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  China controls the rare earths the world buys - can Trump's new deals change that? US President Donald Trump has signed a flurry of deals on his Asia visit to secure the supply of rare earths, a critical sector that China has long dominated. The deals with Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia differ in size and substance and it's too early to assess their tangible impact. But they all include efforts to diversify access to the minerals that have become essential for advanced manufacturing, from electric vehicles to smartphones. The agreements, which aim to lock partners into trading with the US, are a clear bid to reduce dependence on China, ahead of a key meeting with its leader Xi Jinping. They could eventually challenge Beijing's stranglehold over rare earths, but experts say it will be a costly process that will take years. "Building new mines, refining facilities, and processing plants in regions such as Australia, the United States, and Europe comes ...
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Blake Lively drops two claims against Justin Baldoni


The actress Blake Lively has attempted to withdraw two of the claims she made about director Justin Baldoni.

Both have been engaged in a legal dispute since Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024 after they worked together on the film It Ends With Us, accusing him of sexual harassment and a smear campaign.

Baldoni's legal team asked Lively to release her medical records, including therapy notes, as part of its defence against her claims she suffered "severe emotional distress and pain, humiliation, embarrassment", Variety said.

Lively is trying to drop claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress, the publication added.

In January this year, Baldoni counter-sued Lively and her husband, the actor Ryan Reynolds, on claims of civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privacy.

Lively and Baldoni have been locked in a dispute since It Ends With Us, which is an adaption of a best-selling Colleen Hoover novel, was released last summer.

In the film Lively played the main character, Lily Bloom, a young woman who grew up witnessing domestic abuse, and winds up in the same position years later.

The singer Taylor Swift had been summoned to a US court last month, after it was alleged she encouraged Baldoni to accept script rewrites by Lively.

Representatives for Swift said at the time "she was not involved in any casting or creative decision" and "never saw an edit or made any notes on the film".

The subpoena was dropped about two weeks later, after Swift's legal team objected that the legal order amounted to an "unwarranted fishing expedition", Variety said.

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