“That is, not everywhere, but only in those places where the humanitarian corridors themselves will be located, it will be possible to ceasefire for the duration of the evacuation,” he said.
They had also reached an understanding on the delivery of medicines and food to the places where the fiercest fighting was taking place.
It was the first time the two sides had agreed any form of progress on any issue since Russia invaded Ukraine a week ago.
But Podolyak said the outcome had fallen short of Ukraine’s hopes.
“To our great regret, we did not get the results we were counting on,” he said, without elaborating.
“The only thing I can say is that we discussed the humanitarian aspect in sufficient detail, because quite a lot of cities are now surrounded. There is a dramatic situation with medicines, food, and evacuation,” Podolyak said.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is satisfied with the progress of the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, on the eighth day of the “operation”.
“I would like to say that the special military operation is proceeding strictly on schedule and according to plan,” Putin said at the start of a meeting of the National Security Council on Thursday, according to state television.
“All tasks are being completed successfully.”
He offered his condolences to the relatives of Russian soldiers who have been killed in Ukraine and called for a minute’s silence for the 498 members of the armed forces who have died.
Putin said the dead soldiers’ families had received about 12.4 million roubles (about $A158,450) each while those who were injured were also given compensation payments.
SA records another spike in COVID cases
COVID-19 cases continue to surge in South Australia following the return of school and the Fringe festival, with SA Health reporting 2307 new cases on Thursday – the highest number in five weeks.
The last time the South Australian daily caseload was this high was January 26 when 2401 cases were reported.
In a statement yesterday afternoon, SA Health said another five people had died after testing positive for COVID-19, including a man and woman in their 40s, a man in his 70s, a man in his 90s and a woman in her 60s.
There were 104 people with COVID-19 in hospital, including nine in intensive care and one on a ventilator.
Of those in hospital, 58 were fully vaccinated, 22 were either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, and 24 had an unknown vaccination status.
All up, there were 18,150 active infections in the state on Thursday.
Premier Steven Marshall said there had been a recent “bump” in COVID-19 infections, but SA Health was able to handle the number of hospitalisations.
“We’re still very much within our capacity within hospitals,” he told reporters.
“We’ve seen that remain relatively flat for an extended period of time.
“We will be looking at easing restrictions further at the end of next week and we’ve been doing it in a two-week tranche arrangement for the last six weeks.”
Marshall said authorities were yet to decide which restrictions would ease from next week.
– Stephanie Richards
Schools shut as flooded Queensland braces for supercell
Queensland schools will remain shut today as the southeast braces for more severe thunderstorms and flooding after a historic week of rain.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the decision yesterday with only children of essential workers permitted at schools, as more dangerous storms are expected today.
“The safest place for people to be probably over the next 24 to 48 hours is in their homes, with their family and loved ones, not out on the roads, and of course allowing our emergency personnel to get where they need to go,” Palaszczuk said.
The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted flash flooding and minor to major flooding across areas in the southeast stretching from Brisbane’s north to Bundaberg.
These include creeks and catchments that are saturated from rainfall in the last seven days.
Totals of between 20xjmtzyw-80 millimetres are expected as a trough lingers over the southeast with high-intensity rainfall and totals of 150 millimetres or greater expected in isolated areas.
Meanwhile, in NSW, dozens of evacuation orders still in place around the state could be removed today, allowing many residents to return home.
But the Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Hunter and the Mid-North Coast, warning expected heavy rain could lead to flash flooding during the day.
Some 130,000 homes in the path of a spilling Warragamba Dam in the Hawkesbury-Nepean region in western Sydney got a reprieve on Thursday afternoon after being told any flooding was likely to be less than the levels seen in March 2021.
2022 Adelaide Festival opens
The 2022 Adelaide Festival officially opens today, with organisers saying a number of centrepiece shows – including opera The Golden Cockerel and international dance work Rite of Spring – have almost sold out despite the release this week of extra seats.
The 17-day program features 71 events spanning music, dance, film and visual art, with the box office figures to date set to be released at a media call later this morning.
Around 7500 people will flock to Adelaide Oval’s Village Green tomorrow night for the fully booked free opening night spectacular Macro.
A number of classical performances at UKARIA Cultural Centre and contemporary music gigs in pop-up Festival hub The Summerhouse have sold out, and limited tickets are left for several other shows such as UK dance-theatre piece Juliet and Romeo and State Theatre’s Girls & Boys.
Strong demand has seen an extra session added for the world premiere of the oratorio Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan.
The 2022 Adelaide Festival is the sixth presented by joint artistic directors Neil Armfield and Rachel Healy, but Healy will miss the opening weekend after been forced into seven days’ isolation after her son tested positive for COVID-19.
The Festival also encompasses Adelaide Writers’ Week, starting tomorrow in the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden; the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, opening today at the Art Gallery of South Australia, and WOMADelaide, which runs across four days next weekend.
See InReview for our full Adelaide Festival coverage.
Japan opens, France drops virus passport
Japan is set loosen border controls while French authorities announced the end of the use of the COVID-19 vaccine passport this month and as coronavirus case numbers fall in Sweden.
More people will be able to enter Japan, especially students, although the government has extended infection control measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus in several areas, including Tokyo.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday the country would this month raise the number of people who can enter Japan to 7000 a day from 5000 at present while exempting students from the daily limit and treating them as a separate category.
Kishida told a news conference the government would ease border restrictions further but gradually depending on the virus situation globally.
The further easing of the country’s strict border measures comes amid criticism that Tokyo’s calibrated approach allowed only a trickle of foreigners.
Meanwhile, rules requiring people to show a COVID-19 vaccine passport to access venues will be lifted in France on March 14 – about a month before the presidential election – French Prime Minister Jean Castex said.
“The health situation is improving,” Castex told TF1 television on Thursday.
Face masks will also no longer be needed indoors from March 14, with the exception of public transport.
The vaccine pass, however, remains mandatory to access aged care centres.
COVID-19 cases in Sweden are falling sharply, the country’s health agency said on Thursday, less than a month after nearly all pandemic-related restrictions were lifted.
The government removed curbs on restaurant opening hours and attendance limits for indoor venues on February 9, in a move that drew criticism from scientists at the time.
Macron launches French re-election bid
French President Emmanuel Macron says he will run for a second term in April’s elections, seeking a mandate to steer the euro zone’s second-largest economy through the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Macron announced his bid in a letter published by several regional newspapers.
