Plug-in solar panels could save households up to $370 a year – if Australia made them legal as in the UK 29. August 2026 (07:13) A plug-in solar kit that costs about $1,000 ‘pays for itself in three years’, one expert saysGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMillions of Australians could be saving up to $370 a year on energy bills and doing their bit for the climate crisis if Labor followed the UK’s lead in legalising plug-in solar panels, an advocacy group has said.Plug-in solar refers to small standalone solar units that could be attached to balconies or used in back yards and plugged into power points, offsetting the energy used by household appliances. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Winter panic’: EU gas stores at their lowest level in 13 years 29. August 2026 (07:00) As one of Europe’s biggest consumers of gas the UK may be particularly exposed to heightened price volatilityEurope is on course to enter the cooler months with gas stores at their lowest level in 13 years, which has triggered “winter panic” among energy traders, experts have warned.The EU’s gas stocks were 63% full in the last week of August, well below the 80% average for late August over recent years and among the lowest levels ever recorded for this time of year. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Hilarity, unease and relief: games show China is not over the finish line in humanoid robot race 29. August 2026 (07:00) World Humanoid Robot Games showcased leaps Beijing has made in the tech, but also highlighted limitations as US rivals prepare their own launchesWith exploding pelvises, enough comic pratfalls for a Buster Keaton show reel and the odd moment of ruthless violence, the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing gripped the world this week with an unsettling mixture of hilarity, trepidation and relief.The five-day showcase staked out China’s claim to undisputed leadership in humanoid robotics as android martial artists landed knockout roundhouse kicks and robot teams marched into the arena heralded by flag-waving captains astride giant robotic dogs. The games’ blue-riband event, the 100m, did not disappoint when the robot-sprinters ran quicker than Usain Bolt before slamming mindlessly into a padded wall in a blaze of sparks, flames and flying mechanical limbs. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Ireland will be united, says Gordon Brown 29. August 2026 (07:00) Former PM believes Northern Ireland will leave UK in the long term – but remains opposed to Scottish independenceThe former prime minister Gordon Brown has said it is inevitable that Ireland will become united at some point in the future, in a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian.While he added that any union would necessarily be “a long process” and based on mutual agreement, Brown’s comments are notable both because of his vehement opposition to Scottish independence, but also because of his involvement in government in efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘The butcher may be gone, but to many he is a hero’: victims condemn glorification of Mladić 29. August 2026 (06:00) Architect of Srebrenica genocide is dead but those scarred by his atrocities say his ideology is still shockingly pervasiveTo most of the world, he was and will always be the “Butcher of Bosnia”, a grim epithet but one that still fails to fully convey the evil and horror inflicted on its people by Gen Ratko Mladić, who died in prison on Thursday.As commander of the Bosnian Serb forces, Mladić was responsible for the killing of an estimated 100,000 men, women and children during the savage breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. He was most notoriously the architect of ethnic cleansing and the genocide at Srebrenica in which at least 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were slaughtered. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
What we know about the Australians missing in the Nepal floods 29. August 2026 (05:54) More than 40 Australians are among several thousand people unaccounted for after catastrophic flooding on the Nepal-Tibet borderHow the deadly Nepal and Tibet flash flood unfolded – a visual guideGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAn 11-year-old child, an ADF member and many other pilgrims and trekkers have been named among the Australians missing after deadly flash floods and landslides tore through valleys on the Nepal-Tibet border.As of Saturday there were 41 Australians among almost 2,500 people reported missing in the disaster, including at least 777 foreigners. At least 93,000 people were estimated to have been affected by the disaster, according to the Red Cross. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Chinese rescuers find ‘nothing but ruins’ at border crossing as Nepal seeks help to ID and store the dead 29. August 2026 (04:49) Nepal and China continue arduous search and rescue operations in flood-hit HimalayasVisual guide: how the deadly flooding unfoldedNepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updatesA Chinese rescue team has reached the all-but-obliterated Gyirong border crossing complex for the first time and found “nothing but ruins” as Nepal and China continue their arduous rescue operations in the flood-hit Himalayas.Surveillance camera footage from the worst-hit Gyirong border crossing complex showed huge torrents of water and debris on Wednesday engulfing buildings and people trying to flee. Only on Friday were rescuers able to reach the area. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Controversial plans for a Daniel Andrews sculpture officially scrapped by Victorian government 29. August 2026 (01:47) The $134,000 cost of the statue of the former Victorian premier has been heavily criticised by the Liberal oppositionGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Carroll government in Victoria has cancelled controversial plans for a statue of former Labor premier Daniel Andrews.Work began in May on the statue commemorating the former premier’s more than 3,000 days in office, as part of a 1999 policy recognising long-serving Victorian premiers. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump announces new US oil agreement with Venezuela 29. August 2026 (01:34) US president says US will have ‘majority’ control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reservesDonald Trump announced Friday a new US oil agreement with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, saying the US will have “majority” control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves.The terms of the agreement remain to be seen, but the US president said on his social-media platform that it had been brokered “through a partnership with private business” by his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Man, 41, dies after large sign falls at Christian festival in West Sussex 29. August 2026 (01:07) Six more people hospitalised after incident at Big Church festival near SteyningA 41-year-old man has died and at least six other people have been injured after a large sign fell at a Christian festival in West Sussex, police said.The man, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, was pronounced dead at the scene after the incident at the Big Church festival near Steyning on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
