Australian woman charged with assaulting two Muslims

SYDNEY, Feb 19 (BBC): Australian police have charged a 31-year-old woman for assaulting two Muslim women at a shopping centre in Melbourne last week.

The woman from Pascoe Vale suburb is due in court on Wednesday, where it will be alleged that she targeted the two victims on 13 February because of their head coverings, local media report.

She allegedly grabbed and choked a 30-year-old pregnant woman using the latter's hijab at Epping shopping centre before pushing and slapping another 26-year-old woman in a separate assault 10 minutes later.

This comes two weeks after the country passed tough new laws against hate crimes following a recent string of high-profile antisemitic attacks.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday condemned the incident as "reprehensible". He rejected criticism that his government was taking Islamophobic attacks less seriously compared to antisemitic attacks.