According to a regional piracy monitoring organisation, incidents of piracy and robbery quadrupled in the Malacca and Singaporean straits in the first six months of 2025, compared to the same period of 2024. The reason for the surge is unclear, but it may relate to disrupted Red Sea trade routes resulting in increased traffic through the region, or the use of new tactics that allow perpetrators to bypass ship security. In the majority of cases, threat actors operating in small groups targeted bulk carriers, tankers, and container ships at night, stealing engine parts, property belonging to the ship and crew, and other unsecured items. Threat actors are often affiliated with low-level organised criminal groups based in the remote Indonesian islands of Riau and Cula. 90 percent of incidents over this period were non-violent, with crew left unharmed; however, perpetrators are increasingly arming themselves with firearms, knives and blunt objects.
In August, authorities warned citizens that incidents of virtual kidnapping have increased in the country in recent months. The statement came after a string of incidents in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Dak Lak Province. In most cases, threat actors posing as police or government officials would target students online, particularly those living or studying far from home, coercing them to go into hiding or stage their own kidnapping. Perpetrators would then demand a ransom from the victim’s family, with recent demands ranging from USD 7,500 to USD 22,500. While most incidents are resolved with successful police intervention, some victims have lost thousands of USD to the virtual kidnappers.
On 28 July, Houthi rebels announced they had rescued 10 crew members from the Greek-owned cargo ship that the group had attacked and sank in the Red Sea earlier in the month. The crew remains in Houthi custody. In addition, a month later on 31 August, Houthi militants raided several UN offices in Sana'a and Hodeidah, detaining at least 11 UN personnel. The arrests came days after an Israeli airstrike killed several senior government officials in Sana'a. The Houthis have long used detention as a means of political leverage, and such incidents are likely to continue or ramp up amid escalating security tensions with Israel. Houthis regularly target international organisations, aid workers, and, in recent years, commercial shipping crews.
On 1 July, suspected Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) militants kidnapped three Indian nationals from a cement factory in Djikoyé, in Mali’s western Kayes Region. The hostages remain in captivity, and it is unclear whether any ransom demands have been made. While JNIM has an established presence across Mali, it has traditionally been less active in Kayes compared to regions such as Mopti and Ségou. However, activity in the western region has increased in recent months, and given the region’s comparatively higher level of commercial activity, particularly mining, there is potential for further kidnappings of foreign nationals in the coming months.
In July and August, several kidnap-for-ransom cases were reported across South Africa. On 20 August, assailants abducted a 62-year-old woman in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape Province, the latest in a spate of incidents in the city. The kidnappers issued unspecified ransom demands, and the victim was released in early September. In a separate case, an Indian businessman kidnapped in late July from his business premises in Benoni, Gauteng, was later rescued in Alexandra following a shootout between his captors and police. Such incidents are increasing across South Africa, particularly in cities such as Gqeberha, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, driven by the expanding reach of kidnapping syndicates and the limited capacity of police to counter them.
In September, several people were injured in separate active assailant incidents. On 10 September, a former student stabbed and injured a student and a teacher at a horticultural college in Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes. Earlier in the month, on 2 September, a knife-wielding assailant injured five people after being evicted from a hotel in Marseille, attacking three at the hotel and two more in the surrounding streets before police intervened and shot him. The motives in both incidents remain unclear. While mass shootings are rare in France due to strict gun laws, sporadic stabbings continue to occur in both public and private settings such as schools, colleges, and hotels.
On 10 September, an armed assailant opened fire at a high school in Evergreen, Colorado, at 12h30 local time, injuring two students. The assailant later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police identified the shooter as a student at the school. The motive remains unclear, and the investigation is ongoing. The US has the highest number of school shootings globally, with one non-profit organisation for gun control documenting at least 33 deaths and 106 injuries nationally in 2025.
On 29 August, authorities reported that kidnapped missionary Gena Heraty, the director of a local orphanage in the Kenscoff area of Port-au-Prince, had been released. Suspected gang members had broken into the orphanage on 3 August, kidnapping Heraty and eight others. Gang members control over 90 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and have continued to expand their reach in recent years, including to areas previously considered safer, like Kenscoff. Kidnappings have remained prevalent, with around 350 people kidnapped in the first half of 2025.
On 8 August, authorities arrested members of the Cártel del Golfo (Gulf Cartel), allegedly working alongside the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), in connection with the 4 August assassination of top federal prosecutor Ernesto Cuitláhuac Vázquez Reyna in Tamaulipas, Mexico State. Vázquez Reyna had been investigating oil theft networks connected to CJNG members. The attack augurs both groups’ willingness to target political or high-profile figures perceived to interfere with their illicit activities in brazen attacks.