While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 21 edition

Islamic State claims Yemen mosque bombings that killed 142

The Islamic State group claimed multiple suicide bombings that killed at least 142 people on Friday at Shi'ite mosques in Yemen's capital - in one of the strife-torn country's deadliest-ever militant attacks.

The killings were the first claimed by IS in Yemen and represent a strong show of force by the group in a country where rival Al-Qaeda is the most prominent militant organisation.

Charred bodies and pools of blood were seen at the scene of the blasts, which targeted supporters of the Huthi Shi'ite militia that has seized control of the capital Sanaa. Worshippers rushed the wounded to hospitals in pick-up trucks, while others evacuated mutilated bodies.

In an online statement, the Sanaa branch of IS said the attacks were "just the tip of the iceberg".

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Foreign ministers of China, Japan, South Korea hold first talks in three years

The foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan gathered in Seoul on Saturday for their first meeting in nearly three years, aimed at calming regional tensions rooted in territorial and other diplomatic disputes.

The three countries have strong economic ties but overall relations have long been tainted by unresolved historical issues dating back to Japan's colonisation of the Korean peninsula and occupation of parts of China before and during World War II.

Both Beijing and Seoul have maintained a frosty distance from Tokyo in recent years, although Sino-Korean ties have been enjoying an upswing.

Washington has described the rift between South Korea and Japan - its two main military allies in Asia - as a "strategic liability", and would prefer they focus on forming a united front against an increasingly assertive China.

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Tunisian took break from travel agent job to shoot tourists

Shortly before he and a friend gunned down 20 foreign tourists at Tunisia's Bardo museum, Yassine al-Abidi sat down to a breakfast of olive oil and dates with his family and left for work at his travel agency as usual.

His relatives, mourning his death in a hail of police bullets in the midst of the attack, said they could not understand how a lively, popular young man with a taste for the latest imported clothes could have done such a thing.

But relatives said last year he had begun to spend more and more time at a local mosque, following a pattern of radicialisation of Tunisian young men who then find themselves fighting in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

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Formula One: German 2015 Grand Prix cancelled

Formula One Grand Prix organisers confirmed on Friday that the German leg of this year's championship scheduled for July 19 has been cancelled due to the lack of a venue.

Formula One's governing body, the FIA, has issued a revised calendar featuring just 19 races instead of the original 20.

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Football: Carrick signs one-year extension with Manchester United

Michael Carrick has signed a one-year extension with Manchester United, ending speculation over whether the England midfielder would remain at Old Trafford when his current deal expired in the close-season.

Carrick had a clause in his deal that gave the Premier League team an option to activate a one-year extension at any point, a move United boss Louis van Gaal has now approved after several impressive performances from the 33-year-old in recent weeks.

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