The World Today

The Prime Minister has emerged from his meeting with energy retailers in Canberra, accusing retailers of gaming the system and declaring that thousands - if not millions - of Australian families will now pay less for their electricity. Malcolm Turnbull had summoned the chiefs of seven energy companies to Canberra to meet him and his senior economic ministers, and he says big companies have now agreed to do a 'better job' of looking after Australians.

Will our power bills come down, and if so, when? The Grattan Institute's Energy Program Fellow, David Blowers, says while retailers are now going to provide more information to consumers about what deal they're on, it's still up to consumers to make the switch. Some electricity retailers can afford to lower their prices, still make a profit, and people will save money. He says re-regulation is difficult but doable, and that state and territory ministers will probably be on the same page as the Federal Government.

There's been a dramatic increase in tensions on the Korean peninsula. Just hours after President Donald Trump told the North that any threat to the United States would be met with 'fire and fury', North Korea says it's 'carefully examining' plans for a missile strike on the US Pacific territory of Guam. A spokesman for the Korean People's Army says the strike plan could be put into practice at any moment.

The chairman of the Commonwealth Bank has revealed the company's board first became aware in 2015 of suspicions that the CBA's intelligent deposit machines might be the target of money launderers and criminal gangs. Catherine Livingstone - who was not chairman at the time - said the suspicious activity prompted the CBA to hire more financial crime professionals and to upgrade its financial crime technology. Chief executive Ian Narev will be grilled by financial analysts about the scandal and pressed on how he would rebuild the bank's reputation.

As the Commonwealth Bank defends itself against accusations that it enabled terrorists and organised criminals to launder money, one group of businesses has spotted an opportunity. 'Reg tech', or regulatory technology businesses, have sprung up in the last few years to help companies safeguard against money laundering. And reg tech businesses say the true scale of money laundering in Australia is virtually unknowable, given the oversight body Austrac has conducted fewer than 100 independent compliance investigations on the 14,000 entities it regulates.

The Federal Government's again failed to get the Senate to support holding a compulsory public vote, or plebiscite, on same-sex marriage. It will now pursue a postal vote, at a cost $122 million, with the Parliament to then vote itself on whether to legalise gay marriage before Christmas.

Police raids across Sydney have put the infamous Ibrahim family in the spotlight. But why is the media so fascinated by them? The World Today speaks to former detective, private investigator and journalist Duncan McNab.

The Victorian State Opposition leader Matthew Guy says he knows nothing about leaked phone calls in which a Liberal party figure talks about splitting up donations from an alleged mafia boss, Tony Madafferi, and his family members. Barrie Macmillan was at a dinner earlier this year, which was also attended by Mr Guy and Mr Madafferi. Mr Guy says he's so confident he's done nothing wrong that he's referred himself to the state's anti-corruption body. He says donations were not discussed at the dinner and none have been made.

Mistresses, overseas junkets and immigration assistance for young Asian women are just some of the allegations levelled at several local government councillors in Queensland in documents tabled in State Parliament. An independent MP has used parliamentary privilege to table 10 heavily redacted documents in his push for a stronger independent crime and corruption body to be established in Queensland.

South African President Jacob Zuma has survived yet another attempt to force him from office, despite the ballot being held in secret. The motion, called amid repeated allegations of corruption, was narrowly defeated - 198 votes to 177. But the vote left Mr Zuma politically wounded after some members of his own party sided with the opposition.