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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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 Spain plans 100% tax for homes bought by non-EU residents

Spain is planning to impose a tax of up to 100% on the value of properties bought by non-residents from countries outside the EU, such as the UK.
Announcing the move, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the "unprecedented" measure was necessary to meet the country's housing emergency.
"The West faces a decisive challenge: To not become a society divided into two classes, the rich landlords and poor tenants," he said.
Non-EU residents bought 27,000 properties in Spain in 2023, he told an economic forum in Madrid, "not to live in" but "to make money from them"."Which, in the context of shortage that we are in, [we] obviously cannot allow," he added.
The move was designed to prioritise available homes for residents, the Spanish prime minister said.
Sánchez did not provide any more details on how the tax would work nor a timeline for presenting it to parliament for approval, where he has often struggled to gather sufficient votes to pass legislation.
His office described the proposed measure as a way to limit the purchase of homes by "non-resident non-EU foreigners".
It added: "The tax burden that they will have to pay in case of purchase will be increased up to 100% of the value of the property, in line with countries such as Denmark and Canada."
The Spanish government said the proposal would be finalised "after careful study".
It is one of a dozen planned measures announced by the Spanish prime minister on Monday aimed at improving housing affordability in the country.
Other measures announced include a tax exemption for landlords who provide affordable housing, transferring more than 3,000 homes to a new public housing body, and tighter regulation and higher taxes on tourist flats.
"It isn't fair that those who have three, four or five apartments as short-term rentals pay less tax than hotels," Sánchez said.

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