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

• Several Buddhist groups hope the drafters of a new constitution for Thailand will include Buddhism as its official state religion.
• At a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, representatives pressed the State Department point man on religious liberty questioned why human rights issues were not given more attention in deals such as the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Asian trade deal.
• Indonesia’s Aceh province has enacted a strict Islamic criminal code, local government officials said late on Friday, criminalizing adultery, homosexuality, and public displays of affection outside of a legally recognized relationship.
• Hundreds of parents marched in Dublin on Sunday to call on the State to end religious discrimination against children over access to primary and secondary schools.
• Pope Francis, after failing to win bishops’ support for change in the church’s approach to divorce and homosexuality, must now consider how to respond in a way that will tamp down the culture wars that threaten to overshadow his papacy.
• The arrest of a member of India’s Sanatan Sanstha sect following the murder of a well-known atheist has prompted renewed calls from some politicians to ban the Hindu group, as concerns grow the country’s tradition of religious tolerance is being eroded.
• In India, dozens of cow protection squads or “beef vigilante” groups patrol the streets for cattle-smugglers by night and work at charitable shelters for elderly cows by day.
• The leader of a Bangladeshi environmental organization has been arrested on charges of insulting Islam following his comments on Facebook criticizing Saudi Arabia’s security arrangements during the Hajj.
• The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Pittsfield Township, Michigan, alleging it unlawfully denied a religious group the right to build an Islamic school on a vacant plot of land.
• The victory of conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party in Sunday’s election will likely advance the role of Roman Catholic values in public life and government.
• In the Netherlands last Wednesday, a Dutch appellate court held that the Church of Scientology has not carried the burden of showing that it qualifies as a tax exempt public benefit organization.
• India’s Supreme Court will examine its Muslim divorce laws and consider shedding provisions that discriminate against women.