Bishop among people stabbed in Sydney church

SYDNEY: Police in Australia say a man has been arrested after a bishop and three churchgoers were stabbed in Sydney. There are no life-threatening injuries.

It occurred during a televised service at the church on Monday evening, police said. The Orthodox Assyrian church streams services online.

A video on social media shows a man dressed in black approaching a cleric at the altar identified as the bishop at Christ the Good Shepherd in suburban Wakely and appearing to stab him repeatedly in the head and upper body.

Members of the congregation are seen screaming and rushing to the bishop’s aid. The church website identified the bishop as Mar Mari Emmanuel.

NSW Ambulance service said it had treated a man in his 50s for multiple cuts and taken him to a hospital, and three others were treated for one or more cuts at the scene.

“A large police response is underway and the public is urged to avoid the area,” police said. Crowds gathered outside the church and the hospital.

The premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns, described the scenes as “disturbing” on social media and urged the community to remain calm and “stick together.” Religious leaders expressed shock and condolences. Australians are still in shock after a lone assailant stabbed six people to death in a busy Sydney shopping mall on Saturday and injured more than a dozen others.

KINSHASA: Extremistlinked rebels attacked villages in eastern Congo over the weekend, killing at least 11 people, torching vehicles and taking possessions, a local official said.

The attacks occurred Saturday and were reported by the local mayor on Sunday. Allied Democratic Forces rebels with ties to the Islamic State group have long operated in the border area near Uganda.

The United Nations said earlier this month that almost 200 people have been killed there this year.

In one area, 11 bodies were recovered from four different places in the commune of Mulekera, according to the mayor, Ngongo Mayanga.