The World Today

The Federal Government's latest plan to combat rising power prices has been met with ridicule from a key crossbench Senator. Nick Xenophon says another inquiry will do nothing to help Australians cope with their rising electricity bills. The Government is also grappling with how to deal with a demand from Senator Pauline Hanson about how to end the Queensland sugar dispute.

Businesses owners are sceptical as to whether an inquiry into electricity prices will help cut costs. They say high power costs are making it tough to stay in business.

The chairman of the child sexual abuse Royal Commission, Peter McClellan, has announced the inquiry's 57th public hearing will be its last. Justice McClellan said he is confident the Commission has established why so many organisations failed to protect children and even though public hearings couldn't be held into all the institutions where abuse is alleged to have occurred he believes all the types of institutions have been examined.

In the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, when some of the company's cars were found to be cheating emissions tests, the Australian Automobile Association decided to test 17 of the nation's most common cars. What it found was that all but one of the cars performed worse in emissions tests than their manufacturers claimed. The Association is calling for the Government to test cars in the 'real world' and not in labs - and to properly police the results.

British police have arrested another man in connection with last week's Westminster terrorist attack, which killed four people. The UK Government is insisting that technology companies give intelligence services access to encrypted material during terrorism investigations, as it's understood the attacker used the encrypted WhatsApp messaging service two minutes before he went on his rampage.

In a surprising development just days after the failed bill to repeal Obamacare, the Trump Government has signalled that it is open to doing deals with the Democrats. The Republican majority in Congress splintered last week forcing a massive defeat on the President over his promise to repeal Barack Obama's health insurance scheme.

Russian police have arrested hundreds of people in nationwide anti-corruption protests, including a key opposition leader. Russia hasn't seen protests this large since President Vladimir Putin was returned to the Kremlin in 2012. Another presidential election is scheduled for next year. But the weekend's protest suggests that he might have a bigger battle on his hands than he assumed.

A Benedictine monk who has dedicated almost two decades to recording and preserving Christian manuscripts has now turned his focus to Islamic materials. Father Columba Stewart is the director of the non-profit Hill Museum and Manuscript Library in Minnesota, which works to digitise some of the world's most precious and endangered pieces of history. He says studying the interactions of major religions in the past through ancient documents may help us find a way to improve relations today.

A world first trial of a multi-species malaria vaccine has proven to be safe in humans in initial testing. The small clinical trial has been carried out on the Gold Coast, in Queensland. While more studies will be needed before the vaccine can be made commercially available, early results show promising signs. Malaria is one of the world's deadliest diseases, killing around 500,000 people each year, mostly children.

The Federal Agriculture Minister has urged the Victorian Government not to destroy the forestry sector by saving the country's biggest hardwood sawmill. The Heyfield Mill is slated for closure next year unless a buyer can be secured, and the Victorian Government has vowed to step in if a sale falls through. But the conservation of the lead-beater remains a contentious issue as the industry tries to balance a sustainable future with animal protection.