German chancellor rejects calls to reverse nuclear power plant closures

Olaf Scholz says country has enough energy to get through winter after Russia cut gas supplies

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has rejected calls for his government to commit to a longer-term extension of the life of the country’s nuclear power plants and insisted that Europe’s largest economy would have enough energy to get through the winter.

Scholz shut down criticism from the opposition conservative alliance and at least one leading economist, who have described his coalition’s decision to keep two remaining reactors in emergency reserve rather than letting them produce electricity, as “madness” while the government refuses to reverse its long-term plan to close down the last remaining plants.

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NT Labor members at odds with government after call to ban fracking in Beetaloo Basin

Northern Territory party conference passes string of motions urging a ban on fracking and an end to gas industry subsidies

Grassroots Northern Territory Labor members passed a string of motions on the weekend calling for a ban on fracking in the Beetaloo Basin and an end to gas industry subsidies, putting themselves at odds with both the territory and federal Labor governments.

The previous federal Coalition government helped speed up gas exploration in the resource-rich Beetaloo Basin, about 500km south-east of Darwin, by handing tens of millions of dollars to fracking companies to incentivise exploration.

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Australia hails ‘new chapter’ in Timor-Leste relationship as leaders sign defence pact

Albanese government looks forward to military cooperation as Jose Ramos-Horta calls for help to develop Greater Sunrise gas fields

Australia has signed a new defence agreement with Timor-Leste, one of its closest neighbours in the Indo-Pacific, allowing increased military cooperation, particularly in the waters between the two nations.

The deal was announced as the Timor-Leste president, Jose Ramos-Horta, prepared to address the National Press Club on Wednesday, where he called on Australia to do more to help Timor-Leste’s economy develop.

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Germany to delay phase-out of nuclear plants to shore up energy security

Last two working plants were due to be mothballed, but will be used as emergency reserve into 2023 after Russia cuts off gas

Germany is to temporarily halt the phasing-out of two nuclear power plants in an effort to shore up energy security after Russia cut supplies of gas to Europe’s largest economy.

The economy minister, Robert Habeck, announced on Monday that the power plants, Neckarwestheim in Baden Württemberg and Isar 2 in Bavaria, are to be kept running longer than planned in order to be used as an emergency reserve until the middle of next year.

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South African court bans offshore oil and gas exploration by Shell

Judgment is huge victory for campaigners concerned about effect of seismic waves on marine life

A South African court has upheld a ban imposed on the energy giant Shell from using seismic waves to explore for oil and gas off the Indian Ocean coast.

The judgment delivered in Makhanda on Thursday marks a monumental victory for environmentalists concerned about the impact the exploration would have on whales and other marine life.

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Johnson takes jibe at Truss plans for fracking and North Sea drilling

Outgoing leader hails £700m funding for Sizewell C nuclear plant in penultimate speech

• Boris Johnson says ‘madness’ not to build Sizewell C – UK politics live

Boris Johnson has vowed to give his total support to the next prime minister, but could not resist using his penultimate speech to take a potshot at Liz Truss’s energy plans.

In an attempt to shore up his legacy just days before he leaves No 10, the outgoing Conservative leader hailed the government’s “accelerated, long-overdue reforms” to make the UK more energy independent and announced £700m for the Sizewell C nuclear plant.

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Energy price inflation: how the UK and EU could fight it

What can be done about rising prices – and would nationalising gas and electricity firms help?

Governments across Europe have been funding relief measures to help people with energy and petrol bills. The UK announced a £15bn package in May, largely in the form of cash payments to households, while EU member states are estimated to have spent €280bn (£243m) over the past year on everything from subsidies and price caps to one-off payments. But bills for households and businesses are reaching unsustainable levels, with further increases expected next year, sharpening the debate over whether ministers should be intervening directly in energy markets to help bring prices down.

As Russia threatens to further reduce gas supplies, politicians in Italy, Spain, Greece and the Czech Republic are among those pushing for coordinated action. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Monday Brussels was considering measures to be adopted by the 27 member states. What are the options?

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Australia news live: PM pays tribute to Gorbachev as ‘one of the true giants of the 20th century’

Anthony Albanese will meet with premiers and chief ministers today for the national cabinet in Sydney

Jobs summit should support apprenticeships in female-dominated trades, independents say

Independents are calling for more investment in female-dominated trades like textiles and floristry ahead of the government’s jobs and skills summit to be held tomorrow.

This jobs summit must not become fixated on getting only the high-vis industries out to work and leave the pink workforce at home yet again … We have women who want to work. We must enable them.

There’s been too narrow a view of what are the apprenticeships and trades, it’s been a very bloke-centric approach.

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Canada invokes treaty with US in push to keep cross-border pipeline open

Canada warns of ‘significant’ economic damage in the event of a shutdown of Line 5, which travels through Michigan

Canada has once again invoked a longstanding treaty with the US as it seeks to keep a controversial cross-border pipeline open, warning of “significant” economic damage to both countries in the event of a shutdown.

Canada’s foreign minister said Line 5, a pipeline operated by Calgary-based Enbridge, was a critical source of energy security.

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Gypsies and Travellers fear missing out on energy bills support

Government urged to ensure thousands living in park homes in Great Britain receive £400 payments

Gypsy and Traveller groups are calling on the government to ensure thousands of households living in park homes are not excluded from its energy bills support scheme this winter as bills soar.

The scheme will pay out a total of £400 to all households in Great Britain with a domestic electricity connection between October and March, with monthly payments administered by their energy supplier.

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No let-up in shelling as UN team heads for Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Watchdog due to arrive in Kyiv as frequent attacks on Russian-occupied power station raise fears mission may be called off

A team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog is due to arrive in Kyiv on Monday night en route to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power in southern Ukraine, where renewed shelling has cast a shadow over their planned visit.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, said on Monday morning that a team led by him had set off to visit the power station on the Dnieper River. “We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted.

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Australia news live updates: Albanese says government will ‘stand by’ stage three tax cuts at press club speech

The PM says his government made the decision in 2019 ‘that we would stand by that legislation rather than re-litigate it’. Follow all the day’s news

Pocock pushes for scrapping of stage-three tax cuts

Independent senator David Pocock was on RN speaking about the stage-three tax cuts, which he says should be “resisted” – no matter what was promised before the election.

What I’ve said is that they should be revisited … [Anthony Albanese] has a really strong case to relook at these these tax cuts and see what what else that could actually be spent on, given the you know the huge amount of money that they represent.

Things have changed a lot since these were where they decided. We’ve had bushfires, a global pandemic. We’ve had flooding and stagnant wages, and now people are in a cost-of-living crisis across the country. And so I just don’t think that we can justify handing out $240bn over the next 10 years to the wealthiest Australians.

Ultimately, when we hit the budget in October – which is where these issues get reviewed every year – when you look at the budget, there will be things that we want to do that we can’t do. And that’s the reality of a trillion dollars of Liberal debt, particularly as inflation goes up. That debt now costs a lot more than it costs even a year ago.

So there will be things that that we would want to do that people would like us to do that aren’t going to be possible as an example. It’s basically saying, ‘Yeah, this is just too too expensive.’

We’re only in the second month of that new system. A lot of it was designed before we came to office and the contracts had all been signed before we came into office. So I’m still very mindful of what we can do. But the the challenges of the people who are in the system right now are exactly as you’ve described.

I think to live on $46 a day is incredibly difficult if not impossible.

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NSW introduces seven-star energy standards for new homes

Renovations valued at more than $50,000 will be subject to the new NSW government planning policy

Tougher energy standards for new homes will be introduced in New South Wales, but small residential blocks and shopping centres won’t have to adhere to them because of developers’ concerns about added complexity and costs.

Under a new policy announced on Monday, new houses and high-rise towers will need to have a seven-star energy rating, while large office buildings must show the ability to become all-electric-powered.

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Electric car-ready homes will help firm up the power grid, Ed Husic says

Governments urged to plan for emerging technologies that will allow bidirectional charging so vehicle batteries can power homes

Australia’s first mandate to make new apartment buildings “electric vehicle-ready” should be extended to all new housing, potentially turning entire suburbs into virtual batteries supporting the power grid, the federal science minister said.

Ed Husic helped helm Friday’s gathering of federal, state and territory building ministers in Sydney, where it was agreed to amend the national construction code to require new apartment blocks to be capable of charging cars in all their parking spots.

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‘She has no choice’: Liz Truss faces U-turn on energy if she enters No 10, MPs say

If foreign secretary wins the Tory leadership contest she looks set to have to change course on ‘handouts’ despite campaign pledges

For months, everyone in government had known that Friday was energy cap day, and at 7am the bad news duly dropped. Phones pinged as the nation woke to Ofgem’s confirmation that typical gas and electricity bills were to rise by a frightening 80%.

Millions of people would be unable to cope, said charities. Even those on low or middle earnings who had some savings could see them entirely wiped out. It was a full-on national crisis, albeit long predicted.

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‘Completely laughable’: claims that a mine will create ‘more jobs per hectare’ than the Great Barrier Reef derided

Clive Palmer’s Central Queensland Coal suggested proposed coalmine is a ‘greater economic powerhouse’

Claims that Clive Palmer’s proposed Central Queensland coalmine would help the Great Barrier Reef – and would generate “more jobs per hectare” – have been derided as “completely laughable” by an environmentalist, economist and First Nations people.

Earlier this month environment minister Tanya Plibersek said she intended to block the coalmine due to its “unacceptable impacts” on the reef world heritage area, which is 10km from the two proposed open cut mines.

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Hungary approves construction of two Russian-built nuclear reactors

Work to begin in coming weeks in move that emphasises ties between Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin

Hungary has announced that the €12.5bn (£10.6bn) construction of two nuclear reactors by Russia’s Rosatom will begin in the coming weeks after regulators approved the project.

The war in Ukraine has not deterred Hungary’s interest in the project to add to the four reactors already operating at the Paks plant outside Budapest.

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Australia news live updates: Greens accuse government of undoing its own climate legislation

Adam Bandt reacts to Labor’s decision to open 46,000km of ocean to exploration, saying his party will continue to advocate for a moratorium on new coal and gas projects. Follow live

A massive haul of the drug “ice”, with an estimated street value of $1.6bn, has been seized in NSW in the largest discovery of its kind in Australia, AAP reports.

Last month, Australian Border Force officers homed in on a number of sea cargo containers that arrived at Port Botany in Sydney.

There would need a change to the law.. with the Liberals saying they’ll take an oppositional role, the only way that will happen is with the support of the Greens.

Our position is that workers should be able to bargain collectively at whatever level they choose.

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Shelling temporarily disconnects Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant from Ukraine grid

Russian-held site forced to fall back on diesel generators, raising risk of catastrophic failure of cooling systems

Fires caused by shelling cut the last remaining power line to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Thursday, temporarily disconnecting it from Ukraine’s national grid for the first time in nearly 40 years of operation, the country’s nuclear power firm, Energoatom, has said.

There have been growing international concerns about safety at Europe’s largest nuclear plant. It has been occupied by Russian forces since the start of the war, and they are now using it to house military vehicles and equipment.

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Japan eyes return to nuclear power more than a decade after Fukushima disaster

Move designed to secure energy supplies would mark a dramatic shift in Japan’s policy stance held since 2011 reactor meltdown

Japan is considering building next-generation nuclear reactors and restarting idled plants in a major policy shift, 11 years after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant rocked the country’s dependence on atomic energy.

The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said he had directed a government panel to look into how “next-generation nuclear reactors equipped with new safety mechanisms” could be used to help Japan achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. His “green transformation” council is expected to report back by the end of the year, he said on Wednesday.

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