Women leaving abusive relationships will be able to access their superannuation early as part of a suite of Coalition government measures aimed at helping women improve their financial security.

The Minister for Women, Kelly O'Dwyer said around 17 percent of women have experienced violence from a current or former partner since the age of 15.

With the statistics regarding family and domestic violence in the country, 1.6 million Australian women have suffered from abuse.

Federal MP for Page, Kevin Hogan, has demanded a royal commission to investigate alleged price gouging by Australia’s supermarkets and in petrol retailing.

Mr Hogan said he is sick of regional and country retail petrol prices being higher than city prices; causing a huge impact on country citizens and farmers who have very little public transport transport in regional Australia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said on Monday that the Kremlin will retaliate if the US withdraws from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has accused Russia of non-compliance with the cold-war treaty and has warned it will pull out of the pact as a result.

European leaders are concerned a collapse of the treaty could result in a new, potentially destabilising, arms race.

More than 1000 people are unaccounted for as California’s ‘Camp Fire’ wildfire enters a second week.

Butte County Sheriff and Coroner Kory Honea said Friday that the list of people who are unaccounted for grew to 1,011 but that number may change once authorities follow up with families to confirm if they’ve heard from missing relatives.

The “Camp Fire” has been the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. It has destroyed over 11,000 homes and scorched almost 151,000 acres and is only 66% contained.

A new therapy for Multiple Sclerosis, trialled by researchers in the state, has shown promising results.

Researchers at QIMR Berghofer and the University of Queensland have devised the treatment by extracting blood from patients and separating their immune cells, training them to fight the disease.

Ten patients have received doses of cellular immunotherapy in the second stage of the trial, with seven participants reporting positive changes.

A new mental health facility has begun construction at Brisbane’s Prince Charles Hospital.

The $27 million dollar purpose built facility has a focus on increasingly serious cyber bullying cases, according to Queensland Health mental health branch executive director John Allan.

The new centre will include 12 beds, a full-time daily school, communal spaces, a classroom and training areas alongside access to specialists.

The US says it will join Australia in developing a naval base in Papua New Guinea, a move to curb China’s growing influence

US Vice President Mike Pence said the three countries would work together on the facility on Manus Island.

Australia announced last month that it would work with Papua New Guinea to develop the island’s Lombrum Naval base.

Royal Commission highlights need for mortgage broking reform.

Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn is conceding that the services provided in return for ongoing commission fees charged by mortgage brokers are "closer to none."

Pat McConnell, visiting fellow in the Applied Finance Centre at Macquarie University, says the issue of mortgage broking as a financial activity should be re-thought.

India’s most powerful rocket aced its second orbital flight on Wednesday, preparing for a robotic lunar mission in January.

The Indian Space Research Organization (IRSO) launched the rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Center, successfully delivering a communications satellite into orbit.