An Italian museum on Tuesday began burning its collection of contemporary artworks in a singular protest against harsh budget cuts that have left many cultural institutions out of pocket.

US President Barack Obama and his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos agreed Sunday to deepen their security cooperation in the Western Hemisphere and West Africa.

Insecurity created by organized crime in Mexico forced the closure of more than 160,000 companies in 2011 alone, according to the country's employers confederation Coparmex.

A Mexican drug kingpin was jailed for 25 years and fined $100 million in a US court Monday, after pleading guilty to federal charges of racketeering and money-laundering.

Thai police have arrested a wanted Italian mafia boss after he flew to Bangkok airport, Italian media said Saturday.

Microsoft said that cyber crime "command" servers in two US states were seized in an ongoing campaign to sever online crooks from infected computers used as virtual henchmen.

Microsoft on Monday said that cyber crime "command" servers in two US states were seized in an ongoing campaign to sever online crooks from infected computers used as virtual henchmen.

Activists with hacker skills were behind more than half the data stolen in cyber attacks last year, according to findings released on Thursday by Verizon Communications.

Twelve Mexican police officers were ambushed and killed near a remote southern town where locals earlier found 10 human heads, prosecutors said Monday.

Nineteen people have been arrested in nine US states for trafficking online in counterfeit credit cards and stolen personal information, the Justice Department announced Friday.

The girlfriend of a feared Boston mobster accused in multiple murders pleaded guilty Wednesday to helping him stay on the run for 16 years.

A criminal syndicate smuggling black-market handguns into Sydney from Germany was smashed Tuesday with three people arrested, police said.

US Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday pledged $107 million more in aid to Central America under a security initiative to tackle organized crime amid soaring drug violence in the region.

FBI director Robert Mueller warned a gathering of Internet security specialists that the threat of cyber attacks rivals terrorism as a national security concern.

The US military and Guyana's Defense Force (GDF) on Thursday began a nine-day joint security exercise codenamed 'Fused Response 2012" to help combat organized crime and illicit trafficking.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano defended Washington's drug war strategy on Monday despite calls by some Latin American leaders to consider decriminalizing narcotics.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday moved to block seven international organized crime leaders from the country's financial markets, including a Japanese yakuza godfather and key members of a gang operating in four continents.

The United States announced Thursday moves to lock global organized crime out of the financial system, putting sanctions on the Russia-linked Brothers Circle and Japan's Yamaguchi-gumi.

Togo's president on Tuesday led African calls at the UN Security Council for greater action to counter crime syndicates and terrorism in West Africa which he said threatens governments.

Afghan businessman Seros Alaaf paid a $300,000 ransom to free his uncle from the clutches of the mafia who once stalked Herat. Now he takes no chances, with five bodyguards at his side.