WORLD BRIEFS

SYRIA: Emergency rule ended

Syria did away with 50 years of emergency rule Tuesday, but emboldened crowds accused President Bashar Assad of simply trying to buy time while he clings to power. Repealing the state of emergency was once the key demand of the uprising. But the movement has crossed a significant threshold, with increasing numbers now seeking nothing less than the downfall of the regime. The announcement signaling the end of emergency rule came just hours after a violent show of strength by authorities. Security forces raided a sit-in in Homs and at least one person was killed, witnesses said. In Yemen, meanwhile, security forces opened fire on protesters, killing at least three. The UN Security Council met for a briefing about Yemen, where rights groups say two months of protests have claimed 120 lives.

EGYPT: Protest death toll now 846

At least 846 Egyptians died in the nearly three-week-long popular uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, a government fact-finding mission announced Tuesday. In their report, the panel of judges described police forces shooting protesters in the head and chest with live ammunition and presented a death toll more than twice that of previous estimates. The mission held Mubarak ultimately responsible for the killing of protesters as his interior minister, Habib el-Adly, had issued the orders to open fire.

CHINA: Activists rally to save dogs

After spotting a truck packed with hundreds of whimpering dogs on a Beijing highway, a man put out a call on a microblogging site, begging fellow animal lovers to help him force the driver to release the animals. Around 200 people responded, blockading the truck for 15 hours until they finally negotiated the dogs' release for $17,000, saving them from being slaughtered and served as food. Li Wei, manager of Capital Animal Welfare Association, who participated in the rescue, said at least one dog had died in the truck. The rescue was a rare successful case of social activism in China.