India: 834 attacks on Christians in 2024, 100 more than last year

Today's news: Polish government promises Netanyahu immunity from ICC arrest warrant for 80th anniversary Auschwitz liberation celebrations; South Korea debates age to be considered elderly; In China 47.6% of cars sold in 2024 are electric or hybrid; Zaparova decrees a tax maxi-amnesty in Kyrgyzstan.

INDIA

Indian civil society groups have once again sounded the alarm about the increase in violence against Christians in India. According to new data released by the United Christian Forum (UCF), there were 834 such incidents in 2024, an increase of 100 incidents from 734 in 2023. ‘The alarming frequency of attacks results in more than two Christians being targeted every day in India simply for practising their faith,’ the UCF said in a press release today.

SRI LANKA

On 9 January, a Sri Lankan court jailed an influential Buddhist monk for the second time for insulting Islam and fomenting religious hatred in the nation. Galagodaatte Gnanasara was sentenced Thursday to nine months for his anti-Muslim comments, which date back to 2016. He had already been jailed on a similar charge last year for denigrating Sri Lanka's Muslim minority, which accounts for just over 10 per cent of its 22 million population.

ISRAEL

The Polish government adopted a resolution promising that senior Israeli officials - including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - would be allowed to travel freely to Poland for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp later this month. Netanyahu is the recipient of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

CHINA

From January to December 2024, the retail sales volume of electric and hybrid vehicles reached 10.899 million units in China, up 40.7 per cent year-on-year. This was reported by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) according to which new energy vehicles (NEVs) accounted for almost half (47.6%) of all retail sales last year.

SOUTH KOREA

South Korea's Ministry of Health will soon launch a public debate onraising the statistical age limit for the elderly population, along with adjusting welfare policies, including discounts on public transport. In the country, the share of over-fifties has exceeded 20 per cent of the population and the Korean Senior Citizens Association has already proposed gradually raising the retirement age to 75. The government had already proposed raising the pension contribution rate to 13% from the current 9%, differentiating the pace of the increase by age group.

RUSSIA

According to the Russian Federal Service of Bailiffs Fssp, more than 80 thousand migrants were expelled from the country in Russia in 2024, almost twice as many as in the previous year. Twenty-three thousand expulsions took place in Moscow and its province alone, applying the many restrictive regulations passed after the Krokus City Hall bombing on 22 March, in which 145 people lost their lives. There are currently more than 6 million people of other nationalities in Russia.

KYRGYZSTAN

The President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Žaparov, has announced a large ‘tax amnesty’, whereby all business debts will be forgiven, the tax for electronic transfers will be revised, farmers will be exempt from land taxes for the time being, the tax on cars will be eliminated, and no outstanding taxes will have to be paid on them.

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