Welcome to the 9News.com.au live blog for Wednesday, August 31, 2022. Anthony Albanese has announced the isolation period for COVID-19 cases has been reduced from seven days to five, with some exceptions. Two NSW beaches have been closed following a shark attack. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who oversaw a peaceful end to the Cold War, has died aged 91. Sydney commuters have dealt with a morning of chaos but the rail union has promised two weeks of "relative peace" on the train lines.
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With Anthony Albanese's National Cabinet press conference done and dusted, we are going to close off our breaking news live blog for the day.
Here's what made news today:
The prime minister announced the isolation period for positive COVID-19 cases has been reduced from seven days to five, unless the person works in a high-risk setting or is still symptomatic.
Albanese also announced masks will no longer be required on domestic flights.
Sydney commuters have dealt with a day of chaos but the rail union has promised two weeks of "relative peace" on the train lines while negotiations continue.
Two beaches were closed after a young surfer was bitten by a shark on the NSW Central Coast.
Former Test cricketer and commentator Michael Slater has been charged with assaulting and trying to intimidate a man in a Sydney hospital, continuing his court troubles.
The US Justice Department said it uncovered efforts to obstruct its investigation of Donald Trump's Florida estate, saying "government records were likely concealed and removed" from a storage room at the property.
And Mikhail Gorbachev, the last-ever leader of the Soviet Union who helped end the Cold War, died aged 91.
Our breaking news live blog will return tomorrow morning. Until then, stay up to date with all the latest headlines at 9News.com.au and nine.com.au.
The "essential role" of early childhood education will be on the agenda at the government's upcoming jobs and skills summit, Albanese said.
So will "the importance of delivering nationally significant energy transmission projects".
The PM said the conversation about emissions will include supporting regional communities. The new national skills agreement will be put in place from January 1, 2024.
The isolation period for people with COVID-19 has been reduced to five days, with some caveats.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the National Cabinet agreed people without symptoms will no longer have to isolate for a week from a positive result.
"Clearly, if you have symptoms, we want people to stay home. We want people to act responsibly," he said.
"Seven days isolation will remain for workers in high-risk settings including aged care, disability care, home care is important as well.
"I believe, and first ministers agreed, that on the width of evidence, this was a proportionate response at this point in the pandemic.
"These changes will come into effect from next Friday, September 9," Albanese said.
Masks will no longer be mandatory on domestic flights and this change will also come into effect next week.
We are used to hearing world leaders talk in blizzards of numbers about targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and activists bidding higher, demanding the world move faster to net zero.
But has anyone sat down and done the calculations on the physical requirements of completely retooling an industrial system that was built over more than 100 years on coal, oil and gas?
Fossil fuel doesn't just power electricity systems and run cars, it is embedded in the manufacture of steel, cement, plastic and the ammonia used to fertilise the world's crops.
Physicist and former Australian mining engineer associate professor Simon Michaux has spent years looking at the hard data on making this transition. He now works for the Geological Survey of Finland and set out to answer the question: what kinds of minerals and in what quantities will be required to supply the incoming lithium-ion battery factories of Europe?
READ 9NEWS POLITICAL EDITOR CHRIS UHLMANN'S FULL ANALYSIS
Former Test cricketer and commentator Michael Slater has been charged with assaulting and trying to intimidate a man in a Sydney hospital, continuing his court troubles.
The 52-year-old didn't appear before Manly Local Court on Wednesday, entering pleas of not guilty through a lawyer to two charges of common assault and one of attempted intimidation.
The alleged offences against a 36-year-old man occurred on July 18 at the Northern Beaches Hospital.
READ THE FULL STORY
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will speak to the media in about an hour following a meeting of national cabinet, where a possible reduction of the COVID-19 isolation period was on the agenda.
You'll be able to watch the press conference right here in the video player above at 4:45pm (AEST).
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