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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s government efficiency panel wants “high IQ” employees and plans weekly livestreams, according to X posts about President-elect Donald Trump’s initiative to streamline the U.S. bureaucracy. Trump named Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the panel on Tuesday. Their mission is to propose dramatic cuts to the federal workforce, regulations and spending. Given the ambitious claims made by Musk and Trump about … Read more…

By Carolina Mandl NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hedge funds including Millennium Management, Capula Management and Tudor Investment increased their exposure to U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the third quarter, securities filings showed, as a popular election-driven arbitrage trade ramped up. President-elect Donald Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising friendly regulation and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin. The cryptocurrency surpassed the $90,000 level to reach an all-time high earlier this week, … Read more…

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) – Options players are piling in to riskier bets across the U.S. stock market, supporting a rally that has come on the back of fading election worries and expectations of a Republican lock on power in Washington next year.  The bullish plays span a wide array of assets, from electric car maker Tesla to small-cap stocks and regional banks. Together, they have helped drive the S&P 500’s gain … Read more…

By Eva Manez VALENCIA (Reuters) – The leader of Spain’s Valencia region defended his handling of catastrophic floods that killed more than 200 people, saying on Friday he did everything possible in the face of a “monstrous avalanche of water that exceeded all weather forecasts”. Addressing regional lawmakers, Carlos Mazon rejected calls to resign, although he said he would not evade responsibility and sought forgiveness over last month’s disaster. “I am not going to deny … Read more…

By Nafisa Eltahir and Khalid Abdelaziz CAIRO/DUBAI (Reuters) – Dozens of escaped residents of the besieged town of al-Hilaliya in Sudan’s El Gezira state have tested positive for cholera, a medical source told Reuters, in a development that provides a likely explanation for the reported deaths of hundreds there. While local activists say that more than 300 people have died, a group of Hilaliya residents in the diaspora provided to Reuters a list of more … Read more…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to select Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Politico reported on Thursday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Kennedy ran for president in this year’s election as an independent before dropping out in August and endorsing Trump in exchange for a role in the Republican’s administration. “He’s going to help make America healthy again,” Trump said … Read more…