The World Today

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says it welcomes a report on vehicle emissions, but warns there's a lot of complexity in comparing cars. The Australian Automobile Association released research this morning showing large discrepancies between claimed fuel efficiency, and actual fuel use.

Monarchists are aghast at suggestions Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull plans to attend a dinner put on by the Australian Republican Movement this Saturday night. Neither the Prime Minister's office nor the Republican movement would confirm whether Mr Turnbull would be attending the event but the Monarchist League's Phillip Benwell says the move would be 'provocative' and risk defections from the Liberal Party.

The New South Wales Council of Social Service found that the top concern of many people on lower incomes is that they can't afford to go to the dentist. It's prompted calls for an urgent $25 million injection of funds into the dental sector. But the Australian Dental Association says extra money won't solve the problem. The ADA says public funding usually ends up being spent on emergency dental care and what's actually needed is a targeting preventative program.

A trial of genetic screening of Australian women has revealed some are at a high risk of cancer - and they wouldn't have otherwise found out. Melbourne researchers say the results indicate genetic screening may well be effective at detecting cancer risk in a general population.

Australia is joining the race to find one million year old ice, thought to be buried deep underneath Antarctica's thick ice sheet. Scientists say the ice is a time capsule, recording the history of the earth's temperature. And what happened to the earth's climate more than a million years ago is one of the hottest questions in ice core science today.

Recreational fishers have renewed calls for a ban on the importation of uncooked prawns after the discovery of a devastating prawn disease in Queensland. Australia had been the only major prawn growing country free of the highly contagious white spot virus until it was found earlier this month on prawn farms between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The industry has previously warned white spot could potentially be brought in with uncooked frozen prawns and authorities are now investigating whether that's happened. White spot has reduced prawn farm productivity by up to 40 per cent overseas.

Labor's accusing the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of climate change cowardice this lunchtime, as he hunkers down with state leaders in Canberra for today's Council of Australian Governments meeting. There he'll be face to face South Australian premier Jay Weatherill who's demanding the meeting focus on how best to rebuild the nation's power grid, including pricing carbon emissions for the sector. But Mr Turnbull says he won't be lectured by Mr Weatherill and is emphasising the need to talk about other policies during today's discussions.

The number of people left homeless by a deadly earthquake in Aceh has risen to 11,000. The death toll stands at more than 100, and more than 750 people have been injured.

Russia says that the Syrian Army has suspended combat operations in eastern Aleppo to allow for the evacuation of people trapped in the war zone. Government forces have retaken three-quarters of the eastern Aleppo in recent weeks, with thousands of civilians in the crossfire. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the announcement at a European foreign ministers meeting in Germany. He said Russian and US experts would meet in Geneva tomorrow to discuss ways of bringing an end to the violence. But some say a deal is long way off.

Fresh evidence before the child abuse Royal Commission has prompted it to re-open a hearing into the Catholic Church in the New South Wales Hunter region. A child abuse survivor has come forward, objecting to evidence given in September by a former head of the Marist Brothers. And former Marist Brother provincial Michael Hill was re-called, to face further questions.