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A line of men in black rain boots push trash carts through the alleys of Lahore, Pakistan. They stop at an open sewer along a neighborhood street and start to pull up shoes, bricks, plates and any other trash that might block the flow of wastewater.

Standing water is a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes. And the local government in Lahore is on a focused mission: Stop the spread of dengue fever by mosquitoes.

Two years ago, an estimated 20,000 people in and around the city of Lahore contracted the deadly tropical disease. This year, the region has recorded just a few dozen cases of dengue fever, which usually involves a high fever, horrible headache, and severe bone and joint pain.

What triggered the sharp decline in dengue cases? Fortuitous weather patterns may have helped to keep the mosquito population low. But many leaders also credit a mobile phone app — and the public health campaign that uses it.

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Brazil has one of the largest black African populations in the world, second only to Nigeria. More than half of Brazilians define themselves as black or mixed-race. But these numbers have not translated into power — be it social, economic, political or religious.

Now, though, a recent religious poll has shown a sharp uptick in people self-identifying as followers of Afro-Brazilian religions like Candombl.

Followers believe in one all-powerful god who is served by lesser deities. Individual initiates have their personal guiding deity, who acts as an inspiration and protector. There is no concept of good or evil, only individual destiny.

Pai (or "Father") Nelson is the priest of the house of worship where the ceremony is taking place. He says today's ritual is one of purification. People ask for health, and the deities grant it from one of the four elements of the earth.

"Candombl was once very hidden, very isolated," he says. "Candombl wasn't accepted here. People always had a preconception about it because it was African — black people aren't accepted in society here. We do animal sacrifice. Our religion is very different than any other. People didn't understand it."

But there has been a recent push to change that. Sitting among the faithful here is Marcilio Costa, who is the commercial officer at a foreign consulate in Sao Paulo. He became an initiate a year and a half ago, and he says he's open about it.

"Among Brazilians, yes. People understand better now. ... All my friends know my religion, every single one of them," Costa says. "I don't hide from no one."

Becoming More Open

In her office at the University of Rio's Afro-Brazilian Studies Department, Ana Paula Alvez Ribeiro listens to the group Meta Meta, which uses the rhythms and language of Candombl in its music.

She explains that for some time now, the many Afro-Brazilian religions here have influenced Brazilian musicians and artists. But it's only in the past few years that adherents of Candombl have made a push to be more widely recognized in other forums.

"In the census of 2010, there was a big movement within Canmbl called, 'He who is, say that he is' — meaning those who practice Candombl should give that as their religion in the census," Alvez says.

Candombl — like its cousin Santeria practiced in Cuba — is a synchretic religion, meaning that many of the orixas are also represented by Catholic saints and it has absorbed many Catholic practices.

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In an operation that took 19 hours, the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia is now in an upright position.

The head of Italy's Civil Protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, announced that the ship had reached vertical and that the operation to rotate it was complete, according to The Associated Press.

The process to right the ship is known in nautical terms as parbuckling.

That maneuver is used all the time to right ships but this is the first time it had been used on such a huge cruise ship.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli, who's on the Italian Island of Giglio, reports local residents greeted salvage master Nick Sloane as a hero. He led the team of more than 500 divers, technicians and engineers.

While the mission is over, Reuters still has a live feed of the area where the ship is located.

The BBC had a live stream on Monday but it has ended.

The ship ran aground in January 2012 off the coast of Tuscany. Thirty-two people died. Two bodies haven't been recovered.

The operation was expected to take 10 to 12 hours but extra time was needed.

The ship, which is twice the size of the Titanic, will be stabilized and checked to make sure it can make it through the harsh winter.

In the spring, the vessel will be floated to a scrap yard.

The cruise ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, is on trial for the incident. He's charged with manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. Schettino claims the reef where the ship ran aground was not on nautical charts.

Last week, Apple introduced two new iPhones with new features, including fingerprint recognition on one model, and extra password protections. But the new technology is up against a sophisticated black market that has had years to grow and adapt to meet the world's desire for smartphones.

To call smartphone-related crime an epidemic is not an exaggeration. By one estimate, more than 4,000 phones are stolen every day in the United States.

Last year the crime rate in New York City rose after years of declines. The reason? Fifteen thousand people reported a stolen phone.

Jessica Ingle was one; her phone was stolen in a crowded bar. "I didn't even notice it," she says. "They must be experienced or something at doing it without people noticing."

Pick Up The Phone

Over the summer, I spent a day driving around Brooklyn, hitting up places that advertise on Craigslist saying, "We buy used iPhones."

I brought an iPhone 4 I borrowed from my co-worker, which she had wiped.

Over the phone, a buyer named John agreed to meet me on the street in a rundown part of town.

John spotted me right away. We shook hands, and he took me inside a beauty parlor, where women sat underneath hair dryers. They hardly looked up from their magazines as John introduced me to his business partner. This guy picked up the phone, flicked through several screens, and said, "How much do you want for it?"

I didn't sell it.

I'll just say it: It didn't seem to me like these guys were too concerned where the phone came from. They also seemed pretty confident after looking at a phone that had been wiped that they would be able to sell it on, no problem.

— Ilya Marritz, WNYC