE DISCOVER ‘PANIC ROOM’ INSIDE ABUSIVE MOMMY BLOGGER ACCOMPLICE’S $5.3M DESERT HOME
Ruby Franke pleaded guilty to four of six counts of aggravated child abuse. (Sheldon Demke/St. George News/Pool)
Chad then addressed his viewers to clarify his views regarding religion and his situation at the time the entry was written.
“I want to make it very clear that not all of this is bad,” he said. “Scripture study, not bad. Cooking, obviously not bad. And talking to my brainwashed mom at the time, also not bad.
“This is just me giving my story. This isn’t me saying everything is bad.”
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In a third video posted to TikTok, Chad shared another journal entry from the following day in 2023, in which he mulled over the concept of “lust” and his job as a lifeguard at a local pool.
“Being a lifeguard, I just watch people’s choices over and over,” he wrote. “I have two opportunities to either feel compassion or lust. It is difficult to rid lust after a lifetime of feeding it.
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“But, at the pool, I have more and more chances to evidence. I will not lust. It will take more practice. And I have not spoken the lustful language or shared lustful comments. It is all immature, and I need and want to grow into a hard-working and principled man. I need to be disciplined.”
Franke earned an impressive online following in 2015 by posting videos of her children — Chad, Julie, Abby, Russell, Shari and Eve — on her family’s YouTube channel, 8 Passengers.
The Utah blogger quickly rose to fame, earning over 2 million followers on her platform.
However, the popularity of the family’s YouTube channel began to fall after Chad mentioned in a video that he had been forced to sleep on a beanbag chair for several months as punishment.
Seven years later, Franke began partnering with controversial family therapist Jodi Hildebrandt on a podcast and joint Instagram account, “Moms of Truth,” where the pair shared intense and often abusive parenting tactics.
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Hildebrandt soon became a central figure in the Franke family’s lives and eventually moved in with the family after Shari, Franke’s oldest child, left for college.
In 2023, Utah authorities arrested Franke and Hildebrandt on charges of abusing Franke’s two youngest children, a 9-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy.
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Authorities became aware of the abuse after Franke’s son fled Hildebrandt’s home and reached a neighbor, who called 911 to report the malnourished boy had duct tape on his wrists and ankles.
The pair were arrested in August 2023 and pleaded guilty to child abuse in December 2023. Both Franke and Hildebrandt were sentenced to four consecutive terms between a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 60 years in prison in February 2024.
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
Why is lonely Antarctic penguin going viral on social media?
A 19-year-old clip from a Werner Herzog documentary has resurfaced on social media.
But this time, the clip is going viral because it’s a Generation Z paradoxical symbol of motivation.
In the clip from Encounters at the End of the World (2007), a lonely penguin is seen breaking away from its colony.
While all the fellow penguins head to the ocean to feed, the individual penguin suddenly stopped and started heading in the opposite direction.
The researchers stated that he was clearly heading toward a barren, frozen Antarctic mountain. Since, at the moment, researchers were not instructed to intervene in the natural phenomenon. They simply observed him.
A biologist in the film notes the penguin could be saved, as it would simply resume its solitary journey.
Psychologists describe this behaviour through a lens of existential dread or Freud’s “death drive” (Thanatos). This narrative has been radically reframed by Gen Z online.
They define the penguin as a symbol of motivation rather than a creature giving up.
For the generation reeling from climate angst, economic insecurity, and digital exhaustion, the march of the penguin is not strictly nihilistic; rather, it is interpreted as the ultimate metaphor for self-assertive refutation of the mandatory route of ceaseless “productive” struggle.
Fox News True Crime Newsletter: Nanny love triangle murders, Luigi Mangione battle, Ohio dentist slayings
Brendan Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães look on during the double murder trial for Brendan Banfield in Fairfax County Circuit Court, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner, Pool)
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SOB SHOW: Nanny affair case turns emotional as alleged killer husband watches bodycam video
WARRANT WAR: Judge orders Altoona cop to court as Mangione hopes to have backpack search tossed
Luigi Mangione, charged with the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare, appears in State Supreme Court in Manhattan during an evidence suppression hearing in his case on Friday, December 12, 2025. (Curtis Means for Daily Mail via Pool)
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DAY OF RECKONING: Surgeon ex-husband extradited to Ohio in slaying of dentist and wife
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Michael McKee allegedly shot Monique and Spencer Tepe at their Columbus home eight years after his divorce. (Rob Misleh | Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office)
LINES DRAWN: Alexander brothers trade trophy listings for jury trial as accuser’s recent death shadows case
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FRESH FIRESTORM: Ellen Greenberg’s ex-fiancé dodges questions as feds reopen death case of teacher with 23 stab wounds
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Texas posthumously exonerates Tommy Lee Walker, executed 70 years prior for rape and murder of White woman
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Nearly 70 years after the state of Texas put him to death, Dallas County officials formally exonerated Tommy Lee Walker, a 21-year-old Black man executed two years after being wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of a White woman.
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot on Wednesday asked commissioners to sign a resolution acknowledging Walker’s innocence after finding he was coerced into a confession and convicted by an all-White jury.
The case, the oldest assigned to the Dallas County DA’s Conviction Integrity Unit, involved Walker, a 19-year-old accused of raping and murdering Venice Parker, a 31-year-old White woman, on her way home from work in 1953.
On the night of the killing, Walker was visiting his girlfriend, Mary Louise Smith, who was nine months pregnant, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI).
Tommy Lee Walker during a trial in which he was convicted of killing a woman in 1954. (Dallas Public Library)
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Though witnesses confirmed he was with Smith, he was prosecuted for the murder, which happened 3 miles across town, FOX 4 Dallas reported.
Walker’s son was born the day after the killing on Oct. 1.
Multiple witnesses testified Parker was unable to speak after the attack due to a gash in her neck. However, one police officer claimed she described her attacker as a Black man, according to the DPI.
Tommy Lee Walker was exonerated after his execution after being convicted of killing a woman in 1954. (Dallas Public Library)
During a review of the case, the district attorney’s office learned hundreds of Black men were questioned about the killing, solely based on their race.
Walker was allegedly interrogated for hours without an attorney, and authorities told him he would face the death penalty unless he confessed, according to the DPI.
Walker signed a confession but almost immediately recanted. There was no other evidence against him.
Officials also said the state allowed misleading evidence during the trial, and the prosecutor took the stand himself as a witness and told the jury Walker was guilty, according to FOX 4.
“I feel that I have been tricked out of my life,” Walker said at his sentencing hearing.
Walker was executed by an electric chair May 12, 1956, at 21 years old.
Tommy Lee Walker takes the stand during his murder trial. (Dallas Public Library)
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“In observance of the constitutional rights afforded to all citizens and in consideration of newly available scientific evidence, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office could not and would not have prosecuted Tommy Lee Walker for the rape and murder of Venice Lorraine Parker,” Creuzot wrote in a statement.
Creuzot said his office dove into the case with assistance from the Innocence Project after Walker’s son, his only living descendant, brought it to their attention.
Walker’s son, Ted Smith, 72, gave testimony at his father’s posthumous exoneration, noting his mother never recovered after the execution.
“He told my mother and she told me. He said, ‘You give me the chair that belongs to someone else. I am innocent.’ That is the last thing my mother told me,” Ted Smith told FOX 4. “This exoneration means the world to me.”
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The resolution stated the county “deems it a moral obligation to acknowledge the injustice surrounding the conviction of Tommy Lee Walker, confront history, and affirm Dallas County’s commitment to justice for all persons, whether living or deceased. … [J]ustice has no statute of limitations.”
Parker’s son, Joseph Parker, 77, also attended the hearing, hugging Smith and apologizing for the loss of his father.