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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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Israeli settlers kill Palestinians in West Bank attack, health ministry says


Two Palestinians have been killed in an attack by Israeli settlers on a town in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old dual US citizen from Florida, was beaten to death during the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, the ministry said.

The second man, Mohammed al-Shalabi, also 23, died after being shot in the chest, it added.

The Israeli military said stones were thrown at Israelis near Sinjil and "a violent confrontation developed in the area". It added that security forces were looking into the reports of one Palestinian being killed, and the incident involving the second was under review.

The UN says at least 910 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, 13 by Israeli settlers, and another seven by either Israeli forces or settlers since the start of the war. At least 44 Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank over the same period.

There has been a sharp increase in the number and severity of settler attacks in the West Bank in the same period. The UN says there were 136 attacks by settlers resulting in casualties or property damage in May alone.

On Thursday, a 22-year-old Israeli security guard Shalev Zvuluny was shot and killed when two Palestinian men opened fire and tried to stab passerbys in the car park of a shopping centre in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, in the south of the West Bank.

The attackers were shot dead by soldiers and armed civilians present at the scene, police said.

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