Howdy Australia!! - New, shocking charges against a music star - An influential businessman is caught in a prostitution sting - The controversy over a tarnished hero - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:

Authorities charged R&B star R. Kelly with sexual abuse allegations spanning more than a decade.  Robert Kelly is expected to appear in bond court in Chicago on Saturday.  The prosecutor, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, said that the ten counts of aggravated sexual abuse involve four victims, at least three of whom were younger than 17.  If he is convicted on all ten counts, a judge could decide that the sentences run one after the other - making it possible that he receives a sentence of up to 70 years behind bars. 

Prosecutors say the incidents with R. Kelly and teenage girls were captured on video, along with some incredibly damning and raunchy dialogue between Kelly and underage girls.  And the video was turned over to police by attorney Michael Avenatti, whom you may recall represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels who allegedly had an affair with Donald Trump.  Avenatti said the video of two different alleged crimes was shot in the late 1990s, approximately in 1999 - a recent TV documentary series "Surviving R. Kelly" also contributed to the new charges.

Actor and singer Jussie Smollett has been suspended from the TV show "Empire" after Chicago authorities charged him with making up a fake racist and homophobic attack and filing a false police report.  Producers say they are "disturbed" by his alleged behavior and the past few weeks - in which police investigated his claims in slow, excruciating detail - had been "incredibly emotional" for the "Empire" production team.  It remains to be seen if Mr. Smollett will return to the show in future seasons, or if he even still has a career.

Billionaire Robert Kraft, owner of the Superbowl champion New England Patriots, is denying charges he paid for sex from prostitutes.  Authorities in Jupiter, Florida say the acts were caught on video and an arrest warrant has been issued.  Kraft is one of the most powerful voices in the NFL, and a confidante of Donald Trump who frequently hangs with the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago.

Three of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet ministers are going rogue, publicly warning that the Brexit should be delayed rather than have the country crash out of the European Union without an agreement.  The Brexit is now a little over a month away, and there is no deal to avoid financial chaos by protecting trade deals and border arrangements.  Greg Clark, Amber Rudd and David Gauke told the Daily Mail if a deal is not endorsed by MPs imminently "it would be better to seek to extend Article 50 and delay our date of departure rather than crash out of the European Union on March 29". 

Poland has charged three men for toppling the statue of a Solidarity-era priest who has been accused of molesting young boys.  Two more may also face charges. 
Gdansk, Poland
Monsignor Henryk Jankowski was well-known for his anti-Communist activities in the 1980s and his church was visited by then-UK PM Margaret Thatcher and then-US President George HW Bush.  An investigation into allegations against Jankowski was shelved in 2003 and he died in 2010, but more victims have come forward since then.  The new allegations have been sent to Pope Francis as he hosts a conference on the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal at the Vatican.