Some interesting law & religion stories from around the web this week:
- On Thursday evening, the GOP-led Arizona house gave final approval to a bill that allows business owners asserting their religious beliefs to refuse service to gays, drawing backlash from Democrats who called the bill “state-sanctioned discrimination”
- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for the rapid deployment of at least 3,000 additional troops and police to the Central African Republic to prevent further religious killings that are partitioning the country into Muslim and Christian areas
- Amidst ongoing peace negotiations, a broad-based group of Israelis plans to lobby the Knesset to declare the country, for the first time, a Jewish state by law
- Islamist rebels in eastern Syria have ordered women to don the Islamic veil, warning that punishment would befall women who fail to comply
- A North Carolina high school will allow the formation of a club for nonreligious students after a four-month standoff
- A Pentecostal couple who believes in faith healing has been sentenced to 3 1/2 to 7 years in prison for the death of their 8-month old son
- An Australian missionary who carried Christian pamphlets was detained in North Korea on Thursday
- Church of England priests will not be allowed to bless gay and lesbian weddings, according to new guidelines issued by the church
- Cardinals gather in Rome to discuss Catholic teachings on marriage, divorce, and other family issues
- A group of politicians and academics have called for the release of a British man sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy
- Denmark’s ban on kosher and halal slaughter comes into effect as Minister says “animal rights come before religion”
- For CLR Forum’s coverage on this issue, see here