Some interesting law and religion news stories from around the web this week:
- A Manhattan federal jury found the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization civilly liable for six terror attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2004 that killed and injured Americans, but it will likely be very difficult for the plaintiffs to collect the $655.5 million awarded.
- The Islamic State militant known as “Jihadi John,” who has been seen in videos of hostages’ beheadings, including the videos showing the killings of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, is believed to be Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man from west London.
- During oral argument in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Supreme Court justices seem to favor the Muslim job applicant who was denied a job because she wore a head scarf, which did not conform to the company’s “look policy.”
- Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar are awaiting a response to their petition to allow them to reintegrate after being separated along faith lines. The government segregated the groups after interreligious violence destroyed roughly 800 homes in 2013.
- The Islamic State abducted more than 250 Christians in northeastern Syria . The abductions have caused thousands of residents to flee and become refugees in nearby cities.
- Arkansas barred cities and counties from expanding anti-discrimination ordinances beyond what state law already prohibits. Arkansas’ anti-discrimination protections don’t include sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Pope Francis named St. Gregory of Narek, a tenth century priest, monk, mystic, and poet of the Armenian Church, a Doctor of the Church.
- CLR Forum explains why Pope Francis’s decision is unprecedented, here.
- An American missionary was kidnapped from a school in central Nigeria. A ransom has been demanded for her return.
- A federal judge ordered the city of Warren, Michigan to allow an atheist to set up a so-called “reason station” at city hall, where a “prayer station” has been allowed since 2009.
- The court order, found here, also orders the city to pay the plaintiff’s fees.
- Austria’s Parliament passed a “Law on Islam” that bans foreign funding for Islamic organizations and requires any group claiming to represent Austrian Muslims to use a standardized German translation of the Quran.
- A federal magistrate judge in California dismissed a free exercise claim by a defendant in a traffic case who did not wish to stand while being sworn in as a witness.
