Below are the latest articles on Kidnap, Ransom & Extortion events from around the globe.

• Cicero Beauty Shop Owner Kidnapped for Ransom -
  A beauty salon owner in Berwyn, IL held for ransom. From mysuburbanlife.com – 7/19/2010
• Nigeria: Abduction of Journalists - Kidnappers Insist on N250 Million -
  Gunmen who kidnapped four journalists near Aba, Abia State, have insisted on a ransom on N250 million (approximately $1.66 million USD) before releasing their captives. From AllAfrica.com - 7/13/2010 
• Held for Ransom -
  Cases of abduction money are on the rise as people secure their homes, forcing more criminals to seek money elsewhere. One of them is kidnapping. From Pasco - 6/17/2010
• Personal cellphone data ends up for sale at Mexico flea market - 
  Government launched nationwide campaign to register cellphones to combat rampant telephone extortion rackets and kidnapping attempts. From Los Angeles Times – 5/12/2010
  
• Maryland-based insurer covers house of worship kidnappings, ransoms -
  Victor O. Schinnerer & Co., based in Chevy Chase, Md., has a new kidnap and ransom program for houses of worship. Schinnerer’s Houses of Worship program is available to churches and religious organizations of any size or denomination.
• Kenya: Carjackings, Kidnaps Rise -
  Police sources in Nairobi, Kenya say they were getting between three and five kidnapping reports every week with 30 people kidnapped this year. From allAfrica.com – 4/7/2010
• For Foreign Service workers in Mexico, Juarez slayings stress the increasing danger in drug war - The uptick in violence and increased threat to American diplomats and citizens in Mexico can be attributed largely on two factors, experts said: Mexican President Felipe Calderón's decision to crack down on drug traffickers in 2006, which stirred up resistance by the cartels, and the insatiable appetite for drugs in the U.S. From DallasNews.com - 3/21/2010
• Mexico: Kidnapping–A Growing Risk for Central American Migrants -
  From September 2008 to February 2009, 9,758 migrants were kidnapped in Mexico, according to a special report by the governmental National Human Rights Commission (CNDH). From Australia.to - 3/19/2010
• Alleged Colorado Shooter Has History of Violence -
  A 32-year-old convicted felon opened fire outside Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton, Colorado Tuesday afternoon. From FoxNews.com - 2/24/2010
• Three killed in shooting at Alabama campus -
  Three faculty members were killed, three other people were wounded and a woman was in custody Friday following a shooting during a biology department meeting on the campus of the University of Alabama-Huntsville, a university official said. From Los Angeles Times - 2/13/2010 
• A policy to pay ransom -
  Insurance is available for certain high-risk travelers who fear they may be kidnapped. But it doesn't come cheap..."Any country or region that has political or economic instability, there's going to be an increased likelihood of criminal activity," said Clark, the program manager of K&R for Schinnerer & Co. From Los Angeles Times - 1/17/2010
• The World's Most Dangerous Countries -
  To determine the world's most dangerous countries we combined rankings provided by iJet and Control Risks, giving equal weight to each set of data. From Forbes - 1/14/2010

• Construction Company Confirms Kidnapping in Algeria - Armed insurgents in Algeria have kidnapped an Algerian engineer working for Canadian construction firm SNC-Lavalin, the company said on Wednesday. From Reuters - 1/7/2010 
• Record Number of Somali Pirate Attacks in 2009 -
  Somali pirates carried out a record number of attacks and hijackings in 2009, despite the deployment of international warships to thwart them and a United Nations Security Council resolution to bring the fight against them to shore. From New York Times - 12/29/2009
• Venezuela's Plague of Kidnappings -
  There are as many as five abductions each day in the capital alone — and an estimated 4 out of 10 kidnapping cases across the country are never reported because locals fear their corrupt police forces themselves are often involved in the crimes. - From Time - 12/29/2009
• Bus Drivers Fall Victim to Brutal Guatemalan Gangs - Bus driver Mynor Gonzalez ignored the threats: “200 quetzales a week, or we’ll kill you.” – From The Associated Press – 12/21/2009
• Sabotaging The System -
  The November 8, 2009 edition of 60 minutes included a story on the impact cyber-threats have on our infrastructure, including an extortion in May against the Virginia Health Professions database that included a $10 million ransom demand. The Washington Post also reported on this in their article, Hackers Break Into Virginia Health Professions Database, Demand Ransom.
• French ICRC aid worker kidnapped in Darfur -
  Armed men kidnapped a French aid worker from the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, the charity said. - From Reuters - 10/22/2009
• Global pirate attacks on the increase -
  The first nine months of this year has seen more pirate attacks than all of last year. And more than half of those attacks were carried out by suspected Somali pirates, an international maritime watchdog group said Wednesday. - From CNN - 10/22/2009
• Extortion attempt against Express Scripts confirmed -
  The pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts was notified by the FBI that an alleged extortion revealed more than a year ago is, indeed, a legitimate threat. – From www.amednews.com – 10/12/2009
• Aid workers released in Somalia -
  Three foreign aid workers kidnapped in Kenya by Somali gunmen three months ago have been freed, their employer says. The three employees of the French agency Action Against Hunger (ACF) were being flown to Nairobi from Somalia... - From BBC - 10/3/2009
• When Hackers Turn to Blackmail -
  This is an abbreviated version of an article from the October 1, 2009 Harvard Business Review, including a case study of a malicious computer attack and extortion of a hospital and recommendations from expert commentators. - From Harvard Business Review - 10/1/2009
• San Diego Kidnap-Ransom Cases on Rise -
  Experts said a crime that was once reserved for third-world countries is now happening in the U.S.-including San Diego. - From 10News.com - 8/14/2009
• Al-Qaeda plots to kidnap civilian workers in Afghanistan - A call from Mustafa Hamid, also known as Abu Walid al Masri, has just emerged but was made in July...Western sources in Kabul said the order would be seen as a message to criminal kidnap gangs to "let the games begin" - From the Telegraph - 9/16/2009
• Four oil hostages freed in Cameroon -
  Four hostages who work for a service company in the oil industry, Tidewater, have been freed off southern Cameroon's Bakassi peninsula after about three months in captivity, sources said on Tuesday - From the Mail & Guardian - 7/21/2009