What we learned today, Saturday 26 February
We’ll leave our live Australian news coverage here for the day. This is how things stand:
- The Australian foreign minister, Marise Payne, announced sanctions targeting eight Russian oligarchs of “key economic and strategic significance” and said Australia would also look to personally sanction Vladimir Putin. She said expelling Russian diplomats from Australia was “a live option”.
- Payne also said she would meet with the new Chinese ambassador to Australia “in due course”.
- Two people have died in Queensland floods overnight including an SES volunteer, bringing the death toll from the floods in that state to four. A man also died in flood waters on the NSW central coast this week.
- Two people remain missing in the Queensland floods.
- Evacuation orders were issued for Gympie, where 700 people are in areas at risk from the rising Mary River, and residents in low-lying areas of the Lockyer Valley were also told to get to higher ground “as a matter of urgency”.
- Flood levels at the Mary River at Gympie were expected to exceed the 1999 floods, when the river peaked at 21.75 metres. It had already exceeded 2011 and 2013 levels.
- The Bureau of Meteorology warned of further flash flooding and possible landslides as heavy rain continued into tomorrow.
- There were 35 Covid-related deaths reported in Australia today.
- SBS dropped Russian state media outlets NTV Moscow and Russia Today.
- And finally, the humpback whale was removed from Australia’s threatened species list after a bounce back in numbers.
We’ll see you tomorrow. You can continue to follow our rolling coverage of the situation in Ukraine here.
Updated
People in low-lying areas near Lockyer River urged to evacuate
Flood sirens have been sounded in Grantham, west of Brisbane, on Saturday afternoon, urging residents in low-lying areas near the Lockyer River to get to higher ground, AAP has reported.
“The community are advised this is not a test and should respond accordingly,” the Lockyer Valley council said in a statement.
“Residents should move to higher ground and relocate to family and friends as a matter of urgency.”
Updated
