1. Liberals and Nationals lock horns of net-zero once again
Halfway through the election campaign and the National Party has sparked division in the ranks once again over the Coalition’s 2050 net-zero climate policy, which Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has labelled a non-negotiable. He says that net-zero emissions by 2050 is “what the National Party and the Liberal Party signed up to, that’s our policy, that’s our firm commitment.”

In response, Nationals senator Matt Canavan said: “If net-zero is alive and kicking, why are European countries desperate for our coal right now?”

“The UK is drilling for oil. Germany is opening up coal plants again ... what we should be doing is avoiding another carbon tax.”

2. Russia bars Poland and Bulgaria from gas supplies
Russia is ramping up sanctions of its own as it plans to cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday, targeting countries that refuse to pay for its commodity in rubles.

“The decision of Russia to stop gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria represents an historical turning point in the bilateral energy relationship and might well represent the preview of similar moves coming up vis-a-vis other European countries in coming weeks,” said Simone Tagliapietra, a researcher at the Bruegel think tank. “European governments now need to deploy all emergency measures they have at their disposal, both on the supply and demand side to ensure security of supply.”

3. Australia’s first crypto ETF experiences delays
We will have to wait a little longer for the release of the country’s first crypto ETF as Cosmos Asset Management’s Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF is still undergoing “standard checks” that have prevented its release, originally scheduled for today. “We anticipate to launch the product next week” pending a final regulatory green light, Dan Annan, chief executive officer at Cosmos, said in an interview

4. Tesla stock reacts unkindly to Twitter takeover
The world’s largest EV company, Tesla Inc. saw a massive sell off yesterday, culminating in a loss of US$126bn off its valuation and a 12% drop in the stock market. Notwithstanding the current bearishness of the tech sector as a whole, “Musk isn’t doing Tesla any favors by providing scant details on how he will cover the $21 billion equity piece that he personally guaranteed. What’s known is that Musk is using Tesla shares as collateral in the transaction. That has led to investor worry that the Tesla chief executive may sell some of his stake to fund the Twitter acquisition,” Bloomberg reports.

5. ASX to drop as tech continues decline
ASX futures were down 111 points or 1.5% to 7166 near 7am AEST, with the AUD -0.8% to 71.23 US cents. On Wall St: Dow -2.4% S&P 500 -2.8% Nasdaq -4%. 2-year yield: US -0.15% (2.48%) Australia -0.03% (2.32%). 10-year yield: US -0.10% (2.72%) Australia -0.03% (3.10%).