The officer of the NZ Order of Merit died at her Omokoroa home this weekend.

The Sandbox Fandom Festival attracted some wild and wacky costumes to Whangārei

After a week at the UN General Assembly dominated by discussion of Russia's war in Ukraine, Moscow struck back on Saturday, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressing delegates first in a speech to the General Assembly hall.

He then turned to the international press in a wide-ranging briefing full of recriminations against the West – which he described as an "empire of lies".

"In the speeches of many speakers who spoke before me, the idea was already voiced that our common planet is undergoing irreversible changes, and a new world order is being born before our eyes," Lavrov said in his address to fellow member states.

"The contours of the future are being created in the struggle between the world majority, who advocate a more equitable distribution of global wealth and civilizational diversity, and between those few who use neocolonial methods of subjugation to maintain their elusive dominance."

READ MORE: Anti-monarchy campaigners stage protest inside Buckingham Palace

Lavrov would not have been the first this week to argue that outdated global governance structures are hampering momentum toward climate and economic justice.

But his focus was on Ukraine's Western backers and NATO – a mutual defence organisation formed in the aftermath of World War II to defend Western nations from the Soviet Union.

As Russia's war in Ukraine grinds on and Western allies continue to funnel military assistance to Kyiv, Lavrov warned on Saturday that he considered the US and UK and others to be "directly at war with us".

"We can call this a hybrid war but that doesn't change the reality," Lavrov told journalists.

"They are effectively engaged in hostilities with us using the Ukrainians as fodder."

Lavrov dismissed a peace framework proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "not feasible".

READ MORE: Gruesome find in alligator's jaws in Florida creek

The plan does not contemplate ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia or abandoning Kyiv's efforts to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation – two sticking points for Moscow.

The Russian Foreign Minister also shut down the possibility of Russia returning to the Black Sea grain deal, saying the Kremlin felt it had been deceived.

"The main reason why we left this deal and it ceased to exist is that everything that was promised to us turned out to be a deception," Lavrov said.

Russia withdrew from the UN-brokered deal in July, after saying for some time that it had been prevented from adequately exporting its own foodstuffs.

The now-collapsed deal had allowed Ukraine to export much-needed grain by sea, with ships bypassing a Russian blockade in order to reach global markets.

The UN, created in the 1940s, does reflect a previous era, with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council wielding a disproportionate amount of power in the organisation.

But as one of those so-called P5 countries, Russia has also significantly benefited from the existing structure, notably vetoing resolutions about its war in Ukraine.

Among the many proposed reforms to the UN from various corners, Ukraine has said Russia should be stripped of its Security Council veto power and expelled from the organisation for breaching a fundamental tenet of the UN – violating the territorial sovereignty of a fellow member-state.

Bryant was described as “an ardent supporter of clubs across the country”.

One person was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

The Tukituki candidate is hopeful to get more votes than three years ago.

Shocking video has emerged of two hooded figures catching a ride on the back of a train in Melbourne.

The pair can be seen narrowly avoiding the power lines hanging just centimetres above the carriage carrying 1500 volts of electricity.

Metro Trains has slammed the stunt, labelling it "stupidity of the highest order".

READ MORE: Man charged after alleged samurai sword attack at Sydney unit

The two would-be "subway surfers" can be seen precariously perched on the back of the train as it pulls away from the platform in the vision.

As the train departs, the pair wave to the camera.

A spokesperson for Metro Trains was quick to respond to the footage.

"Melbourne's rail network is not a playground, and those who treat it like one are only putting themselves at risk of serious injury or death," the spokesperson said.

"Train surfing and coupler riding is stupidity of the highest order – and no stunt, thrill or social media post is worth a life."

"Beyond the obvious risk to life, these incidents can stop train services in their tracks and cause significant and unnecessary disruption to passengers."

The dangerous act can also be met with fines of more than $400.

Metro trains' security team is working with Victoria Police to investigate incidents of train surfing, coupler riding and trespassing.

READ MORE: Major delays after man trespasses on tracks in Melbourne

In April, NSW authorities launched a crackdown on the potentially deadly act of clinging onto the back of speeding trains

Transport bosses warned of a spike in the "extremely dangerous and stupid" crime.

Trains bosses said incidents are rising, up over 13 per cent since 2021, with school holidays also to blame for the spike.

Eleven people have died because of illegal trespassing in rail corridors in the past five years, including people in the past year, Sydney Trains said.

Anti-monarchy campaigners have staged what organisers are calling the "first-ever" protest inside Buckingham Palace.

"The group of local activists from different parts of the UK visited the palace as tourists, before standing in the Grand Hall," Britain's largest anti-monarchist group, Republic, said in a statement.

The group released a photo where protesters can be seen standing inside the palace wearing T-shirts that spelled out "Not My King".

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"The protest is the latest in a series of actions aimed at pushing forward the debate about the future of the monarchy," Republic said in a statement.

The group said six of the activists involved were briefly detained by security, before being escorted out of the front gate.

Buckingham Palace told CNN that it doesn't comment on security matters.

CNN has reached out to London's Metropolitan Police for comment.

The organisers described the protest as a "fantastic statement of intent, citizens standing up in the home of the monarchy to declare their opposition to hereditary power".

The group's chief executive Graham Smith in a statement called King Charles III "an untouchable monarch" who is not "immune to criticism and doesn't enjoy the deference that protected the monarchy while his mother was on the throne".

"Republic will continue to protest against the monarchy up and down the country, with the next protest set for the state opening of parliament on November 7," Smith added.

The group was also involved in organising anti-monarchy protests around King Charles' coronation ceremony earlier this year.

The body of a 41-year old woman has been found between the jaws of a 4-metre alligator in Florida.

Police were called to a creek by a highway in the Tampa Bay area on Friday afternoon, after the reptile measuring 3.96 metres was spotted in a canal with human remains.

With the help of local wildlife officers, the alligator was shot dead and loaded onto the back of a truck.

READ MORE: Man attacked with samurai sword in Sydney's west

Deputies from the police's dive team then recovered the woman's body from the creek.

Police and the local medical examiners soon identified the victim as 41-year-old woman Sabrina Peckham.

The woman's next of kin were notified after the grisly find, and police are continuing to investigate the circumstances that led to her death.

READ MORE: Armed man shot dead by police in Kalgoorlie was local grandfather

An autopsy is being conducted to determine the cause of death.

Adult American alligators can measure 3.4m to 4.6m in length, and can weigh up to 500 kg.

While alligators are common in the southern US state, attacks that leave people dead are relatively rare.

A man has been taken to hospital after allegedly being attacked with a samurai sword in Sydney's west overnight.

The 26-year-old man suffered multiple stab wounds to his arms and legs in the alleged assault at a property on Ann Street in Lidcombe about midnight.

He was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to Westmead Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

READ MORE: Man shot dead by police in WA was local grandfather

"Police were told that he was stabbed multiple times by a 25-year-old man with a sword," police said in a statement.

The 25-year-old man was arrested at the scene and taken to Auburn Police Station.

He was charged with wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court today.