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

• A Syrian archbishop said the United States’ reluctance to offer asylum to persecuted Christians is “unjust and condemnable” and appealed to the American people for help withstanding Islamic militants fighting to root out their faith.
• A veteran leader of the Muslim Brotherhood was so alarmed by the rising calls for violence from the group’s youth that he risked arrest to urge the movement to stay peaceful.
• Authorities in southeastern Zhejiang province are believed to be under a two-month deadline to remove crosses from the spires, vaults, roofs and wall arches of the 4,000 or so churches that dot the landscape of this economically thriving region.
• Pope Francis’ call Wednesday for a church of “open doors” that welcomes divorced Catholics prompted speculation over whether he was signaling support for easing the ban on Communion for couples who remarry without a church annulment.
• Israel’s security cabinet approved new measures Sunday against Israelis who attack Palestinians, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government will have “zero tolerance” for Jewish extremists.
• Orthodox Jewish tenants at LeFrak City in Queens claim they are being discriminated against because newly installed lobby doors only open with an electronic key — which they cannot use on the Sabbath, a federal lawsuit alleges.
• An appeals court has ruled against Native American inmates in Alabama fighting for the right to wear long hair in accordance with their religious beliefs.
• Fifty years after the signing of the Voting Rights Act, the president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention said black churches will be redoubling efforts to maintain access to the ballot box.
• A Kentucky clerk, sued for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, has filed her own lawsuit against the governor, claiming he trampled her religious freedom by telling all clerks that they must either issue licenses or resign.
• The Obama administration released proposed rules Wednesday (Aug. 5) designed to protect the religious freedom of people who receive social services from government-funded religious programs.
• A former Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Northwest Christian University in Eugene, Oregon, filed a discrimination suit this week after she was fired for becoming pregnant out of wedlock.