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By Michelle Nichols, Reuters Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking to the United Nations General Assembly. Photo: SPENCER PLATT/Getty Images/AFP Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday dismissed efforts by China and Brazil to end Russia's war in Ukraine, questioning why the pair were proposing an alternative to his own peace formula and warning: "You will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense." Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Nine months later Zelensky announced a 10-point peace plan to bring a just end to the war on the basis of the founding UN Charter and international law. Moscow rejected the plan. "The peace formula has already existed for two years, and maybe somebody wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography, for (a) frozen truce, inste...

By Hanan Dervisevic, ABC Fans were hoping for a night reminiscent of Netflix's wildly popular period romance Bridgerton. Photo: © 2024 Netflix, Inc. For fans of Netflix's wildly popular period romance Bridgerton, the chance to immerse oneself in the lavish costumes of the show is a dream come true. So fans in the US state of Michigan were excited by the prospect of an event billed as the "Detroit Bridgerton Ball". And with tickets reportedly costing between $US150 (NZ$243) and $US1000, expectations were high. However, as some guests reported on social media, it was hardly the event of the season. Now photos of the event have gone viral on social media, drawing comparisons to the infamous Willy Wonka-themed event in Scotland earlier this year. One attendee posted this photo of the ...

Steve Hinds. Photo: World Rugby The rugby community is mourning the death of long-serving New Zealand administrator Steve Hinds, who had risen to a key role in the global game. Hinds died following a short illness, prompting tributes from World Rugby, where he was the organisation's first full-time Citing Commissioner Manager. Hinds was a citing commissioner at three successive men's World Cups in 2007, 2011 and 2015 before joining World Rugby in 2017 where he oversaw the team of citing commissioners at the three subsequent World Cups, including the 2023 edition in France. On the playing field, Hinds was an influential lock forward for Wellington in the late 1970s and early '80s. He also represented the New Zealand Combined Services and New Zealand Police and played international matche...

By Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters Alphabet unit Google filed a complaint to the European Commission. Photo: JAKUB PORZYCKI NurPhoto via AFP Alphabet unit Google filed a complaint to the European Commission against what it said were Microsoft's anti-competitive practices to lock customers into Microsoft's cloud platform Azure. Google, whose biggest cloud computing rivals are Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, said Microsoft was exploiting its dominant Windows Server operating system to prevent competition. Google Cloud Vice President Amit Zavery told a briefing that Microsoft made customers pay a 400 percent mark-up to keep running Windows Server on rival cloud computing operators. This did not apply if they used Azure. Users of rival cloud systems would also get later and more limited se...

By Maya Gebeily and Ari Rabinovitch, Reuters Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Khiam. Photo: RABIH DAHER/AFP Israel's military chief told troops that air strikes in Lebanon would continue in order to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and to prepare the way for a possible ground operation by Israeli forces. Even as he spoke, sources said the United States had started a diplomatic push to stop the fighting in both Gaza and Lebanon, and that proposals were being hammered out at the UN General Assembly in New York. US President Joe Biden told ABC television that all-out war was possible, but added: "We're still in play to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region." Read more: Hundreds killed by Israeli ...