The incident is understood to have taken place near St Patrick's Cathedral in Wyndham St.

Police received a report of a person with a gunshot injury at 7.30 am on Thursday. Read more

Father-of-six Nissar Hussain from Bradford was left needing surgery after the group broke his kneecap and hand on Wednesday.

A pickaxe handle was used by one of the assailants.

Mr Hussain, 49, is recovering in hospital after the attacks.

This is the latest in a long line of incidents following his family's conversion to Christianity over a decade ago.

Mr Hussain has said that he and his family are virtual prisoners in their home as a consequence.

He said he had "three cars written off" and "regular drive-by bricks thrown through the window. Kids couldn't play in the back garden for five years".

Police, he said, told him: "Stop trying to be crusader and move out of your area."

He told the Bradford Argus: "We are under the cosh and classed as blasphemers."

"The Muslim community are largely decent people but because of the taboo of converting to Christianity we are classed by them as scum and second-class citizens."

He said most of the Muslim community has turned a blind eye to his family's suffering.

Before the attacks, Mr Hussain said that despite his persecution he had received little help from police or churches.

Bradford police are treating the latest attack as a religious hate crime.

Mr Hussain, his wife Kubra and their six children converted to Anglicanism over a decade ago and have suffered a campaign of intimidation ever since.

The harassment and intimidation intensified after 2008 when they appeared in a television documentary about the mistreatment of Muslim converts.

Mr Hussain, who had to give up his job as a nurse because of the stress of the campaign, has said the family will have to move to a white English area to escape the intimidation.

Wilson Chowdhry from the British Pakistani Christian Association told the Catholic Herald that "apostasy crime" - committed against Muslims who convert to Christianity - needed to be more widely recognised in Britain.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• Telegraph and Argus
• Image: Catholic Herald

Fr Kevin Carter of New Jersey was charged with child endangerment and aggravated assault.

Authorities said the September 13 incident was spurred by a football rivalry, but Fr Carter maintained that it was good-natured fun.

He supports the New York Giants and the boy supports the Dallas Cowboys American football teams.

A parishioner reported the incident.

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The former Bishop of Kerry, Bishop Bill Murphy, 79, was assaulted by a drunken passenger on the Killarney-Dublin train on August 6.

According to reports, the bishop was punched while praying his office.

The man who did this reportedly complained about problems in Kerry diocese before letting fly at the bishop.

Another man intervened and warned the drunken man to stop.

The latter, who is aged in his 30s, was met by police when the train arrived in Dublin.

A spokesperson for Kerry diocese said Bishop Murphy was very shaken by the incident.

Media reports have linked the assault with perceptions of Kerry diocese's handling of the clerical sex abuse scandal.

A 2013 review found the diocese had managed abuse cases appropriately and Bishop Murphy had handled his responsibilities well.

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Fr Terrence Millard denies smacking a nine-year-old boy at St John Vianney church in Greenacre last year.

No conviction was recorded against the priest, but Fr Millard went on leave from the parish.

The appeal will be heard at Parramatta District Court on October 1.

A spokeswoman for Sydney archdiocese said it was in no way involved in Fr Millard's appeal.

"It is a private action and the archdiocese is not paying legal fees," she said.

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Fr Terrence Millard of St John Vianney and St Thomas More parish in Greenacre was found guilty in Bankstown Local Court, but no conviction was recorded against him.

The priest denied having hit eight-year-old "Peter" (not his real name), in the upper buttocks region, for perceived bad behaviour in church.

A letter from Fr Millard to the Sydney Catholic Education Office confirmed there were 42 students and a teacher in the church on September 11.

The priest's version of events stated there were several troublesome children, the teacher had been distracted and Peter had slid across the pew and "started pulling faces at people who had been to confession".

He said he merely escorted Peter to a station of the cross and ordered him to stay there.

The boy's version of events alleged Fr Millard grabbed him and positioned him in front of a station of the cross, and then the smack was delivered.

The testimony of a teacher who witnessed the incident led to the guilty verdict against Fr Millard.

Peter's mother said in the days after the incident, her son had become deeply troubled and could not sleep, fearing further punishment.

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Sydney described the incident as "extremely regrettable".

"Fr Millard is on leave and discussions are underway about his future," she said.

Fr Millard's lawyer said his client possessed an "unbelievably good reputation" and had worked "tirelessly" for the community.

"This poor bloke's life has been ruined, destroyed. He cannot be a priest anymore because he tried to chastise a child, as he was entitled to do in his own church."

Peter's parents were further upset when it was announced at Mass in Greenacre that the court case had gone the priest's way.

A parish bulletin also stated the case against Fr Millard had been dismissed.

The archdiocese spokeswoman said a correction will be published that "very clearly and factually states what happened".

Sources

• Sydney Morning Herald
• Image: The Guardian

Police are investigating the circumstances of the daylight attack on Joseph Nawl, 15, a student at Porirua's Bishop Viard College, on Wednesday. Doctors at Wellington Hospital initially feared he could be paralysed.

They suspect he has a broken neck, but it remains too swollen for them to see clearly on X-rays.

His family, originally from Myanmar, do not want him or any of their other children to return to the school, where they say they have suffered racist bullying and no longer feel safe.

Bishop Viard principal Teresa Cargo said the "unfortunate incident" was an assault, not bullying. The two boys involved had been good friends and team-mates, and both families were distressed by what had happened.

The school had a "zero-tolerance policy" towards bullying, but at no time had Joseph or his family made any suggestion of "bullying or racial overtones".

Police said they had begun an investigation because of the severity of the latest attack. They had seen CCTV footage of the incident, and any charges could depend on the hospital's assessment of Joseph's injuries.

Ms Cargo said: "We are following set procedures and are still investigating. We do not condone violence and this was a random act completely out of character for the student involved.

"We have a growing number of refugee families in our community who have chosen to send their children to Bishop Viard College, and we are recognised in the wider Wellington region as a school which acknowledges and supports this cultural diversity."

Source:

• Dominion Post
• Image: Dominion Post

Her son, 25-year-old Tarun Asthana died Monday 4 November, two days after suffering critical head injuries in an unproved attack outside a McDonald's in downtown Auckland. He on his way home after a night of clubbing with friends early on previous Saturday morning.
The family invited the Grenville David McFarland, who has been arrested for the attack, to see him in hospital.

At the Requiem Mass for Tarun, which took place last Saturday at Christ the King Catholic Church, in the Auckland, suburb of Owairaka, several hundred family members and friends paid their respects to the much-loved trainee teacher and part-time DJ.

Amid an outpouring of tributes and grief for Tarun, his family offered their forgiveness to McFarland, with a prayer said for both him and his family.
Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• New Zealand Herald
• TVNZ
• Image: 3 News

Sister Leva-i-Fangalupe Fono was one of the teachers leading a group practice of an action song for upcoming celebrations at St Patrick's, Panmure, in April last year.

She yelled at the girl, flicked her in the head and broke the girl's arm when she twisted it behind her back.

Leva had originally denied a charge of assault on a child and injuring the girl with reckless disregard when her trial at the Auckland District Court began Monday June 17.

But on Wednesday she pleaded guilty to two charges of assault on a child shortly after the Crown finished calling evidence against her and effectively removed the more serious charge of injuring with reckless disregard.

Judge Taumaunu said both Sister Leva, the girl and her family would take part in a Restorative Justice conference. The outcome of the conference is likely to impact on Sister Leva's sentence.

But whatever the result, Crown prosecutor Michael Walker said he would not be asking the court to send Sister Leva to jail.

Auckland Diocese spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer said she could not comment on the case specifically.

She said the church has a "zero tolerance" for violence in parishes and schools. No one from St Patrick's Church was available for comment.

Source

• New Zealand Herald
• Image:UNICEF

The annual Victorian police crime statistics report

• 83% of sexual assault victims were women
• 36% of rape victims were raped by someone they were related to, lived with or were in a relationship with
• 46% were raped by someone other than this who was known to them
• 82% were raped by someone they knew
• 55% of all sexual offences other than rape occur at home

"As you look at this data, it's quite stark, it's dramatic, it's confronting to see the number of crimes that are happening behind closed doors of residential premises," Lay said.

"The community has got to get to a space where it says that this is totally unacceptable."

"I think reporting is getting better, I've got no doubt at all though that there are many, many thousands of assaults happening in the home that we simply do not know about," Lay said.

He said family violence was "having an enormous impact on mainly women, it's having an enormous impact on children".

Despite these local statistics it did not deter the Economist Intelligence Unit's latest survey awarding Melbourne the honour of being 'the world's most liveable city'.

"Australia, with a low population density and relatively low crime rates, continues to supply some of the world's most liveable cities," Economist Intelligence Unit survey edition Jon Copestake said.

Auckland, New Zealand was ranked number 10, and Wellington 23rd.

Libyan capital, Tripoli fell into the bottom 10 for the first time and Harare in Zimbabwe was ranked bottom.

Sources

• SMH
• News.com.au
• Image: Drive my Holiday