Ireland moves closer to legalizing some abortions, Bionic Eyes for patients with a degenerative eye disease are coming on the market in America, and good dogs make short work of a rapist.  These are YOUR World News Briefs:

Legislation to loosen abortion restrictions in Ireland passed overwhelmingly through its first pass in Parliament.  The bill now moves to committee.  The majority in Ireland wants to end the emerald isle’s severely restrictive anti-abortion laws, which many blame for the death of Savita Halappanavar; She’s the Indian-born dentist who died of sepsis because doctors refused to perform a life-saving procedure even though her uterus had ruptured and she miscarried.  The new legislation would allow abortion to save the life of the mother, even if it is because the mother is threatening suicide rather than go through with a pregnancy.

A Chinese court is ordering ordered a woman to visit her mother once every two months.  It’s the first case ruling since Monday when China’s new “Elderly Rights Law” came into effect.  The court in Wuxi says the daughter and her husband must also provide financial help for the 77-year old woman.

Chinese police are cracking down on weapons in the west.  They’re offering rewards for knives and for information on “terrorists” after an angry, knife-wielding mob attacked police in Xinjiang.  Ethnic violence between transplanted Han Chinese from the East and local Uighur Muslims has boiled over in recent weeks.  A state run newspaper has claimed that 100 Uighurs have traveled to Syria to gain battlefield experience fighting alongside the rebels trying to depose President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian troops shelled a rebel-held suburb of Damascus, killing 11 people including women and children.  Government troops were also moving on the rebel-held central city of Homs, where UN Secretary general Ban Ki Moon says 2,500 civilians are still trapped.  He called on both sides to put a sock in it, at least long enough to for the civilians to get out.

Iraqi insurgents unleashed another day of bloodshed.  56 people were killed in bombing attacks in predominantly Shi’a areas.  Seven insurgents are among the dead.  More than 2,000 people have been killed since April and the violence is starting to rival the 2008 sectarian struggle in Iraq.

Look out, Steve Austin:  We’re a major step closer to bionic eyes.  The Second Sight company has selected 12 US markets where it will offer the “Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System”, which restores light perception to patients with severe to profound retinitis pigmentosa; an inherited, degenerative eye disease that causes severe vision impairment and often blindness.  The Argus II involves special glasses with a camera that connects to a microchip implanted in the eyeball.

Stray dogs are credited with rescuing a girl from a rapist.  This happened about a week ago in Argentina.  The 12-year old girl was walking alone and on her way to her Aunt's house in a barrio outside the wine country town of Salta, when an attacker grabbed her and dragged her into some bushes.  The magnificent five stray dogs heard her cries and went right after the bad guy.  Neighbors heard the ruckus and came out, the girl ran to them, and the cops were summoned to the scene.  The bad guy was still on the loose, but so were the canine heroes.. so he might want to think twice before trying that again.