Gay marriage backers rage against Australian Christians

AUSTRALIA: Christians are facing a truly astonishing amount of discrimination and abuse with a balloting survey underway through Nov. 7 on a measure to legalize same-sex marriage. It’s gotten so ugly that Lyle Shelton, head of the Coalition for Marriage and WORLD’s 2016 Daniel of the Year, is being called “right” by his foes on some aspects of the debate. Volunteers for Shelton’s group, meanwhile, have been physically assaulted, and an LGBT activist was was detained for attempting to blow himself up outside Shelton’s headquarters last December told a court he meant to destroy the entire building.

SYRIA: The fight to expel ISIS from its caliphate capital has left Raqqa fit for no one. “Calling it a ruin doesn’t do it justice,” said one journalist on a walk through Friday.

ISIS is not done yet, moving on Friday to retake Deir Ezzor. In embattled Idlib, on-the-ground monitors say Russian airstrikes have killed at least 150 civilians. In Damascus, the capital, rebels and ISIS-like militant groups have killed at least 52 members of pro-government forces.

BURMA: In one month’s time, Myanmar, also known as Burma, troops have forced more than 480,000 Rohingya Muslims from their homes.

TURKEY: Jailed American pastor Andrew Brunson is being held as a political hostage, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed. Erdogan called on the United States to exchange Brunson for Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish exile Erdogan accuses of masterminding last year’s failed coup attempt.

SOUTH AFRICA: Architects have transformed a Cape Town grain silo complex into a sky-lighted museum for contemporary African art.

I’M READING: The Book of Emma Reyes, translated by Daniel Alarcón.

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