Today's edition of quick hits:
* A bold, worthwhile protest by women in Afghanistan:
* Syria: "An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander has been killed inside Syria by rebels battling Iran's close ally President Bashar Assad, Iranian officials and a rebel leader said on Thursday."
* Climate crisis: "The federal government is facing significant financial risks related to extreme weather events, and states and cities can no longer depend on it for extra help after such events occur, the Republican chairman of House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Friday."
* Korean peninsula: "South Korea flexed its military muscle on Thursday by staging large military drills and disclosing a new cruise missile capable of hitting any target in North Korea, as the North became increasingly candid about its intentions to build intercontinental ballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads."
* More good economic news: "Foreclosure filings in January plunged to their lowest level since April 2007."
* What her fans were waiting for: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) opened her first hearing on the Senate Banking Committee with a bang, pressuring regulators to take financial institutions found to have violated the law to trial."
* Rough start: "President Obama's proposed commission on electoral reform aimed at improving voting efficiency and reducing long wait times for voters is producing heated criticism from advocates on both the right and the left."
* Not exactly a ratings bonanza: "President Obama's Tuesday State of the Union address had the fewest viewers of any since 2000 and failed to boost his approval rating."
* A step closer to equality in Illinois: "On a 34-21 vote, the Illinois Senate passed a marriage equality bill at a little after 3 p.m. Thursday."
* The loss of a brilliant scholar: "Ronald Dworkin, a legal philosopher and public intellectual of bracingly liberal views who insisted that morality is the touchstone of constitutional interpretation, died Thursday in London. He was 81."
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.