Today's edition of quick hits:
* More on this tomorrow: "The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld same-sex marriage bans Thursday in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, becoming the first federal appeals court in the nation to rule against marriage equality since the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was struck down last year."
* Syria: "American fighter jets carried out a series of airstrikes in northwestern Syria on Thursday that sought to kill leaders of a Qaeda-linked militant cell that is plotting attacks on the West, American officials said."
* Iran: "U.S. President Barack Obama secretly wrote Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the middle of last month and described a shared interest in fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, according to people briefed on the correspondence. The letter appeared aimed both at buttressing the campaign against Islamic State and nudging Iran's religious leader closer to a nuclear deal."
* Speaking of Iran: "Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has been detained in Iran since July without trial, could be released in less than a month, according to a senior Iranian official."
* More on this on tonight's show: "Two different alumni of SEAL Team Six, the secretive group of highly trained warriors that killed Osama bin Laden three years ago, have been profiting off their role in the terror leader's death since leaving the military."
* I guess we won't have to impose a travel ban on Texas: "No additional Ebola cases have been diagnosed in Texas in connection with a small outbreak earlier this fall, state health officials announced Thursday. The Texas Department of State Health Services touted the good news as the last person being monitored approached the end of the Ebola virus's 21-day incubation period."
* Mexico City: "It's been 40 days since 43 college students vanished and on Wednesday there was anger in the streets here. Tens of thousands of demonstrators brought parts of Mexico City to a standstill as protesters demanded more action from federal authorities to find the students who have been missing since late September."
* This guy had real successes in implementing Kynect: "President Barack Obama has chosen Kentucky's lieutenant governor as his liaison to state and local governments, bringing an official experienced in successfully implementing his health care law to the White House as the second open enrollment period is set to kick off."
* An honor over a century in the making: "Weak and bleeding, a Union Army officer who stood fast commanding his artillery battery and was killed as thousands of Confederate forces advanced on his troops received an honor Thursday from President Barack Obama that was more than 150 years in the making: the Medal of Honor. It is the nation's highest military honor for battlefield valor."
* Not a good sign: "Sharyl Attkisson, the former CBS News correspondent who claims that her computers were hacked by the federal government, is refusing to address inconsistencies in her explanation about the hacking brought forth by the liberal watchdog group Media Matters."
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.