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Departing coach Rob Penney expects his Canterbury Crusaders to bounce back next year after the 13-time Super Rugby champions' season-ending record loss to the "smoking hot" Waikato Chiefs.

The World Cup arrived in the United States on Friday with a Hollywood-style opening ceremony before the tournament's third co-hosts kick off their opener in Los Angeles against Paraguay.

The term "narco-terrorist" has been weaponized just as the word "communist" was in the past, Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu told AFP in an interview.

Fans tuning in for the first 2026 World Cup game on US soil Friday night might be a bit confused: why had they never heard of Los Angeles Stadium before?

Elon Musk, newly crowned the world's first trillionaire, faced renewed criticism Friday over anti-immigrant riots in Belfast after researchers said violent narratives he amplified on his platform X amassed millions of views.

The United States launch their World Cup challenge on Friday, taking on Paraguay in the first game in the tournament on US soil for 32 years.

More than 20 years after its founding, SpaceX made history Friday with its record-high stock market debut, crowning a unique journey marked by dazzling successes but also catastrophic failures and unfulfilled promises.

The US Justice Department on Friday cleared Paramount Skydance's $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, handing a major win to a media empire financed by one of President Donald Trump's closest billionaire allies.

A US deportation flight landed in the Central African Republic on Friday, lawyers and activists said, carrying nationals from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Georgia as part of the latest "third-country" deportation under US President Donald Trump.

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup against the White Sox in Chicago on Friday, a day after he exited a game early with discomfort in his left knee.

Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday that the five-time World Cup winners have a team capable of competing with the very best, as they bid to end a 24-year wait for another global crown.

England made a flying start to the Women's T20 World Cup as Danni Wyatt-Hodge's blistering century inspired an 87-run rout of Sri Lanka on Friday.

A major military operation against criminal gangs in southeastern Venezuela has left a trail of ghost towns and abandoned mines in its wake.

OG Anunoby, who sent New York into a frenzy with a game-winning tip-in that put the Knicks on the brink of the NBA title, says he's "grateful" to suddenly find himself among the city's sports pantheon.

Co-hosts Canada grabbed a second-half equaliser to draw 1-1 with Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday in the first World Cup finals game ever played on Canadian soil.

It will be Knicks vs. the World Cup in New York on Saturday, and only one winner.

Iranian and US officials said Friday a deal to end the Middle East war was closer than ever, with mediator Pakistan also expressing optimism that an elusive agreement was within reach.

Football idol David Beckham joined the ranks of entertainment royalty on Friday when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, hours before the United States hosts its first game of the 2026 World Cup.

As Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama appeared at a rally of jubilant supporters on Friday in Tirana, thousands were already filling a nearby boulevard, repeating daily calls for his resignation.

Alex Grimaldo believes Spain can emulate their Golden Generation by winning the World Cup two years after being crowned European champions.

Britain's Katie Boulter shocked world number two Elena Rybakina with the most impressive win of her career in the Queen's Club quarter-finals on Friday.

The New York Knicks authored the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history to put themselves on the cusp of a title but say they can't keep falling so far behind if they want to lift the trophy for the first time in more than 50 years.

British artist David Hockney, who has died at the age of 88, spoke to AFP in 2021 about spending the months of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in France.

Shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX closed almost 20 percent higher on their trading debut Friday after the biggest IPO in history, making the polarizing entrepreneur the world's first trillionaire as he vowed to take humanity to Mars.

US actor Justin Baldoni must pay legal fees but not damages to "It Ends with Us" co-star Blake Lively, a New York judge ruled Friday, settling a years-long legal battle.

President Donald Trump called the US World Cup squad ahead of their debut match against Paraguay, the team said Friday.

Thomas Partey, who is facing trial in Britain on rape charges, will miss Ghana's World Cup opener against Panama after Canadian authorities denied him a visa, FIFA said on Friday.

The European Union will resume membership talks with Ukraine on Monday, the bloc announced, after Hungary lifted the veto imposed by its previous pro-Russian leader.

Victor Wembanyama says the San Antonio Spurs have shaken off the biggest single-game collapse in NBA Finals history and are ready to do what needs to be done against the New York Knicks on Saturday.

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen is one of New Jersey's most famous native sons, and the Garden State is honoring The Boss with a new museum that celebrates his legacy and the history of American music.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Friday announced greater freedoms for small businesses across the country, as the communist government takes steps to liberalize the island's economy in the face of a crippling US blockade.

Scotland star Scott McTominay is ready for the team's opening World Cup game against Haiti on Saturday after overcoming a stomach bug, coach Steve Clarke has said.