The atrocity against Shahnaz -- murdered only 200 meters from the all-girls school where she taught in Khyber tribal district -- is a stark reminder of the continuation of the threats, intimidation, shootings, arson attacks and sometimes even murder that are the Taliban's weapons of a war against girls' opportunity.

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And, as is becoming clear, the war against baby girls is not confined to China.

ECONOMIST: Gendercide

Women and girls have become primary targets in the war of attrition between the armed groups in eastern Congo.

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They're British boys and girls that we're sending to war and we should pay respect by looking after them correctly.

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The Cold War may be over but Bond girls never go out of style.

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In the face of violence and intimidation, Afghans are fighting and dying for their country, establishing local police forces, opening markets and schools, creating new opportunities for women and girls, and trying to turn the page on decades of war.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Addresses the Nation

He travelled up-country to look at this problem: the prevalence of sexual assault on children, often under the cover of war, and the fact that one in three Liberian girls now gets pregnant before the age of 18.

BBC: Liberia: Rape and sexual violence 'endemic'

And Pavarotti also raised money for children in war-torn countries by performing with fellow celebrities like the Spice Girls.

NPR: Profile: Luciano Pavarotti

Girls made up 40% of the children taken by armed groups during the war yet the vast majority remain unaccounted for, Amnesty says.

BBC: DR Congo children 'still armed'

In the album chart, greatest hits collections from Neil Diamond and Girls Aloud scored new entries at eight and nine respectively, while a new recording of Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds landed at 13.

BBC: Olly Murs scores UK chart double