Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly stepping up efforts to show he is still firmly in control of the country and its military despite last week’s rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group that could have turned into a coup.

Western observers of Russian politics say Mr Putin has in recent days attended numerous ceremonies and events to give the impression that it is “business as usual” in the Kremlin power structure.

However, they concede that because they rely largely on news from Russia’s state-controlled media outlets, it can be difficult to determine the veracity of some reports.

“For instance, we are still trying to analyse Russian reports of Putin’s supposed recent visit to a Black Sea beach resort (main picture) to determine their authenticity,” one political analyst said.

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The presidents of Ukraine and France have spoken overnight in a bid to urgently reach a new agreement on the supply of additional weapons and other offensive and defensive military equipment.

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said a new agreement was needed urgently in the wake of recent offensives.

“As a result of riots and other civil unrest after the shooting of that young man by traffic police, Ukraine stands ready to send France whatever equipment it requests to ensure its democratically elected government doesn’t fall,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the offer, telling the French people in a televised address to the nation (below) that although the country at present was in “merde profonde” they should stay calm.

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Just days after officially starting work, the new National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)  plans to seek more staff and resources from the Albanese Government.

NACC Commissioner Paul Brereton said the watchdog’s workload had already exceeded its ability to receive, examine, and potentially investigate complaints in a timely manner.

“The NACC started operations on July 1,” he explained, “and by the end of its first day we had received enough complaints to keep us going for years, if not decades. So basically we need far more staff and resources than we currently have.

“The root cause of this dramatic work overload is the fact that just about every single decision and every single initiative of the former Morrison Government has been referred to us by someone concerned about the probity of those decisions and initiatives.

“I must admit that at first glance they’ve all got a damn good case, so we’ve got our work well and truly cut out for us until about 2060 unless we get extra resources and staff,” he said.

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