SITREP, September 2025

The Month in Review

America

Caribbean: Erin, the first Atlantic hurricane of 2025, exploded to Category 5 mid August before weakening, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph as of Sunday. The storm's center was about 170 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico and about 270 miles east of the Grand Turk Island, moving west-northwest at 14 mph. Still a major storm, a Category 3 hurricane is defined as having maximum sustained winds between 111 and 129 mph.

USA: Are political assassinations on the rise? On September 10, 2025, Kirk was shot in the neck while speaking at an event on the Utah Valley University campus in Utah and later died at a hospital. The assassination of Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband occurred on June 14, 2025. On the same day, an assassination attempt was made against state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their home in nearby Champlin.

Mexico: Mexico sent 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the United States the 12th of August in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as American authorities ratchet up pressure on criminal networks smuggling drugs across the border. Those handed over to U.S. custody include Abigael González Valencia, a leader of “Los Cuinis”, a group closely aligned with notorious cartel Jalisco New Generation or CJNG. Other prominent figures have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and other violent drug trafficking groups.

Europe

Spain: Outside Madrid, firefighters had largely contained a blaze that broke out the 11th of August, authorities said. Elsewhere, firefighters and nearly 1,000 soldiers were battling blazes in regions including Castile and Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Andalusia and Galicia. Thousands of people evacuated homes and hotels, including holiday-goers at beaches at the southern tip of Spain.

Finland: Helsinki has not recorded a single traffic fatality in the past 12 months, city and police officials confirmed this week. The city's most recent fatal accident occurred in early July 2024 on Keinulaudantie in the city's Kontula district. According to Utriainen, more than half of Helsinki's streets now have a speed limit of 30 km/h.

France: In mid-September 2025, France saw massive nationwide protests and strikes against government austerity measures, including significant budget cuts and pension freezes. The unrest included violent clashes between protesters and police, resulting in hundreds of arrests and widespread disruption of public services. These protests challenged the new Prime Minister's government and reflected ongoing public anger over economic policies.

Asia

Gaza: At least 14 people lost their lives in Gaza City during overnight air attacks carried out by Israeli forces amid the ongoing conflict. The strikes followed a 23-month Israeli bombardment aimed at dismantling Hamas' military infrastructure that began after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack. The bombardment displaced about 90% of Gaza's population, caused a humanitarian crisis, and included a strike killing six relatives of a hospital director on the 20th of September.

Iran: Authorities in Iran ordered many government offices and public institutions in 16 of Iran's 31 provinces, including Tehran, to remain closed the 6th of August in an attempt to cut power consumption amid an extreme heat wave that has been ongoing since mid-July. The heat wave has been accompanied by drought, with the capital, Tehran, experiencing its lowest rainfall in 60 years, severely impacting the city's water resources, according to the Tehran Provincial Water and Sewage Corporation. Water scarcity has been a central issue for the city administration since at least 1969.

Nepal: In September 2025, Nepal experienced major political and social upheaval due to the 2025 Nepalese Gen Z protests. These began after the government imposed a sweeping social media ban, prompting nationwide youth-led demonstrations against corruption, repression, and government mismanagement. The protests turned violent, resulting in dozens of deaths and over a thousand injuries, with protesters storming and setting fire to the Federal Parliament building, government offices, and homes of prominent politicians.

Antarctica

Three staff members from a United States research base in Antarctica were medically evacuated to New Zealand during extreme cold and dark conditions amid the southern winter, New Zealand’s air force said Wednesday, Aug. 6. The U.S. National Science Foundation requested an emergency evacuation for three people unable to receive necessary care on the continent, including one who required urgent treatment, according to the New Zealand Defense Force. Despite high-risk travel conditions, the flight landed successfully and all three received treatment.

Africa

South Africa: In a move to protect endangered rhinos, South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand has launched an ambitious campaign to combat poaching by injecting radioactive isotopes into rhino horns. The idea is simple: if smugglers try to transport the horn, radiation detectors at airports and borders will pick up the signal and alert authorities. On the 31st of July, the team injected five rhinos with the isotopes, marking the formal beginning of what they hope will be a large-scale rollout across the country’s rhino population.

Kenya: In June and July Kenya saw violent anti-government protests that left 65 dead, according to a police watchdog. But thanks to football, public anger against Ruto's administration seems to be fizzing out. Kenya is co-hosting the African Nations Championship (CHAN), with its national team winning both on and off the pitch, a stark contrast to their historically dismal performance, while Ruto coattails on their success at every turn.

DRC: The incursion that occurred on August 17, in the east of the DRC, more precisely in the town of Oicha, took place in the Mbimbi district. Civilians caught in their homes were shot and killed and other bodies were found charred in a fire in their homes during the attack, according to local civil society. Last week, at least 47 people were massacred by ADF in Lubero territory, according to a new report from local authorities, despite joint operations between the FARDC and Ugandan forces in the area.

Cooper Color Code for Situational Awareness

The Cooper Color Code, developed by Marine and firearms expert Jeff Cooper in the 1970s, offers a practical framework for travelers to gauge and manage alertness in everyday environments. It defines five states:

• White - Unaware and unprepared: distracted and not monitoring surroundings; acceptable only in secure spaces (e.g., at home with doors/windows locked) due to vulnerability to surprise threats.
• Yellow - Relaxed awareness: calm, alert baseline while out in public (e.g., walking, shopping), enabling early detection and options to respond; sustainable all day without mental or physical strain and recommended as the minimum state outside secure spaces.
• Orange - Specific alert: focused attention on a particular anomaly or suspicious cue; begin planning responses; workable for extended periods but more physically and mentally taxing.
• Red - Action: confirmed threat with a clear plan; execute the chosen response and call for help if needed; cannot be maintained long without significant stress load.
• Black - Overwhelmed: stress/panic-induced shutdown with impaired response; mitigated by stress management and regular training to maintain composure under pressure.

The model is not a strict ladder. Situations can shift rapidly and it is appropriate to skip levels (for example, Yellow straight to Red). For travelers, the core takeaway is to live in Yellow outside secure spaces, especially during transit, crowd movement, and in unfamiliar areas, so potential problems are noticed early and addressed calmly before they escalate.

Community Q and A

Who knows us knows that we are passionate divers. I especially love sharks and while we are traveling the world, we go diving to see them all. A question I always get is: Are you not afraid of sharks?

Sharks are powerful wild animals, but for most ocean-goers the risk they pose is very low: only a small number of unprovoked bites occur worldwide each year, and fatalities are rarer still, with most incidents linked to a few larger species such as great white, tiger, and bull sharks; many bites result from mistaken identity or exploratory “sample bites,” after which the shark disengages, and overall encounters causing injury are uncommon compared with the vast number of people who enter the sea; practical ways to minimize already small risk include avoiding the water at dawn, dusk, or night when visibility is poor, staying in groups, steering clear of areas with schooling baitfish or seals and obvious feeding activity, skipping shiny jewelry or high-contrast patterns that can draw attention, following local advisories and lifeguard guidance, and never feeding or harassing sharks; treated with respect and common-sense precautions, the ocean can be enjoyed safely while recognizing that most of the 500-plus shark species pose little to no threat to humans.

At the beach, the biggest risks are rip currents, powerful waves and shorebreak, swimming outside lifeguarded areas, heat and sun exposure, lightning and storms, poor water quality, cold water, marine stings, collisions with craft or structures, alcohol impairment, and inadequate supervision for weak swimmers or children, far more common hazards than sharks.

But if you are wondering what are America's most dangerous beaches in terms of shark attacks and weather, they are all in Florida.

Have a question? Reply to this email, and we might feature it in next month's Q&A.

From the Team

A double episode of The Safety Huddle with Sandra, a movement analyst who also trained in close protection. No. 23 is in English, on reading movement patterns.

No. 24 is in German, on protecting families rather than individuals, which changes almost every assumption a detail starts from.

The podcast is now on Apple Podcasts as well as YouTube and Spotify.