In this bulletin;
- Home battery scheme subsidies to wind back as program costs balloon;
- Fighting between Thailand and Cambodia persists despite US ceasefire claims;
- In sport, Lando Norris takes home Formula One Championship trophy.
The federal government is winding back discounts on larger systems under the popular home battery scheme as the program's budget is tripled.
Under the scheme, eligible households and small businesses can get a 30 per cent discount on a home battery when installed alongside rooftop solar.
The subsidy, which has been in place for five months, will be topped up to $7.2 billion over four years after initially being flagged to cost $2.3 billion.
The fund has been running out rapidly, in part because households are installing the maximum sized system to get the best deal.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the new system will be fairer.
"Firstly, in order to recognise the fairness of the battery rollout, we'll introduce a tiered model of support for battery size. Zero to 14 kilowatt hours, no change. 14 to 28 kilowatt hours, a step down in the certificate price, and then another step down 28 to 50 kilowatt hours."
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Firefighters are bracing for heatwave conditions over the weekend with hot dry conditions expected across several states and territories.
In Western Australia, Perth is on track for multiple hot days sparking fears that hot, dry conditions could intensify bushfires already burning.
Weekend heatwave warnings have also been issued for parts of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland.
Along the country's east, cooler weather and rain is set to hit New South Wales as a cold front will cool down South Australia and Victoria.
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Cambodian officials say Thailand has continued to drop bombs hours after United States President Donald Trump said both countries had agreed to peace.
At least 20 people have been killed in the last week and around half a million displaced on both sides as the neighbouring countries trade blame for reigniting the border clash.
In a post on X, the Cambodian defense ministry wrote that the Thai military used F-16 fighter jets to drop seven bombs on a number of targets.
Local governor of the Oddar Meancheay Province in Cambodia, Mean Chanyada says people desperately want peace.
“We need to implement fully ceasefire, this is very important for us. We need our international friends, our international donors or anybody come to help us. We are smaller than Thailand, we need peace.”
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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has promised political change, after an escalation of US military buildup off Venezuela's coast.
Machado is aligned with US hardliners who accuse Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of ties to criminal networks - claims that US intelligence has reportedly questioned.
This comes as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed that his country would not succumb to US pressure, as US President Donald Trump announced plans to begin land strikes against drug traffickers in the region.
"Our historic rebelliousness, the deep fusion of that rebelliousness that some in the world still do not understand because we are who we are and because their formula of lies, pressure, blackmail, and threats does not work with us. It does not work and it never will. We know where we stand, and we stand on solid ground, and we are building the beautiful model of society that our people deserve."
This follows the United States' seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast on Wednesday, marking the first American capture of Venezuelan oil cargo since sanctions were imposed in 2019.
The Trump administration does not recognise Maduro, in power since 2013, as Venezuela's legitimate leader.
The Venezuelan government denies accusations that the country ships narcotics to the United States.
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To sport now and in Formula One...
McLaren's Lando Norris has received his first Formula One Trophy in Tashkent after clinching the title in Abu Dhabi last week.
The 26-year-old is the 35th Formula One champion since the first in 1950 and the 11th Englishman to win the prize.
He beat outgoing champion Max Verstappen by two points in the 24 round season with McLaren teammate, Australian Oscar Piastri, coming in third.
Speaking at the ceremony, Norris thanked his team for their support.
"A congratulations, a thank you to McLaren, the team I've been with for many, many years, on giving both of us an incredible car that at times made our life very easy and beautiful, and we could bring home many wins to, yeah, all the way to the end of the season. Of course, Mr. Piastri, yeah, incredible teammate that I've had, who's helped me improve so much over the last few seasons.”
