Donald Trump demanded a "guarantee" on Ukrainian "rare earths" in exchange for American aid. Highly sought after, rare earths are a group of 17 minerals essential to high technology. VIDEOGRAPHIC
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00:00Rare Earths are 17 chemical elements that are key components in today's high-tech devices.
00:12The bedrock of electrical manufacturing, they're used to make a range of products, smartphones
00:17and cameras, flat-screen televisions, computers and weapons.
00:24They have enormous strategic importance.
00:26The best known is neodymium.
00:28It's used to make high-powered magnets found in electric cars and in wind turbine generators.
00:36Terbium is a phosphorescent which makes LED lights shine brighter.
00:41Lanthanum is used in the manufacture of powerful fibre optics.
00:46Cerium is used in high-powered batteries and in compact fluorescent lights.
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