What we learned today, Saturday 1 October
And that’s where we’ll leave things for the day. These were the main events:
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, signed “accession treaties” formalising Russia’s illegal annexation of four occupied regions in Ukraine – Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk – marking the largest forcible takeover of territory in Europe since the second world war.
The Ukrainian government asked Australia to help it build support in the Pacific as it looks for more international aid to repel Russia’s move to annex parts of the country.
Health experts warned it is too soon to end mandatory Covid isolation and called for the release of the health advice that informed the government’s decision.
Peter FitzSimons announced he will step down as the chair of the Australian Republic Movement when his term ends in November.
In a speech at the CPAC conservative political conference, the former prime minister Tony Abbott described Australia as a “prison island” in its approach to Covid restrictions and lockdowns.
Thanks for joining us and we’ll be back with you tomorrow.
Updated
Dolly Parton festival brings joy to NSW central west
As we get ready to wind down the blog for the day, I’m going to leave you with this wonderful report by Stephanie Gardiner at AAP on Australia’s first Dolly Parton festival:
Dolly Parton says life in her Tennessee mountain home is peaceful as a baby’s sigh, while crickets sing in the fields nearby.
Though Narromine is 15,000 kilometres away, Parton’s ode could almost be about the rural town in central-west NSW.
The community of 6,000 is home to Australia’s first Dolly Parton festival, with crowds of people adorned in pink, sequins, butterflies and platinum blonde beehive wigs filling the main street on Saturday afternoon.
Strains of Parton’s I Will Always Love You and 9 to 5 drifted over the palm trees and spring blossoms on Dandaloo Street, while cardboard cutouts of the country queen stood in every window, including a farm workwear shop.
While the roads leading to Narromine were muddy and riddled with potholes from recent flooding, Dolly fans flocked in under blue skies and sunshine.
Narromine local Susie Rae, who organised the festival to put her hometown on the map, said she expected to sell 700 tickets but ended up with almost double the crowd.
“It’s been so tough for so long, with the drought, the mouse plague, Covid and now floods, that’s why the vibe is so good,” Rae said, wearing a rhinestone-covered outfit from Tennessee that arrived at her farm gate on Friday afternoon.
Posters lined the post office windows with Parton quotes like: “We cannot direct the wind, but we can direct the sails.”
Updated
