U.S. forces sank a floating refueling vessel on Monday that officials said was being used by an Ecuadorian organized crime network.

The vessel, which supported “at-sea drug trafficking operations” in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, was interdicted by personnel from Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTFWH), according to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).

“JTF-WHEM continues to conduct precise and professional operations to dismantle the logistical networks fueling narco-trafficking in the Western Hemisphere,” SOUTHCOM said in a post on X.

SOUTHCOM said the refueling vessel was linked to the Los Choneros narco-terrorist organization.

Those who were on board were taken off the vessel and are expected to be turned over to authorities in Ecuador.

Once the boat was cleared, US forces sank it.

JTFWH was activated by SOUTHCOM in August to counter threats, strengthen regional security, and respond to crises in the Western Hemisphere.

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The Trump administration has prioritized targeting suspected drug-smuggling vessels bound for the United States.

Last week, the cartel was designated by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization. Its members have attacked and threatened public officials and their families, security personnel, judges, prosecutors, and journalists in Ecuador, the agency said.

“Their ultimate goal is to control drug trafficking routes through Ecuador by terrorizing and inflicting brutal violence on the Ecuadorian people,” said State Department deputy spokesperson Thomas Pigott.

In July, US and Ecuadorian authorities cooperated to extradite Los Choneros leader Fito Macias, who was the first Ecuadorian citizen extradited from Ecuador to face justice in the US.

The Texas Board of Education has granted final approval to revisions in the state’s high school social studies standards, a contentious decision expected to shape how students learn about Islam, Christianity and related historical events.

The updated curriculum, spanning U.S. history, government and world geography, was adopted after extensive public testimony. Dozens of speakers addressed the board, with most voicing opposition to the final language.

Among the approved changes is wording that identifies “radical Islam” as the motivation behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, rather than limiting the discussion to the specific terrorist organizations responsible.

The standards also direct students to examine early Islam through references to Prophet Muhammad’s “brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes,” the “normalization of slavery” and the capture of women as “harem slaves.”

Several Democratic State Board of Education members pushed back against the wording, but the Republican-majority board still approved that section and the other changes on Friday.

Muslim groups and students, as well as multiple curriculum experts, also spoke out against the new changes.

“I feel attacked, as if my religion doesn’t belong,” Habiiba Quresh, a 15-year-old Muslim student, told the board, according to The Texas Tribune. “I shouldn’t have to defend my religion in the middle of history class because of one sentence someone on this board wrote.”

At least three of the board-appointed curriculum experts also warned against the new language.

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Andrea Hutchison, a social studies curriculum coordinator for Prosper ISD, argued the material did not “hold up to close historical scrutiny,” according to the outlet. Robert Koons, a philosophy professor at UT-Austin, said most nonreligious scholars find the source of the claims “not very reliable,” adding that he would warn against including material that is “not based on well-established secular sources.”

The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the board’s decision to “single out and denigrate Islam, minimize the brutal realities of slavery and segregation, and entirely erase Palestinian history is an affront to our system of education and the First Amendment.”

“No credible scholar of history validates the bigoted caricatures of Islam this curriculum teaches,” CAIR Texas and CAIR Action Texas said in a joint statement. “Even the board’s own appointed experts warned it doesn’t hold up to historical scrutiny, yet the board voted against removing it. Texas students of every background deserve an education that tells the truth about their history and their neighbors’ history, not propaganda that teaches them to see each other as threats or erases them from the story altogether.”

State Board of Education Chair Aaron Kinsey pushed back on criticism of the revised standards, saying opponents had “sensationalize[d] all these topics and [made] them seem more divisive than they actually are.” He added that board members “worked through, democratically, how to make those choices on behalf of our constituents” and said he believed they “did an exceptional job overall.

But Republican school board member Julie Pickren boasted about the material’s final approval, according to Fox 7.

“This social studies law that got us here, I’ve been working on for over 10 years with the House and the Senate, the Texas House and Texas Senate … and so this is such a huge accomplishment; this vote kind of bookends 12 years of life’s work,” Pickren said.

The approved curriculum is expected to be phased into classrooms during the 2030-31 school year.

LOS ANGELES — Erik and Lyle Menendez have been granted an earlier parole suitability hearing, with the proceeding tentatively set for March 2027.

The Menendez brothers were originally ordered to spend the rest of their lives in prison without the chance of parole after being convicted in the 1989 killings of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.

For years, members of the Menendez family have advocated for the brothers to be resentenced and eventually released. That effort led to a major shift in May 2025, when Erik and Lyle Menendez were resentenced to 50 years to life, opening the door for parole eligibility.

Their bid for release hit a setback in August 2025, when the parole board denied them parole, citing prison rule violations that included illegal cellphones. Erik Menendez was also reportedly connected at one point to a prison gang. Although relatives have described the brothers as model inmates, the board found that their prison conduct made them unsuitable for parole at that time.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office released the following statement:

“Our position remains the same whether it’s 2027, 2028 or any year after. If the Menendez brothers stop committing violations of the prison’s rules and fully accept responsibility for, and own up to, all the lies they’ve told for over 30 years, including their biggest lie, the self-defense defense, then they may be amenable to being released on parole.”

The brothers were previously eligible to apply for a hearing with the California Board of Parole in August 2028.

“For almost 40 years, Erik and Lyle have worked to take responsibility for their actions, confront and heal from the unimaginable abuse and trauma they endured, grow as individuals, and dedicate themselves to serving others,” the family of Erik and Lyle Menendez told ABC News-owned station KABC in a statement.

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The family said the brothers have established a hospice program and have launched a beautification project during their more than three decades in prison.

“Erik and Lyle were once sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. We will always be profoundly grateful that they have been resentenced and that our family can now imagine a future in which they are once again part of our everyday lives,” the family’s statement continued.

During trial in 1993, prosecutors alleged that the brothers — who went on a spending spree after the slayings — killed their wealthy parents for financial gain.

The defense argued the siblings acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father.

The juries for Erik and Lyle Menendez were deadlocked, and mistrials were declared for both cases, but a second trial in 1996 — during which the judge barred much of the sex abuse evidence — led to convictions of first-degree murder and two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.

ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.

Ingrid Boulting became a fashion-world fixture in the 1960s and 1970s, appearing on the cover of Vogue before moving into film and playing Robert De Niro’s love interest in the Hollywood drama The Last Tycoon.

Now 79, the former actress and model made a rare public appearance in Ojai, California, where she was spotted enjoying a quiet walk with her dogs.

Boulting, who trained in ballet when she was younger, looked effortlessly elegant in a violet top paired with dark green trousers. She completed the look with a bright, patterned scarf and wore her silver hair neatly pinned back.

The British-born beauty, who comes from a well-known creative family, appeared in The Last Tycoon, the final film directed by celebrated filmmaker Elia Kazan.

After years in front of the camera, Boulting has embraced a more private life, focusing on her work as an artist and yoga instructor.

So can you guess who she is?

It’s Ingrid Boulting!

Boulting starred as Kathleen Moore in the 1976 film The Last Tycoon alongside De Niro. 

It was the last film directed by the famed Kazan.

The story was based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s last, unfinished novel. 

The romantic Hollywood drama follows Monroe Stahr (De Niro), an ambitious 1930s Hollywood studio executive who is loosely based on legendary producer Irving Thalberg. 

Boulting starred as the young woman who became Stahr’s romantic interest. 

Boulting also appeared on four British Vogue covers including three by David Bailey and one by Norman Parkinson. 

During her recent walk, she was pictured stopping to stretch and showed off some of her impressive yoga moves. 

Her laid-back outfit was finalized with a pair of grey sneakers and a colorful scarf.

The star carried a large black tote bag on her shoulder.

She sparkled up her look with a pendant necklace. 

Her mother was actress turned fashion model Enid Munnik. Boulting’s stepfather was British filmmaker Roy Boulting.

Boulting was raised by her grandparents from the age of two to nine after her mother moved to London in 1949 to pursue a career as one of the most successful fashion models of the 1950s and early 1960s. 

Boulting moved to England at nine and trained as a ballet dancer at the Royal Ballet School in Richmond. 

She landed her first cover at age 15, gracing the front page of Queen magazine as a student ballerina. 

She began her acting career at the Oxford Playhouse, landing minor roles in British films before later turning to fashion modeling. 

She went on to star in The Witches (1966), The Jokers (1967), Inadmissible Evidence (1968), and The Last Roman (1968).

She later landed her biggest role in The Last Tycoon. 

Boulting also went on to star in the 2006 film Conversations with God.

Nowadays she is busy teaching yoga in Ojai, and is the founder and owner of Sacred Space Studio. 

A confrontation that reportedly started inside a Jimmy John’s in St. Louis escalated into gunfire Saturday evening, leaving a 14-year-old girl wounded and a restaurant worker criminally charged after authorities say he fired at a vehicle the teen was riding in.

The girl was hit in the leg shortly before 6 p.m. near Vandeventer and Laclede avenues, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Police said in a statement posted on X that she was transported to a nearby hospital and was in stable condition.

Court records name the accused shooter as 27-year-old Adam White, who investigators say was employed at the Jimmy John’s location where the dispute initially unfolded.

White now faces multiple felony charges, including first-degree assault, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and first-degree child endangerment, along with additional offenses.

Police said the incident grew out of a dispute involving the teen’s mother and “several individuals” connected to the Jimmy John’s restaurant in the 3800 block of Laclede Avenue.

“A preliminary investigation indicates the shooting followed a disagreement involving the girl’s mother and several individuals associated with the Jimmy John’s in the 3800 block of Laclede. The mother’s connection to the restaurant remains under investigation,” the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said.

According to investigators, the girl’s mother’s boyfriend later arrived at the restaurant with the 14-year-old. The confrontation escalated, and gunfire erupted.

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Court documents allege that White got into a verbal argument with a former employee, which continued into the parking lot. 

Police say the former employee, her boyfriend and her juvenile daughter then got into a vehicle.

As the vehicle drove away, White allegedly fired multiple rounds into its rear, striking the teenage girl in the left leg.

“As they drove off, the defendant fired multiple rounds into the rear of the vehicle. Victim 3, the juvenile, was struck by one of the bullets in her left leg,” court documents state.

Investigators said they found ballistic damage to the trunk of the vehicle.

According to court documents, White initially fled the scene but later returned and was taken into custody. After being advised of his Miranda rights, White allegedly admitted firing at the vehicle and told detectives he had left the gun at his home.

A judge ordered White held without bond pending trial.

Jimmy John’s and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Russia’s increasingly stealthy next-generation nuclear-powered submarines are testing NATO’s northern flank, as the alliance moves to reinforce the Arctic and North Atlantic routes that guard access to North America, a former NATO commander cautioned. He pointed to President Vladimir Putin’s growing arsenal of “new super weapons and super capabilities” now taking shape across the region.

The concern extends beyond submarines, he said. Russia’s Kola Peninsula has become one of Moscow’s most heavily militarized zones, with expanded airfields, ports and other military infrastructure. The buildup is aimed at tightening Russia’s grip on the Northern Sea Route and strengthening its reach toward the waters around the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom Gap, widely known as the GIUK Gap.

NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum underscored the threat on Sept. 2, describing Russia’s growing submarine activity in the area as “serious.”

“Something is moving beneath the surface,” NATO Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum wrote in a post on X.

“Russia is expanding and modernising its submarine force, with the Kola Peninsula remaining a key hub for the Northern Fleet. Among them: new-generation nuclear-powered SSGNs, bringing serious long-range strike and sea-denial capabilities into the High North,” NATO Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum said.

“They may be invisible beneath the waves. But not for us. We see them, we watch the developments closely and yes, we take these developments seriously,” the Joint Force Command added.

The combination of quieter nuclear submarines and Russia’s growing military infrastructure across its Arctic coastline means NATO is confronting an increasingly difficult undersea surveillance challenge, retired Gen. Philip Breedlove told News Media.

“Submarines are one of the toughest threats that we have to deal with — they’re very hard to find and track,” he explained.

“Submarines can get well within striking distance of any nation in the Atlantic. From the United States to our NATO allies, submarines can get close enough to the shore to fire submarine-launched ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, which are a major problem,” the former supreme allied commander Europe for NATO and commander of U.S. European Command added. 

Today, countries such as Russia and China are developing similar fleets, posing a growing threat to any nation with a significant coastline, Breedlove said.

“We’ve taken very capable measures in the past to understand what Russia is doing in those waters, and we will now be adapting to the possibility of a quieter submarine,” he said. “Any increase in stealthiness or noise suppression by a Russian submarine is, of course, a problem for NATO.”

Russia’s Yasen-M-class nuclear-powered submarines include advanced acoustic-quieting and sonar technology, according to Military Watch and Russian news agency, TASS.

According to the U.S. Naval Institute, the 13,800-ton submarines can carry 1,000-mile-range cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles and hypersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, with Russian officials stating they remain “invisible.”

“Yasen-M-class nuclear-powered submarines are capable of accomplishing all of the Navy’s objectives in any part of the World Ocean while remaining invisible,” Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Fleet Adm. Alexander Moiseyev said in a June 17 statement, according to TASS, after Russia’s Sevmash shipyard started building the ninth Yasen-M submarine.

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“As is often the case when Putin is in trouble — and he’s in trouble now in his war in Ukraine — one of the ways he diverts attention is to start announcing new super weapons and super capabilities that NATO and the West can’t contend with,” Breedlove warned.

“Putin is creating a stir about a new class of submarines that he wants to deploy from what we call the bastion waters in the Far North,” he said before stating that NATO would “have to adapt our measures and our ability to see and track them.”

“We’ve taken excellent measures in the past.” 

Breedlove characterized the GIUK Gap as a critical gateway for Russian naval forces moving from their northern bases toward the Atlantic.

“All the Russian ships have to come out through the GIUK Gap to make it into the Atlantic,” Breedlove said, warning that the seven other Arctic nations, including the United States, are concerned about what Russia is doing.

NATO has also been strengthening its northern posture amid the renewed Russian military activity and the growing strategic importance of the Arctic.

In February 2026, the alliance launched Arctic Sentry, a multidomain military initiative led by Joint Force Command Norfolk and designed to better coordinate allied land, air and maritime activity across the Arctic and High North.

NATO further strengthened its northern flank in June with Forward Land Forces Finland, a Swedish-led multinational force designed to bolster deterrence and defense along the alliance’s northeastern flank, with Finland serving as the host nation, according to a release.

“The Arctic region has been a concern for some years now as ice in the area is receding in the north, and what that has done is created the Northern Passage that allows European trade to happen with Asia much faster,” Breedlove said, stating that for most types of ships, the trips are up to 14 days quicker.

“This is a tremendous economic opportunity, but Russia sees this as an economic opportunity in that they want to control those northern waters.

Russia has been upgrading airfields, ports and radar systems along the Arctic coast as Moscow seeks greater control over the Northern Sea Route and its commercial traffic, Breedlove said.

The recent NATO buildup however, has drawn strong pushback from Moscow, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warning Aug. 30 that increased Western military activity risks destabilizing the Arctic region.

“Such military activity in the Far North poses a direct threat to Russia’s security,” Lavrov wrote in a public essay.

“It also increases the risk of incidents that could trigger an armed confrontation with potentially disastrous consequences,” he said, according to Reuters.