French Bishops have announced setting up an ‘independent’ commission to shed light on the sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic church since the 1950s.

Following a string of pedophile scandals, the Bishops Conference of France says the panel would seek to understand the reasons which led to the way these affairs were handled, and make recommendations.

The Conference’s statement says the commission’s work would include collecting the stories of victims and helping prevention efforts.

King Mohammad VI of Morocco has expressed his readiness to hold talks with long-time regional rival, Algeria.

Algeria shut its border with Morocco in 1994 after Rabat, the capital city of Morocco imposed visa regulations on Algerian visitors in the wake of a deadly attack on the Atlas Asni Hotel in Marrakech.

In a speech delivered on Tuesday, the King said dialogue was necessary to overcome the two countries’ differences, as he proposed setting up a joint political consultation mechanism to resolve the ongoing dispute.

Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm has lost his bid to have Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s defamation case against him thrown out and has been ordered to pay her legal costs.

Senator Hanson-Young filed a defamation case against Senator Leyonhjelm in August accusing him of attacking her character.

The Federal Court has ruled the defamation case to go ahead.

The leaders of three Sydney colleges have apologised after signing a letter to the federal education minister asking to preserve religious schools’ rights to sack or expel gay teachers and students.

Last week, 34 Sydney Anglican schools wrote to the government warning of an undermining of their faith’s core values if the federal government overhauls anti-discrimination laws to protect gay teachers.

Almost 2,400 hectares of koala habitat has been saved from a pine plantation near Tewantin yesterday in a $3.5 million buyout by a conservation group, local council and the Queensland government.

Noosa Parks Association, Noosa Shire Council and the Queensland government each contributed $1.2 million to buy out Hancock’s headquarters pine plantation.

This move shows progression in a week where serious questions have been asked about the viability of relocating koalas for development.

A new CityCat terminal will be built at the 100 million dollar Howard Smith Wharves development in what will be Brisbane’s 26th terminal.

The 12 million dollar terminal will be jointly funded by Brisbane City Council and the Howard Smith Wharves Consortium.

Deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner said the joint funding agreements with private developers reduces the cost to ratepayers.

The terminal is expected to be open in 2020.

Poland’s president Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz is banning an annual march organised by far-right groups in the country that celebrate the country’s independence.

The Independence March has been held annually since 2010 and last year the event, attended by 60,000 people, sparked international outrage due to the presence of racist, homophobic, and anti-immigrant slogans.

President Gronkiewicz-Waltz said the event would not be allowed to go ahead.

US President Donald Trump has sacked his Attorney-General, Jeff Sessions, one day after the Republican party lost control of Congress in the midterm elections.

The move came after Mr Trump repeatedly criticised Mr Sessions for recusing himself from an investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential race.

Mr Session announced his resignation in a letter to Mr Trump, saying the resignation came at Mr Trump’s request.

Australia is increasing its commitment to the Pacific, opening several new diplomatic posts and establishing a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure bank for projects in the region.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to announce the establishment of a $2 billion infrastructure bank for the Pacific at the APEC forum in Papua New Guinea.

Mr Morrison is also expected to pledge defence co-operation in the region with the set-up of a permanent Defence Force training team for the Pacific.