Canadian sniper sets new world military record

IRAQ: A Canadian sniper in Iraq has shattered the world record for the longest confirmed kill shot in military history—at a staggering distance of 3,540 meters, or 2.1 miles. The member of Joint Task Force 2 used a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle in killing an ISIS militant within the past month, according to the Canadian Armed Forces. The bullet reportedly took less than 10 seconds to reach its target.

SYRIA: It was always a fantasy to pretend the United States could fight ISIS without becoming part of the broader war in Syria. Once ISIS falls in Raqqa, the battlefield will be tricky.

My report in WORLD Magazine covers what U.S. support of Syria’s YPG militia may mean for the region’s Christians.

TURKEY continues to cleanse largely Kurdish areas bordering Syria. Christians are being forced out too. A recent investigation (in Turkish) shows Turkey’s treasury department confiscating dozens of churches, monasteries, and graveyards belonging chiefly to the Syrian Orthodox Church. The Mar Gabriel Monastery Foundation, representing one of the oldest monasteries in the world, has brought suit challenging the land grabs.

SAUDI ARABIA: U.S. President Donald Trump appointed to a White House advisory commission a self-described “old-fashioned lobbyist” who’s registered with the Justice Department to lobby for Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry (to the tune of $430,000).

JORDAN: Intrepid hiker and WORLD reader Daniel Lilley is in the midst of a 1,200-mile Appalachian Trail trek to raise money for Amman’s Marka Church, after reading about its work with Iraqi and Syrian refugees. He’s donating all the proceeds to Marka.

SUDAN: Three years ago, Miriam Ibrahim was freed in Sudan. Now living in the United States, she travels this week to the European Parliament to speak out on what living under Shariah law is like.

Aayan Hirsi Ali, another victim of Islamic law, takes on U.S. lawmakers: “Just as we are invisible to the mullahs at the mosque, we were invisible to the Democratic women in the Senate.”

BRITAIN: A surprisingly high percentage of young people between the ages of 11 and 18 claim to be Christ followers, and visiting a physical church building is one of the things they say got them there.

BOOKS: Perhaps C.S. Lewis’ greatest fiction was convincing young readers they could like Turkish delight—a fantasy made more understandable in sugar-rationed, wartime England.

To have Globe Trot delivered to your email inbox, email Mindy at mbelz@wng.org.