To Fly or Not to Fly? | Christians Under Attack in India

India's Hindu nationalists, who in recent years have left Christians alone, are now targeting them. The good news? The fight for justice — whether to secure elephants "human rights" or help Orthodox Jewish women with divorces — is getting bolder. And forgotten ancient grains (pictured) might help us stave off climate change-induced famines. Read OZY's The New + The Next email for these stories, and more. www.ozy.com From the editor | March 09 India's Hindu nationalists, who in recent years have left Christians alone, are now targeting them. The good news? The fight for justice — whether to secure elephants "human rights" or help Orthodox Jewish women with divorces — is getting bolder. And forgotten ancient grains (pictured) might help us stave off climate change-induced famines. Read OZY's The New + The Next email for these stories, and more. Charu Kasturi, Senior Editor [The New + the Next]( [To Him, Animals Are (Legal) Persons Too]( Animals are property. Kevin Schneider takes the question of whether they should be to court. Kevin Schneider serves as an elephant’s lawyer. Her name is Happy, and in 2006 she made history as the first elephant to recognize herself in a mirror. Despite her name, she lives in isolation at the Bronx Zoo, away from the zoo’s other elephants, who injured and killed Happy’s companion pachyderm in 2002. Schneider — along with the organization where he serves as executive director, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) — wants her moved to a sanctuary. The case was dismissed by the Bronx Supreme Court on Feb. 20, with the judge saying Happy is “not a person” but admitting that the NhRP’s arguments were persuasive and that she “should be treated with respect and dignity, and … may be entitled to liberty.” It’s all about small steps. [READ NOW]( [The New + the Next]( [Why Churches Are Now Under Attack in Modi’s India]( Under Prime Minister Modi, India's Hindu right has largely avoided targeting Christians for fear of losing Western support. Now, ahead of a key political test, this is changing. It was a calm Friday evening in December, when about a dozen Christian villagers sat to pray in a house in Bilkua village in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. Then a group of Hindu men armed with wooden sticks barged into the house, disrupted the service and later demanded pastor Ramu Hala leave. He hasn’t returned. The country’s Hindu right has for decades viewed Christianity and Islam as alien religions. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure since 2014 has seen the Hindu right largely target Muslims, with the government keen to avoid alienating the West. Now, as the ruling BJP prepares for a political test pivotal to expanding its base, mounting attacks on Christians are evidence that the coyness of the past six years is being replaced with aggression. [READ NOW]( [Advert]( [Advert]( [The New + the Next]( [Can Ancient Grains Save the Planet From Climate-Induced Starvation?]( Across the world, scientists are trying to revive millennia-old grains that are climate resistant and nutritious, to prepare for a future of food scarcity. [The New + the Next]( [The Next Big Sporting Powerhouse: Toronto]( Five years ago, the city was ranked the continent's second-most miserable for sports fans. Not anymore. [The New + the Next]( [The Lawyer Helping Free Orthodox Jewish Women — Through Divorce]( Keshet Starr is battling the 'agunah' crisis by working within a patriarchal system. [The New + the Next]( [Can Portugal Steal the Next Space Race?]( As it battles to recover from the last economic crisis, this southwest European nation is turning to the space industry for salvation. [The New + the Next]( [The Scientist Tackling the Deep-Sea Food Chain]( Sonya Dyhrman is studying how organisms at the very base of the food chain will adapt to a changing ocean climate. One More Thing [Should You Fly? A Dilemma of Viral Proportions]( [READ NOW]( OZY Media Mountain View, California 94040 This email was sent to {EMAIL} [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Read Online](