NPR News

Good morning!

Our early headlines:

-- As Crackdown Continues, Syria's Assad Calls For Constitutional Referendum

-- Malachy, The Pekingese, Becomes Top Dog In The Land

As government forces continued to shell the cities of Homs and Hama, Syrian President Bashar Assad announced his country would hold a referendum on a new constitution on Feb. 26.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the state's official news outlet, the new constitution would end the Baath party's monopoly on power. SANA added:

He took on competition that was much bigger and much faster, but in the end the judges decided Malachy, a Pekingese with a long mop of fur framing his funny little pushed-in face, was the top dog in the land and gave him top honors at the Westminster Kennel Club show in New York.

The New York Times describes his win thus:

A fire that swept through a prison in Honduras overnight has resulted in death of at least 272 inmates.

The AP reports that number was given by Lucy Marder, chief of forensic medicine for the prosecutors' office, during a press conference.