assault

Hadi Matar, 24, is accused of wounding Rushdie, 75, on Friday just before the The Satanic Verses author was to deliver a lecture on stage at an educational retreat near Lake Erie. Rushdie was hospitalised with serious injuries in what writers and politicians around the world decried as an attack on the freedom of expression.

The suspects will appear in court for mention on 9 September 2019.

A video clip of the alleged assault went viral on Facebook last week where the defendants were seen on camera assaulting a 17-year-old at Savalalo market.

Police preliminary investigations into this matter indicate that a group known on social media as ‘Blood Gang’ comprising of young men and women under 20 years of age are utilizing social media (Facebook) as means of luring their victims and then ambushing them.

The 22-year-old woman was rescued on Sunday when the vehicle she was driving was pulled over in a routine traffic stop in rural Mitchell, approximately 350 miles west of state capital Brisbane, police said.

She was "visibly distressed" and had scratches and bruises on her neck and face, police added.

Police officers searched the vehicle she was in and the man, also 22, was found hiding in the back of the vehicle.

Police alleged the former North Queensland Cowboys and Sydney Roosters player assaulted a 28-year-old man after an argument broke out on a Mudgeeraba street about 8:00pm.

The alleged victim was treated at Robina Hospital for minor injuries.

Watts, who is 29 and from NSW, is due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court later today on one count of assault occasioning bodily harm.

The indictment against inmate Fernandes Masters alleges he kissed and fondled the guard's breasts and tried to have intercourse with her.

Prison officials have said co-workers rescued the officer after she called for help. Officials have provided no further details of the April 13 attack.