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• The memo from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to top defense leaders, if implemented, would reverse an earlier plan that would have allowed the same-sex partners of military members to sign a declaration form in order to receive limited benefits, such as access to military stores and some health and welfare programs.
• The recent Supreme Court decision extending federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples eliminates the need for such a plan, Hagel said in the draft.
• "As the Supreme Court's ruling has made it possible for same-sex couples to marry and be afforded all benefits available to any military spouse and family, I have determined, consistent with the unanimous advice of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the spousal and family benefits far outweigh the benefits that could be extended under a declaration system," Hagel wrote.
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• DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Mortar rounds hit an upscale district of Damascus on Thursday as Syrian state TV broadcast images of President Bashar Assad attending prayers in the same area of the capital to mark the start of a Muslim holiday.
• It was unclear if the shelling of Malki district was connected to Assad's visit to the neighborhood's Anas bin Malik Mosque. Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said the president and his convoy were not affected by the mortar attacks, telling state TV that Assad drove his own car to the mosque.
• It was the Syrian leader's third public appearance in over a week as his regime tries to capitalize on recent gains on the battlefield against rebels fighting to oust him from power.
• On Wednesday, Syrian government troops ambushed a large group of rebels trudging through a desert road northeast of Damascus, killing more than 60 fighters.
• In the state TV broadcast, Assad, dressed in a suit, was seen praying alongside Syria's grand mufti at the start of Eid al-Fitr, the three-day holiday that ends the holy month of Ramadan. The TV said Assad attended prayers in the Anas bin Malik Mosque in Damascus early on Thursday. The Eid prayers are typically an hour or two after sunrise. In previous years, Assad has been seen attending them early in the morning.
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