Here are some interesting news stories involving law and religion from this past week:
- Critics have suggested that Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy law is promoting extremism.
- Subtle changes to Bangladeshi textbooks have led intellectuals to suggest that Muslim clerics are influencing the school curriculum.
- This writer suggests that European attacks on the wearing of face coverings by Muslim women are not new, and have occurred throughout history.
- The Grand Mosque of Paris, which represents hundreds of Muslim associations, has said it will not participate in a new Muslim foundation sponsored by the French state.
- The Vatican sent representatives to meet with Christians in Aleppo soon after the long siege of the city ended in December 2016.
- The U.S. House of Representatives voted to make permanent the longstanding prohibition on federal funding for abortions (the Hyde amendment), which currently must be renewed each year.
- President Donald Trump has reportedly narrowed his list of potential Supreme Court candidates to William Pryor (11th Circuit Court of Appeals), Neil Gorsuch (10th Circuit) and Thomas Hardiman (3rd Circuit).