Friday's news in under 5 minutes.

1. Cliff Richard’s home searched in paedophile investigation

Entertainer Sir Cliff Richard has released a statement denying he was involved in the sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16 after UK police searched his Berkshire home.

The Mirror reports the allegations relate to an alleged assault that took place against a young boy at a concert by the American evangelical preacher Billy Graham at Bramall Lane stadium in June 1985.

The 73-year-old entertainer issued a statement insisting the allegations were false and pledging to cooperate fully with the police after a five-hour search of his home.

2. Pay gap

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown the pay gap between men and women is now at its worst in 20 years.

The statistics show that men in full-time work are being paid nearly $15,000 more a year than women.

Average, ordinary full-time gross earnings for men came in at $1,560.50 a week, while women earned $1,274.40.

It is thought the gap stems from large salaries paid in the male-dominated mining and construction industries, reports The Australian.

3. US riots

It is being called “Baghdad USA”.

Ferguson – the small town in Missouri – has seen violent protests from its citizens after the police killing of an unarmed black teenager.

Four nights of extreme violence have followed, with police firing tear gas against protesters, arresting 16 people – including two reporters – with rocks and a Molotov cocktail thrown at police officers.

Amidst calls for police to release the offending officer’s name US President Obama has called for calm.

“Now is the time for peace and calm on the streets of Ferguson,” he said, according to CNN.

He said an ‘open and transparent’ investigation into the police killing was required and said that he had ordered the FBI and Justice Department to investigate.

Meanwhile, hacker group Anonymous have vowed to name and shame every officer and official involved in what it says is an illegal cover-up.

“To the Ferguson Police Department and any other jurisdictions who are deployed to the protests: we are watching you very closely,” they said in a message.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75WkEZK_f6g

4. Robin Williams suffering Parkinson’s disease

Robin Williams’s wife Susan Schneider has released a statement saying the comedian was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Susan Schneider said that he had decided not to release details of the disease publically yet.

“Robin’s sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression (and) anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson’s disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly,” said Schneider.

“It is our hope in the wake of Robin’s tragic passing that others will find the strength to seek the care and support they need to treat whatever battles they are facing so they may feel less afraid.”

For more on this story, see this post.

5. ISIS kidnaps thousands of women to sell to brothels

Thousands of women have been kidnapped by Islamic militants in Iraq, to be sold to work in brothels or set to work as domestic slaves.

The Times reports that 1200 women were kidnapped from the city of Sinjar but that thousands more were taken hostage from other towns and villages on August 3.

Meanwhile, US President Obama says the situation on Mount Sinjar was greatly improved and that the US would not now need to conduct an evacuation the area, with aid drops to be suspended.

6. Harriet Wran arrest

Harriet Wran did not have a penny to her name at the time of her arrest, according to Fairfax Media. The daughter of former Premier Neville Wran is charged with the murder of a Sydney drug dealer, Daniel John McNulty.

Harriet Wran did not appear in court yesterday – but her lawyer said  she was pleading not guilty and would not be applying for bail.

The Sydney Morning Herald has interviewed a former landlord who rented her a “crack den” in Hunter’s Hill.

The newspaper reports she “rarely left the flat and was receiving Centrelink benefits. Often large groups of men would show up at all times of the day and night.”

She since left the flat and was living on the streets in recent weeks.

7. Childcare experts slam productivity commission report

The first public hearing into the productivity commission’s draft report on childcare has heard the recommendations place more importance on the economic worth of childcare while largely ignoring its community value, according to the University of Technology’s Eva Cox.

Fairfax Media reports the inquiry also heard that children would be disadvantaged by being denied care if their parents were not working.

Lyn Connolly, the owner of eight childcare centres, said children “deserved education and care, regardless of whether their parents were employed or not.”

Concerns were also raised over the Productivity Commission’s recommendation to lower qualifications for staff who work with children under three.

8. Nut allergy on plane

A four-year old girl has stopped breathing on a flight home from holiday after a passenger ignored repeated warnings not to open a packet of nuts.

Fae Platten, from the UK, went into anaphylactic shock and had to be revived.

For more, see  this post.

9. Thai Surrogacy laws

A crackdown on surrogacy laws in Thailand has seen two Australian couples stopped from the country with their surrogate babies – and two American couples also stopped.

The ABC reports that the Australian couples were stopped from flying out on Thursday afternoon.

It also reports that one of the homosexual couples was traveling with the surrogate mother.

10. Grandmother duct-tapes baby

A grandmother has received a visit from police after she duct-taped her granddaughter’s dummy to her face and took photos of her for Facebook.

She also placed the baby in a baking dish next to potatoes.

Jackie Sheaks of West Columbus, Ohio, was shocked to have police knocking on her door after she posted the pics online.

“We’re not horrible people that they are making us out to be,” she told US TV station 10TV.

“It started as just a joke; we put a little tape on the pacifier because we were being silly.”

She was not charged.

11. Cancer study

Overweight or obese people are at greater risk of developing cancer, according to a major new study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Researchers from the school gathered data on 5.2 million people in the UK, of which nearly 170,000 developed cancer, and found that a person’s Body Mass Index, a measure of body fat, was linked to 17 out of 22 cancers.

12. Hospital ‘kills off’ 200 patients

A Melbourne hospital has mistakenly sent out death notices for 200 of its patients.

Austin Hospital “killed off” the patients when it faxed death notices to their family doctors. The error was a result of change to the templates the hospital sends to doctors once a patient has been discharged, its officials said in a statement.

“We apologised unreservedly to affected clinics who, for the most part, were very understanding about the error,” the statement said.

13. Hurrah! One less thing to feel guilty about

The parental pressure we put on ourselves to provide our children with endless stimulation may just be doing them more harm than good.

A senior lecturer in psychology and education at Cambridge University, Dr David Whitebread, has told The Daily Mail that denying children time to explore alone could harm their development.

He said that letting kids play alone helps them develop crucial skills which are linked to higher academic achievement and well-being.

His response was in relation to a study that showed that 80% of parents felt the need to fill their child’s time with new activities to ensure they are always entertained.

63% thought one-to-one play would help their children develop new skills more quickly and 66% worried they didn’t play with their children enough.

 14. Maliki quits

Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki has stepped aside.

He resigned on state TV on Thursday night — relinquishing power to his political rival Haider al-Abadi, who was asked on Monday by Iraq’s president to form a government.

“I announce before you today, to ease the movement of the political process and the formation of the new government, the withdrawal of my candidacy in favour of brother Dr Haider al-Abadi,” Maliki said in his statement.

The move, which came after heavy pressure from the US, ends political deadlock in Baghdad as the government struggles to respond to an offensive led by ISIS.

Al-Abadi is a member of Mr. Maliki’s own Dawa Party.

15. Keli Lane loses High Court appeal

Keli Lane has lost her appeal to the High Court– her last chance to overturn her conviction for murdering her two-day-old baby Tegan.

The former water polo champion, 39, applied to the court to appeal against her conviction.

But Justices Bell and Keane of the High Court said Lane’s lawyers had run a “guilty of murder or innocent” case– and told Lane’s barrister there was “no evidentiary basis” for a case of manslaughter, Fairfax Media reports.

Baby Tegan’s body has never been found and the Crown Prosecutor was not able to establish how she was killed.

But Lane has always claimed she  gave the child to a man with whom she had a brief and secret affair, the ABC reports. 

Lane is serving a maximum sentence of 18 years, with a minimum sentence of 13 years and five months.

16. Joe Hockey apologises

Joe Hockey has apologised for suggesting the “poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far”.

In an interview with 2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham on Friday, he said “I am really genuinely sorry that there is any suggestion, any suggestion at all that I or the government does not care for the most disadvantaged in the community.”

“My feelings on this don’t matter. I don’t want to be in a position where I’m upsetting the most disadvantaged people in the community,” he said.

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