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Elon Musk, the world's richest man, is positioned to have sweeping powers in the second Trump administration as a deputy tasked with restructuring government operations using his aggressive approach to business.

Damian McKenzie and Asafo Aumua will start for New Zealand in their showdown against Ireland on Friday in the only two, injury-enforced, changes to the run-on 15 that edged England.

For the last 17 years a worldwide army of online sleuths obsessively tried to figure out the title of what has been dubbed "the most mysterious song on the internet".

US President-elect Donald Trump can seize untrammeled power in Washington should his Republicans gain full control of Congress, a feat his party may well achieve as it leads the race for the House of Representatives.

Residents in a handful of US states extended or enshrined into law the right to an abortion, results showed Wednesday, while voters in Florida and South Dakota defeated measures that would have increased access.

Hezbollah said Wednesday that tens of thousands of its militants were ready to fight Israel, adding that the US election result would have no bearing on the war in Lebanon.

Donald Trump's victory has left Mexico bracing for potential trade tensions, tariffs and mass migrant deportations that experts say could pose a major test of relations between the closely connected neighbors.

Zheng Qinwen continued to deliver in her breakthrough season as she advanced to the semi-finals of the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Wednesday with victory over Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a quarter-point interest rate cut this week, shrugging off the economic uncertainty raised by Donald Trump's US election victory to continue easing borrowing costs on the back of cooling inflation.

France's highest court on Wednesday ordered a re-trial of Papa Massata Diack, the son of the disgraced former head of global athletics Lamine Diack.

Young volunteers have spearheaded a humanitarian campaign for victims of Spain's deadliest floods in decades, smashing stereotypes of an apathetic and feeble "snowflake generation" interested in nothing other than themselves.

Wall Street rallied into record territory, the dollar soared and bitcoin scaled a new peak Wednesday as the world gears up for another Donald Trump presidency.

Israelis in Jerusalem welcomed Donald Trump's US election triumph on Wednesday, hoping he might help end the wars devastating the region, while some called it "part of God's plan".

For years, Serbia's leaders boasted of launching a building spree across the country that had touched off a new era of prosperity in the Balkan country.

Manchester United interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy says he has not yet spoken with incoming manager Ruben Amorim over his future at the club as he seeks to kickstart their Europa League campaign.

Hugo Keenan, Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen, who missed the epic Ireland victory over South Africa to tie a summer series, have been recalled to the starting line-up for Friday's blockbuster Test with New Zealand.

The Kremlin has said it will judge Donald Trump, who has vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine conflict, on his "actions" in office, as many in the West fear his second term could spell disaster for Kyiv.

From far-right billionaire provocateur Elon Musk to young firebrand J.D. Vance and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a new Trump administration is set to bring a contrarian cast of characters into the White House.

Donald Trump's return to the White House with his protectionist policies poses threats for the global economy, with the prospect of new trade wars, resurgent inflation and slower growth, experts say.

Cuba is bracing for Hurricane Rafael, which is expected to make landfall Wednesday and compound the misery wrought by a recent power blackout and Hurricane Oscar.

Enzo Maresca said Wednesday that Chelsea are "one team, one squad" despite his policy of making wholesale changes for Conference League matches.

Jason Robinson believes Immanuel Feyi-Waboso can star for the 2025 British and Irish Lions in Australia, even though the next fortnight will be "massive" for the fledgling England wing's hopes of making the combined team's squad.

Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday want Donald Trump, who won the US election, to end the war between Israel and Hamas that has devastated their territory.

Pakistan's most populated province of Punjab on Wednesday ordered schools closed in smog-hit main cities, shifting them to online learning until November 17, as the country battles record air pollution.

Spanish police said Wednesday that they had seized 13 tonnes of cocaine -- the country's largest-ever haul of the drug -- and made one arrest.

Rory McIlroy feels that with Donald Trump sweeping the US presidential elections, a resolution in the PGA Tour-LIV Golf stand-off might be in sight.

Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 US presidential election is likely to usher in a raft of economic changes at home and abroad, touching everything from foreign trade to the independence of the US central bank.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday congratulated US presidential election winner Donald Trump and urged continued close trans-Atlantic ties, telling him in English: "We're better off together".

Pep Guardiola finds himself in unusual territory as he tries to work out how to turn things around at Manchester City after a surprise slump following eight years of almost unbroken success.

Lebanon said Wednesday that it had filed a complaint with the United Nations' labour agency over deadly attacks on communication devices across the country in September, which it blames on Israel.

Former Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy should be paid the majority of the £11.5 million ($15 million) in unpaid wages withheld by the club after he was charged with rape and sexual assault in 2021, a ruling by a UK judge said on Wednesday.

US allies at NATO scrambled Wednesday to put a brave face on the return of Donald Trump to the White House amid fears the unpredictable Republican could upend European security and pull the plug on Ukraine support.