Police say Afghan man who wanted a son killed his wife for giving birth to girl

An Afghan woman has been strangled to death, apparently by her husband, who was upset that she gave birth to a second daughter rather than the son he had hoped for, police said Monday.

It was the latest in a series of grisly examples of subjugation of women that have made headlines in Afghanistan in the past few months -- including a 15-year-old tortured and forced into prostitution by in-laws and a female rape victim who was imprisoned for adultery.

The episodes have raised the question of what will happen to the push for women's rights in Afghanistan as the international presence here shrinks along with the military drawdown. NATO forces are scheduled to pull out by the end of 2014.

Drug companies team up in bid to end tropical diseases

Drug makers have been criticised in the past for not doing enough to fight diseases of the poor as they concentrate instead on conditions more prevalent in rich nations, such as high cholesterol.

But in the largest coordinated effort yet to fight diseases such as Guinea worm disease, leprosy and sleeping sickness, the group promised to give away 14 billion doses of medicines by the end of this decade.

They will also share expertise and drug discovery work to invent new medicines for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that as yet have no treatments.

The Aids pandemic forced the drug companies in the past decade to pay more attention to the developing world, and a new focus on the economic potential of emerging markets has given drug companies an incentive to promote their brands in developing countries.

In a project expected to affect the lives of a billion people worldwide, the drugmakers pledged more than $785 million to support NTD research and development (R&D) and strengthen drug distribution and treatment programmes.

Officials say it may take 10 months to remove wrecked Costa Concordia

The cruise ship that capsized off Italy's coast will take up to 10 months to remove, officials said, as rough seas off the Tuscan coast forced the suspension of recovery operations.

Officials called off both the start of operations to remove 500,000 gallons (1.8 million liters) of fuel and the search for people still missing Sunday after determining the Costa Concordia had moved four centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours, coupled with waves of more than one meter (three feet).

A 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina, was found Saturday. Sixteen crew and passengers remain listed as missing, with one body recovered from the ship not yet identified.

Senegalese Decry Pre-Election Violence

The Senegalese capital, Dakar, is relatively calm Sunday, after another night of protests in the city sparked by a court decision allowing President Abdoulaye Wade to stand for re-election.  Roads remain closed to stem the violence, and many Senegalese are saying enough is enough.

An atmosphere of calm reigns over Dakar today as its population recovers from two days of protests that rocked the capital.

More young people gathered Saturday night in the Medina district of Dakar to voice their disapproval of the decision by Senegal's highest court that President Abdoulaye Wade can run for re-election.

Fires were lit in the Mamelles district and the road to the airport remains shut down.

But while the military remains on high alert, many breathed a sigh of relief that the violent demonstrations that left a policeman dead and many injured on Friday night were not repeated.

British casino firm defends links to Megaupload

A spokesman for Bwin.Party, a firm created by the merger in March of Bwin Interactive and PartyGaming, said it had terminated its advertising contract with Megaupload.com "as soon as we heard" about its closure by court order last week.

"We had no knowledge about any of the alleged activities undertaken by Megaupload," said John Shepherd, Bwin.Party's director of communications.

The firm, based in Gibraltar and listed on the London Stock Exchange, is one of the largest online gambling operators.

The United States Department of Justice has described Megaupload.com as a "Mega Conspiracy" that made more than $175m in "illegal profits". It has charged seven men with an array of offences including criminal copyright infringement and money laundering.

The operation was founded by the former criminal hacker and insider trader Kim Dotcom, who was arrested in a dramatic raid on his New Zealand mansion and remains in custody awaiting extradition to the United States.

In the 72-page indictment against Megaupload.com, American authorities said PartyGaming had paid more than $3m to promote its poker website.