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Djokovic crashes to nervous Arnaldi in Madrid opener, Swiatek advances
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Olympic champs Russell, Davis-Woodhall win at Drake Relays
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Browns end Sanders long draft slide
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Cavs crush Heat, on brink of NBA playoff sweep
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Fire rages after major blast at Iran port kills 8, injures hundreds
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Kiwi Beamish wins Penn Relays 1,500m crown with late kick
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Mbappe on Real Madrid bench for Clasico Copa del Rey final
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England survive France fightback to seal Women's 6 Nations slam
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Palace sweep past Villa to reach FA Cup final
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CAF appoint Moroccan Lekjaa first vice-president
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Major blast at Iran port kills 5, injures hundreds
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Rodgers vows to stay with Celtic after fourth successive Scottish title
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Ipswich relegated as Newcastle, Chelsea boost top five bids
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Canada leaders make final pitches in campaign upended by Trump
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Mullins -- Ireland's national training treasure
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US, Iran say progress in 'positive' nuclear talks
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Mullins emulates O'Brien with second successive trainer's title
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Ipswich relegated after one season in Premier League
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Just Stop Oil activist group holds final march
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Djokovic crashes to nervous Arnaldi in Madrid opener
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Syria's Kurds demand 'democratic decentralised' Syria
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Leverkusen win to delay Bayern and Kane's title party
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Buenos Aires farewells native pontiff with tears and calls to action
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Turkey's opposition says Erdogan's canal plan behind latest arrests
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Maresca hails 'nasty' Chelsea as top five bid stays alive
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Trump raises Putin doubts after Zelensky talks at pope's funeral
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Major blast at Iran port kills 4, injures hundreds
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Napoleon's sword to be sold at auction in Paris
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Iran, US discuss nuclear deal in third round of talks
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Buenos Aires farewells native pontiff with call to action
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Warholm sets hurdles world record at Diamond League, Holloway shocked
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US students 'race' sperm in reproductive health stunt
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Wikileaks founder Assange joins crowds for pope funeral
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Leader Marc Marquez claims Spanish MotoGP sprint victory
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Celtic win fourth successive Scottish Premiership title
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Jackson ends drought as Chelsea boost top five push
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Warholm sets 300m hurdles world record in Diamond League opener
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Major blast at south Iran port kills 4, injures hundreds
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Russia says retook Kursk from Ukraine with North Korean help
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Francis laid to rest as 400,000 mourn pope 'with an open heart'
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Trump, Zelensky meet on sidelines of pope's funeral
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'Shared loss': Filipino Catholics bid Pope Francis farewell
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Families unable to reunite as India-Pakistan border slams shut
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Major blast at south Iran port injures hundreds
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Foreign carmakers strive for 'China Speed' to stay in race
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Pakistan says open to neutral probe into Kashmir attack after India threats
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Hundreds of thousands at funeral mourn pope 'with an open heart'
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Quartararo sets Spanish MotoGP record to claim pole
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Hamas says open to 5-year Gaza truce, one-time hostages release
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Iran, US hold new round of high-stakes nuclear talks

Mont Blanc: The Holy Grail of ultra-trail running
More than 2,000 runners will on Friday set off for the 20th edition of the Mont Blanc Ultra Trail, a hellish 170-kilometre trail run in weather that is already turning wintry.
As in every edition since 2003, the strains of "Conquest of Paradise" by Greek composer Vangelis, will ring out at 6:00 pm in the "Triangle de l'Amitie" (Friendship Triangle) in Chamonix to accompany the athletes' first strides.
Tens of thousands of spectators are expected in the ski resort for the occasion to cheer on the runners who have come from all over the world for the gruelling challenge.
The course, which dips from France into Italy and Switzerland, and passes through Courmayeur, the Grand Col Ferret and Champex has a total climb of around 10,000 metres (32,800 feet).
It was originally designed to be completed by hikers in seven days but to be considered a "finisher" of the Mont Blanc Ultra Trail (UTMB, to give it its French abbreviation) you have to cross the finish line in 46 hours and 30 minutes.
Astonishingly, the fastest competitors should take around 20 hours to complete this tour of Mont Blanc, meaning they will cross the line on Saturday.
"It’s our Tour de France, the final of the Champions League, the most important event of the year," said British trail runner Damian Hall, who finished fifth in the Mont Blanc race in 2018 but will not take part this year.
In the absence of Spanish star Kilian Jornet, the four-time winner of the event who is injured this year, there is no clear favourite.
Frenchman Mathieu Blanchard, the only man apart from Jornet to have gone below the symbolic 20-hour mark in 2022 with a time of 19 hours, 54 minutes and 50 seconds, will have to achieve another extraordinary performance to win.
He finished seventh in the Western States 100-mile trail race in California in June, falling below his expectations.
"After that, I took a big hit to my morale, but I arrived in the Chamonix region at the beginning of August and I have done a few enormous weeks of training. I'm not tired, not sore," Blanchard told AFP.
Could he win the UTMB? "The signs are there," he said enthusiastically.
American Jim Walmsley, who moved to the Mont Blanc region in 2022 with the sole aim of winning the race, and Britain's Tom Evans will also fancy their chances.
M.A.Colin--AMWN