NEWS: Rolf Harris charged with nine counts of indecent assault.

1. Australian entertainer Rolf Harris has been charged with nine counts of indecent assault, and a further four counts of making indecent images of a child.

83-year-old Harris was under investigation as part of Operation Yewtree, the police enquiry that was prompted by the child abuse allegations against Jimmy Savile.

Four of the charges are in regards to Harris’ alleged sexual conduct with a 14-year-old girl in 1986. The other six charges of alleged indecent assault involve a 15-year-old girl, from 1980-81.

Shockingly, the offences of making indecent images of a child allegedly occurred more recently in March 2012.

Alison Saunders from the Crown Prosecution Service has released a statement saying that, “Having completed our review, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest for Mr Harris to be charged with nine counts of indecent assault and four of making indecent images of a child.”

Saunders continued with, “We have determined that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.”

Harris will appear in court in September.

Harris was first reported as being under investigation by Operation Yewtree in April. At the time, Harris denied the sexual abuse claims. Mamamia reported:

The Sun named Harris in an exclusive report, although police have yet to confirm that the entertainer is a suspect in an ongoing investigation.

The 83-year-old Australian entertainer, musician, composer and television personality was reportedly under suspicion for more than a year before his arrest.

According to an exclusive report in the UK’s The Sun, Harris “was held over historic sex abuse allegations by police from the inquiry set up following the Jimmy Savile scandal.”

Rolf Harris is the man behind the song, “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport.” He is credited with the invention of the wobble board.

Harris is the 11^th person to be arrested as a result of Operation Yewtree.

2. Saudi Arabia’s cabinet has passed a ban on domestic violence, and other forms of violence against women. The ban covers both physical and sexual violence against women at home and in the workplace.

The new legislation is the first of its kind in the kingdom’s history. It not only makes violence against women a punishable crime, but also provides shelter facilities for sufferers of domestic abuse. Most importantly, the new legislation shifts the cabinet’s perception of domestic violence from a private matter, to a public offence, which law enforcement officials can be held accountable for investigating and prosecuting.

3. The British Parliament has rejected a proposal to the UN Security Council for resolving the Syria crisis. The proposal called for military intervention, justified by Syria’s “unacceptable” use of chemical weapons on civilians. While the Syrian government has attributed the chemical attacks to opposition groups, the UN has reason to believe that it was the government using the weapons against its own people.

4. A former girlfriend of Kim Jong-un has been executed after being arrested for breaching North Korea’s pornography laws. According to the South China Morning Post, pop singer, Hyon Song-wol, was gunned down in front of her family in a mass execution that saw over a dozen performers killed. The performers were accused of filming themselves having sex and selling the tapes.

5. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has announced that, if elected, he will provide an extra $6 million of funding to Netball Australia. Abbott made the announcement with the girls of the Hills Sports High School netball team, who were training at Sydney’s Olympic Park.

But it wasn’t a seamless press opportunity. Abbott has come under fire for making some awkward comments to the girls of the team while they were posing for photos. Reportedly, one of the girls apologised for getting sweat on his suit while standing next to him in a photo, to which Abbott replied: “A bit of body contact never hurt anyone.”

6. The Prime Minister was also on the campaign trail yesterday, participating in a surprise Reddit Q&A. The PM took questions from the public from 6pm yesterday on issues such as the NBN and China.

7. Fast food workers across the US are on strike. Workers from McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut have staged a massive strike in an attempt to raise their award above the current $8/hour.

8. A Japanese officeworker has had the shock of his life when he was chased down a corridor by a dinosaur. It was all for a Japanese game show (trust.) Watch the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhJlagCgPvQ