Some law and religion stories from around the web this week:

• President Obama has authorized limited air strikes on ISIS and American military aircraft  dropped food and water to tens of thousands of Iraqis trapped on a mountain range.
• ISIS stormed new towns in Northern Iraq and seized a strategic dam, routing the Kurdish military force.
• Satanic Temple members petition the Supreme Court, arguing that under Hobby Lobby, they should be exempt from receiving anti-abortion materials from the state.
  • For further commentary on the legal merits of the challenge, see this item.
• Senior leaders in Iraq’s minority Yazidi community say their wives and daughters, forcibly held by Islamic militants, are being given a choice: Convert to Islam and marry jihadists — or else.
• Some in Nigeria support banning the hijab in response to female suicide bombers who detonate explosives concealed by the religious veil.
• The Treasurer of the Virginia Republican Party resigned after writing a controversial Facebook post questioning President Obama’s statements that Muslim Americans have participated in weaving “the very fabric of our nation.”
• Stung by a string of terrorist attacks by Uighurs, members of a Muslim minority who live in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region, the Chinese Communist Party has stepped up an intrusive campaign against expressions of religious identity in the group.
• A Hindu pilgrimage to a glacial lake in Muslim-majority Kashmir triggers concerns and protests. The Muslim majority denies that the lake is a Hindu holy site and cites hidden political motivations for the pilgrimage.
• Despite ideological differences, Jewish groups praise Rabbi David Saperstein’s nomination as U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.
• Indonesia Religious Affairs Ministry added the Baha’i faith to the list of officially recognized religions.
• A new study finds that the least educated members of Generation X are those most likely to leave organized religion.
• Kyrgyzstan hopes to combat the circulation of extremist ideas by adding religious studies to school and university curricula and using a new textbook (Religion in the History of World Culture) that aims to counter misinformation.
• Islamic Republic of Iran continues to deny discrimination against Baha’is in Iran as punitive economic measures against the Baha’i community continue.
• Both sides of Utah’s same-sex marriage debate want the Supreme Court to review the issue.