Mexico disbands an entire municipal police force in Veracruz as part of a campaign to eliminate corruption and improve security in the face of drug-related violence.

A jury awards a huge but symbolic $150bn (£96bn) to the family of a boy who died of skin cancer 12 years after being set on fire.

Colombia jails 15 soldiers for the 2006 murders of five young footballers, whom they tried to pass off as armed militants killed in a firefight.

A Spanish court orders the arrest of film director Pablo Lapiedra after ruling he should be extradited to Colombia on child porn charges.

A group of Arab League observers is set to arrive in Syria under a regional plan to end the state violence which has killed some 5,000 people.

An Australian teenager who stabbed an Indian student to death in an attack that sparked a diplomatic row with India is jailed for 13 years.

At least 24 people have been killed by police in DR Congo since the results of disputed elections were announced, a US-based rights group says.

Two women in the US Navy become the first gay couple to share the traditional "first kiss" on returning to shore, after a ban on gays in the military ended.