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Vettel Warns Tire Wear Could Ruin Race

Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel warned disintegrating tires could ruin his Malaysian Grand Prix after some worrying signs during free practice on Friday.

Vettel, gunning for his fourth straight world title, said he didn't know if Red Bull would be able to stick to their planned pitstop strategy after his tires quickly fell apart on the Sepang circuit.

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Obama Visits Nativity Church in Bethlehem

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday visited Bethlehem's Nativity Church built on the site where tradition says Jesus was born, at the end of a three-day trip to Israel and the West Bank.

The visit took place later than expected because of an unexpected sandstorm which forced the president to travel by motorcade from Jerusalem rather than by helicopter as planned.

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Tunisia Camp for Libya Refugees to Close in June

A camp in southern Tunisia for people who fled the Libya conflict is to close in late June despite protests by residents who have failed to win asylum elsewhere, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday.

"Considering the significant reduction in the number of arrivals seeking asylum and thanks to the success of the resettlement operations, the Tunisian authorities and the UNHCR have agreed to close the Choucha transit camp on June 30," it said in a statement.

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U.N. Prolongs Probe into Syrian Rights Violations

The U.N. on Friday lamented the escalating violence in Syria and extended a probe into widespread human rights violations in the war-torn country.

The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council adopted with an overwhelming majority a resolution extending the mandate of a commission of inquiry created by the council in 2011 for another year.

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Cherry Trees Reach Full Bloom in Tokyo

Tokyo's cherry trees were in stunning full bloom on Friday, Japan's weather agency said, marking the second earliest blossoming in the capital on record.

The national weather service used Tokyo's central Yasukuni Shrine as a barometer to judge the peak of the season, which sees a riot of white and delicate pinks exploding in parks, temple grounds, schools and on streets.

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Five Killed in Iraq Attacks

Attacks in Iraq on Friday killed five people, including two anti-Qaida militiamen, officials said, the latest in an apparent spike in violence less than a month ahead of provincial elections.

In the deadliest attack, gunmen killed Hussein Musleh and two of his sons near their home in the village of Al-Jumhuriyah in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad.

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China Web Users Deluge Russia Blog with Insults

Chinese Internet users have deluged the microblog of the Russian embassy in Beijing with thousands of abusive comments within days of its opening, just ahead of a visit to Moscow by China's new president Xi Jinping.

The Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949 when its forces finally triumphed in the country's long civil war, and for a time it was closely allied with its ideological counterpart in the Soviet Union.

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German Business Confidence Sours in March

German business confidence fell for the first time in five months in March, data showed Friday, as disappointing economic data, political gridlock in Italy and the Cyprus crisis dampened the business climate in Europe's top economy.

The Ifo economic institute's closely watched business climate index slipped to 106.7 points in March from 107.4 points in February.

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Egypt Bedouin Kidnap Israeli, Norwegian Tourists

Armed Bedouin tribesmen in Egypt's Sinai peninsula abducted on Friday two tourists, an Israeli man and a Norwegian woman, as they traveled between two beach resorts, police said.

Six gunmen intercepted the tourists' car and forced them into their truck, the officials said. The pair had been traveling between the southern resort of Taba, on the border with Israel, and Dahab.

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Afghan Policeman Kills Five Colleagues

An Afghan policeman has shot dead five of his colleagues at a checkpoint in the northern province of Badghis, officials said Friday.

The attacker was a member of the U.S.-trained Afghan Local Police (ALP), a village-level policing program designed to provide security in some of Afghanistan's most dangerous and remote areas.

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