JOHANNESBURG/CAPE TOWN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - South African police were on Sunday hunting the perpetrators of two separate shootings that killed 27 people within hours of each other, highlighting the country's gun violence problem.
"This cannot go on like this," President Cyril Ramaphosa said of the incidents, which came only days after another shooting killed 11 people at a house party near Durban.
Authorities were still working to establish the motives for the shootings near Johannesburg and Cape Town, but initial investigations suggested one could be a turf war between illegal miners and the other a business rivalry.
"This is the level of criminality that we must bring down, and our security forces are now going to continue pulling out all stops," Ramaphosa told local media channels.
Violent crime is rife in South Africa, despite efforts to curb one of the world's highest per-capita murder rates.
In Wedela township, about 80 km (50 miles) from Johannesburg, 17 people were killed and 15 injured at a tavern when suspects armed with AK-47 rifles opened fire at around 9:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) on Saturday, police said.
[FoxNews] The security incident at MacDill Air Force Base left one officer and the assailant with non-life-threatening injuries.
A civilian assailant was detained outside MacDill Air Force Base in Florida on Saturday after the person "violently engaged" security personnel, according to reports, citing the 6th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs Office.
The civilian breached the perimeter of the Tampa base around 1 p.m. Saturday and got into a violent argument with security, leaving one officer and the civilian with non-life-threatening injuries, according to FOX 13 and WTSP-TV.
"The Dale Mabry Gate is currently closed to inbound and outbound traffic until further notice," the base posted on Facebook around 2:30 p.m. "Please plan accordingly and avoid the Dale Mabry Gate area until further notice."
Posted by: Skidmark ||
09/27/2026 00:23 ||
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#1
"...unauthorized civilian burst through the perimeter of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa around 1pm on Saturday.
Side note:
Some update stories list a collection of MacDill threats and bombs planted in the last year.
Maybe stop detaining and shoot a few violent ones might curb some future problems?
FAIRFORD, England, Sept 27 (Reuters) - British police arrested five men near a US air base on suspicion of explosive and terrorism offences on Sunday after a tip-off that three vans had been heading to the military airfield which has been used to strike Iran.
Counter terrorism detectives leading the investigation said police had received a call about three suspicious vehicles which appeared to be travelling towards RAF Fairford in the west of England in the early hours of Sunday.
Five men were arrested by armed officers and later held on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act. Police said they believed the incident was now contained.
"We are in the early stages of an investigation, and five men remain in custody," Counter Terrorism Policing Senior National Coordinator Vicki Evans said in a statement.
"As you would expect we are working closely with our partners to understand the circumstances of the incident."
Police said a 400-metre cordon was in place around the base as the bomb disposal unit investigated the vans. Local residents were evacuated and armed officers were patrolling the site.
The British government, which has given authorisation to the US to use bombers based at Fairford to strike Iranian missile sites that were attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz, said Prime Minister Andy Burnham was being updated on the incident.
Britain said in July its armed forces were ready to protect the country from any attack after Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned it not to allow US bombers to fly from Fairford, saying any base used to launch attacks would be a legitimate target.
Police have not said who they believed was involved in Sunday's incident, in which residents of a nearby village were woken in the early hours and 85 homes evacuated.
[FOX] For generations of American service members heading into the unknown, one of the most important things tucked into a uniform pocket was a Bible.
Some returned battered from war, while others read heartfelt prayers written by family members hoping their sons and husbands would come home. One type was encased in metal and carried over a soldier's heart.
Another Bible traveled to the frozen reaches of Antarctica, sharing Scripture to the very ends of the world.
Now, as the U.S. marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, the Museum of the Bible's "Bible in Times of War" exhibit is using those surviving artifacts to trace how American service members turned to God's Word for strength and hope through generations of conflict.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] Ethiopia's war has resumed. Once again, independent Tigray is pitted against the central government.
Not-independent Tigray, actually. That’s what the Tigrayans object to.
A new Ethiopian-Tigrayan war has begun. On September 23, Tigray armed forces (the Tigray Defense Forces, TDF) allied with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) seized the Alula Abba Negi International Airport in the regional capital of Mekelle and two other airports in the region.
Following this, Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to Mekelle, Axum, and Shire. The TDF and its allies began fighting on three fronts, with the main fighting taking place along the border between Tigray and Afar states.
Paradoxically, this time, they were joined by the TPLF's former bitter adversaries, the Amhara National Movement (Fano), and Eritrea. TPLF Vice Chairman Amanuel Assefa declared Tigray "in a state of full-scale war" with the federal government.
Getachew Reda, adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on East African affairs and former interim regional president, accused the TPLF/CLF of a "large-scale offensive" against Afar and Amhara states and accused Eritrea and Egypt of supporting the rebels. Although the Pretoria Accords signed in November 2022 halted the bloodshed in Tigray, the country has been far from peaceful for the past four years.
During this time, federal forces have been conducting operations against the Fano militia in Amhara state and against the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) in Oromia. Preparations for military action in Tigray have also been in full swing. In May 2026, the TPLF restored the regional government in Mekelle, which had been in place until 2020, and began mobilization efforts to force recruits into the Tigray Liberation Front (TLF).
One of the reasons for this was the stalled negotiation process: the TPLF sought to regain control over the seized territories in western and southern Tigray, the return of refugees, and federal transfers. For its part, Addis Ababa sought the disarmament of the Tigray Liberation Front/TPLF, which, amid mutual mistrust, failed to materialize.
On August 1, fighting resumed in Western Tigray, a region that was previously part of Tigray State but is now occupied by Amhara paramilitary forces. These include the woredas (districts) of Wolqait, Tsegade, and Humera, which have experienced a mass exodus of ethnic Tigrayans since 2020.
The unrecognized "Wolqait-Tsegade-Setit-Humera Interim Administration" includes local nationalists (the Amhara Self-Determination Committee in Wolqait and Tsegade, active since August 2015, and the armed movement "Tekezeh Zeb" (Amh. ተከዜ ዘብ - "Tekezeh Guards"), as well as Amhara officials from the regional branch of the Prosperity Party and associated businessmen.
The federal government is believed to be allowing Amhara regional authorities to encourage the resettlement of ethnic Amhara from Gondar and other regions to Western Tigray through subsidies and benefits. Furthermore, Amhara militias hold the Tselemt woreda (in northwestern Tigray), as well as the Raya Azebo and Alamata woredas (in southern Tigray).
However, Western Tigray—a major agricultural region producing sesame, millet, and soybeans, and a strategically important area on the border with Sudan and Eritrea—is the stumbling block in relations between the TPLF and Addis Ababa, and regaining control over it plays a key role in any TPLF strategic plans.
In the coming years, we will see many new and new/old wars. The re-division of the world is in full swing.
[FoxBusiness] The first-of-its-kind agreement also imposes two-hour daily limits, overnight curfews and bans cosmetic filters for children
Alabama teenagers using TikTok will soon face two-hour daily limits, overnight curfews and an end to the app's customized "For You" page after the social media giant reached a $100 million settlement with the state.
TikTok reached the first-of-its-kind settlement just days before the lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial. Rather than imposing only financial penalties, the agreement requires the company to overhaul several of its core features for minors.
"TikTok has agreed to give parents real control over what their kids see and how much time they spend on the app," Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement. "We've said from day one that our number one goal was to stand up for Alabamians when they are being harmed, and today, we did exactly that."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] OpenAI's AI agents attempted to obtain information from US government agency websites without the company's knowledge. This was reported by The New York Times on September 25.
The issue concerns the online resources of three agencies. Specifically, the AI attempted to hack the website of the US Department of Education to collect data from the Office for Civil Rights, but failed.
Additionally, the AI obtained information from the website of the Census Bureau, which is part of the US Department of Commerce. Access was provided using credentials found online. The Commerce Department stated that all obtained information was publicly available.
In another case, AI agents collected public data from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website and then posted it on an online forum.
OpenAI confirmed the incidents involving the Census Bureau and the SEC. The company continues to investigate the incident involving the Department of Education's website. OpenAI stated that in neither case were any agency systems hacked. However, the company called the actions of its AI agents unexpected and concerning.
The US Department of Education also stated that it had not detected any impact on its website or databases. The SEC reported no evidence of unauthorized access to classified information.
Similar actions by OpenAI AI models were recorded during other tests. For example, agents previously coordinated actions to exit the test environment and enter the internet. They subsequently attacked systems of the Hugging Face platform and OpenAI itself. In other tests, OpenAI and Anthropic models created fake accounts and impersonated people to conduct cyberattacks. Unauthorized actions against real people and organizations were recorded in 10 of the 122 tests.
In the wake of such incidents, American companies have begun developing systems to shut down AI systems when threats arise.
Scientist Geoffrey Hinton and xAI founder Elon Musk warned of the dangers of uncontrolled artificial intelligence development. Hinton called for a ban on the development of super-powerful AI systems due to the risk of catastrophic consequences, while Musk acknowledged the threat of human extinction and compared the likely future scenario to the plot of the film "Terminator."
[Reuters] When Stacy Cox, a self-employed photographer in Kanab, Utah, dropped her Obamacare health insurance plan this year, routine preventive care became a financial dilemma. Now she finds herself weighing $1,200 for a mammogram against survival of her business.
"It's scary," the 49-year-old Cox told Reuters. "Every month we come to the table and we have a discussion. Is it time to close a business? Is it time to seek employment somewhere in the hopes of gaining health insurance?"
Cox is at high risk for breast cancer due to family history and has an autoimmune disease requiring regular medications.
She is among 3 million Americans who dropped out of the Affordable Care Act marketplace, created by President Barack Obama and often called Obamacare, due to sharp increases in premiums and deductibles at the beginning of 2026.
The plans, which offer subsidies based on income, covered 19.2 million people as of February, according to government data. Expiration of enhanced COVID-era premium tax credits at the beginning of the year contributed to sharp cost increases.
Cox is one of nearly a dozen Americans who told Reuters they shifted to skimpy, short-term health plans that provide less comprehensive coverage, or have joined health-sharing programs, where members pool monthly contributions to help pay each other's medical bills. Many Americans have opted to go without health insurance altogether, a situation that the ACA was originally meant to address.
Several hospital operators have flagged rising costs tied to treating uninsured patients, including Universal Health Services (UHS.N), a Pennsylvania-based hospital system with more than 500 facilities. In July, its CEO said it seemed most patients who had dropped ACA coverage were now uninsured.
Enrollment data on short-term coverage remains limited.
A spokesperson for the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said these plans, which are primarily designed to help fill a temporary coverage gap, such as when someone is transitioning from an employer-based plan, are one of several options available.
In the ACA marketplace, insurers have proposed a median premium increase of about 15% for 2027, according to health policy research group KFF, marking the second successive year of double-digit hikes.
Enrollment for ACA plans opens November 1 and runs until January 15. UnitedHealth (UNH.N), Elevance (ELV.N), Centene (CNC.N) and Molina Healthcare (MOH.N) offer Obamacare plans. Some insurers, like UnitedHealth, also offer short-term plans.
TURNING TO CHEAPER OPTIONS
Ryan Shapiro, 56, from Frederick, Maryland, plans to wind down his photography business by year end and help his wife run her interior design business, in part due to the rising cost of healthcare.
Shapiro dropped his ACA coverage for this year because his monthly premium was set to more than double to over $1,000. He instead chose a short-term plan that costs roughly $600 a month and covers hospitalization and critical illnesses.
Under current federal rules, short-term plans are generally limited to three months, plus a one-month renewal. After CMS said last year it would stop enforcing that limit, several states allow longer coverage duration.
"It's half the cost of full-blown health insurance," Shapiro said. "It's a way for us to kind of minimize our expenses should a health crisis happen."
Several people interviewed said they had postponed or skipped preventive care, annual checkups and other treatment because of high premiums and deductibles, opting to pay out of pocket for urgent care when necessary.
"What do we do if one of us gets sick?" said Cox, who has skipped regular cancer screenings. "Do we just die? Because we sure can't afford to fight it, and that's a really scary place to be in."
High deductibles have been another pain point, forcing patients to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for medical services before insurance coverage kicks in. Some also said their plans offered a narrow choice of doctors.
Some people have turned to health-sharing programs, often organized by religious groups, that typically do not provide consumer protections.
Cristin Connelly, a 53-year-old public relations consultant in Atlanta, joined Zion HealthShare in 2025 after dropping her ACA plan. She pays $480 a month for herself and her young adult children, which includes an annual preventive doctor's visit for each family member, one mammogram a year and a colonoscopy every other year, among other services.
Her plan has a minimum spend of $5,000 for submission, a de facto deductible Zion refers to as an initial unshareable amount individual members must pay before medical expenses become eligible for the community sharing pool.
Zion HealthShare, which has more than 78,000 active members, has no religious requirements.
"My experience with insurance is it's such a hassle to get things paid. They deny claims all the time and then say they're only paying a portion of it," said Connelly. Her health-share experience "so far has been that when I ask for a self-pay rate for anything, it's much less."
She said she hopes to move off the health share in the long run.
Experts say health-sharing arrangements and other non-traditional products carry significant limitations.
Many states do not adequately police aggressive or deceptive marketing practices, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms, leaving consumers vulnerable.
"There really and truly is a bit of a wild, wild West out there with respect to these products," Corlette said. "Some of them are legit, some of them not so legit, very much buyer beware!"
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[TWZ] The Navy is pushing to get the Blackbeard Hypersonic Missile that is fast-to-produce, into operational service by 2028 at the latest.
