Used in iPhones to EVs: Why China's near-monopoly on rare earths matters
China controls over 90% of the global refinement output of rare earth elements, which are used to power everything from iPhones to electric vehicles. China's near-monopoly has become one of its most potent tools in a renewed trade war with the United States. CNN's Ivan Watson reports.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
34 minutes ago
- CNN
Suspected crypto kidnapping mastermind detained in Morocco
One of the suspected masterminds behind a string of violent kidnappings in France of people linked to the cryptocurrency trade was detained Tuesday in Morocco, France's justice minister said. Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou, a 24-year-old French-Moroccan citizen from just outside Paris, was wanted by France for several crimes, including armed extortion and kidnapping as part of a criminal gang, according to the 'red notice' for him published by Interpol and Moroccan state media. French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin thanked Morocco on X for detaining the man, citing the 'excellent judicial cooperation' between the two countries. Bajjou had 'multiple bladed weapons of different sizes' in his possession when he was taken into custody, as well as 'dozens of mobile phones and communication devices' and a sum of money allegedly related to criminal activities, Moroccan state media reported. The man was apprehended, weeks after the latest kidnapping attempt in Paris, near Tangier in northern Morocco, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV. He is allegedly linked to a string of violent crimes related to crypto funds dating back to at least January 21 of this year. In January, David Balland, cofounder of a crypto wallet company, and his partner, were kidnapped in central France with their attackers cutting off one of Balland's fingers as part of a 10-million euro ($11,430,000) ransom demand. The couple were later freed by elite French policemen, according to BFMTV. Bajjou is also suspected of involvement in the May kidnapping of another man working in the crypto industry, who also had one of his fingers cut off before his release, per BFMTV. Later that month, the daughter of the CEO of French cryptocurrency platform Paymium was saved by passers-by from a daylight kidnapping attempt in Paris, with Bajjou suspected to have been involved, BFMTV reported. On May 30, 25 people aged between 16 and 23 were put under official investigation in Paris, suspected of involvement in a kidnapping in May in Paris and an attempted kidnapping in the western French city of Nantes.
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
A Japan-based firm will attempt to land on the moon. Here's why its lander spent months, not days, in space
Nearly five months ago, a SpaceX rocket launched out of Florida carrying two lunar landers. The Blue Ghost spacecraft, from Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, zoomed to the moon, and in March it became the first robotic commercial vehicle to land upright on the lunar surface. The other spacecraft, developed by Japan-based company Ispace, is just now arriving at its destination. Resilience, as the uncrewed lunar lander is called, is on track to make its touchdown attempt at 3:24 p.m. ET on Thursday — three months after its rideshare buddy made history. Ispace isn't too concerned about losing out on a 'first' superlative. And company executives said that taking a slow and steady path to the moon can offer Ispace some long-term advantages. 'What is good about this four- or five-month trajectory is, every day, there are small things that happen … something we didn't expect,' Ispace Chief Financial Officer Jumpei Nozaki told CNN in January. 'This (journey to the moon) is really a learning phase.' Three teams of Ispace employees have been rotating in and out of the company's mission control room in Tokyo, racking up months' worth of practice in overseeing the unpredictable and daring physics of deep-space travel — a rare opportunity, the company's founder and CEO, Takeshi Hakamada, told CNN. Such a gradual approach to the moon does not, however, guarantee landing success. Ispace's first attempt to put a spacecraft on the lunar surface ended with a crash landing in April 2023 after a 4 ½-month journey from Earth. Ultimately, Resilience's long trajectory offers Ispace both pros and cons. Resilience is on a path to the moon that's often referred to as a low-energy transfer. It's essentially a slow, cruising route — much like traveling to a friend's house on a bike and coasting on the downhills, using little fuel or energy. On such a path, the Resilience lander travels for hundreds of thousands of miles, soaring into deep space and waiting for the moon's gravity to naturally capture the spacecraft into lunar orbit. In contrast, other vehicles such as Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and the Nova-C lander, developed by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines, have used large engines to fire themselves on a much more direct path. Intuitive Machines' latest Nova-C lander, for example, reached the moon about a week after takeoff. Compared with lunar landers developed by Ispace's competitors, Resilience is lightweight and relatively cheap with a smaller rocket engine. All the time Resilience spends in orbit allows mission operators to 'verify many kinds of systems during this long journey,' such as the vehicle's sensors, navigation and other software systems, Nozaki said. But there are downsides, too. And Nozaki said that, no matter the outcome of Resilience's trip, Ispace will abandon the low-energy transfer approach with its third mission. Ispace's upcoming lunar lander, called Apex 1.0, will be flown in partnership with Massachusetts-based company Draper, under CLPS for the Artemis program, with the aim of taking a more direct route to the moon. Reaching the moon quickly is also 'really important for our customers,' Nozaki said. These clients include research groups, companies and governments that pay Ispace to fly cargo such as science instruments on board the lunar lander. Spending months in transit can put extra wear on instruments as they are exposed to the intense radiation environment and wild temperature swings of space before they begin operating on the lunar surface, according to Ispace. Still, the company is hopeful a group of three science instruments currently on board Resilience will carry out exciting tests after the vehicle reaches the moon on Thursday. Resilience is carrying a module designed to test algae-based food production, a deep-space radiation monitor and a water electrolyzer experiment, which is a device that aims to generate hydrogen and oxygen in the lunar environment. Ispace's first lunar lander was descending toward the Atlas crater, a feature on the northeast side of the moon's near face, when it crashed in April 2023. This go-around, the company is aiming to land in a different lunar location: a 750-mile-long (1,200-kilometer) plain called Mare Frigoris — or the 'Sea of Cold' — which lies in the moon's far northern reaches. Mare Frigoris is significantly flatter than the Atlas crater region, potentially offering easier-to-navigate terrain. Ispace said in a statement that the new landing site was chosen because it offers 'flexibility.' The company plans to livestream Thursday's touchdown attempt on YouTube and X. If Resilience lands upright, Ispace will become the first commercial company outside of the US to pull off such a feat. Ispace would also join Firefly, whose Blue Ghost lander made a pristine landing in March, in becoming the only two companies to complete a fully successful touchdown of a robotic lunar lander. Intuitive Machines has landed two vehicles on the moon, both in the vicinity of the lunar south pole. Each of those spacecraft landed on its side, however, limiting the science and research the company could carry out. Both Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines are contractors for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative, which is part of the space agency's Artemis program — a framework under which NASA plans to return humans to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Robotic missions carried out under CLPS are meant to serve as scientific pathfinders, paving the way for astronauts' return.
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden's former press secretary, says she's now an independent
(CNN) – Karine Jean-Pierre, who served as White House press secretary under former President Joe Biden, has switched her party affiliation to independent, according to a publishing company's description of her forthcoming book. Jean-Pierre, who has worked in Democratic politics for decades, is set to release a new book that will discuss Biden's decision to bow out of the 2024 election and encourage voters to look beyond the two-party political system. The description of her book, titled Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,' says she 'didn't come to her decision to be an Independent lightly.' The book, which will be released in October, will examine 'the three weeks that led to Biden's abandoning his bid for a second term and the betrayal by the Democratic Party that led to his decision,' according to a book description from Legacy Lit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. That suggests Jean-Pierre's book may further fuel the intraparty argument over whether Biden should have sought reelection given his age and questions about his mental acuity. Biden dropped out of the race last summer after a disastrous debate performance, making way for former Vice President Kamala Harris, who eventually lost to President Donald Trump. Jean-Pierre served as the White House's top spokesperson for more than two years and previously worked for the Biden-Harris 2020 campaign, in the Obama administration and for the progressive organization MoveOn. She faced criticism at times for her responses to questions about Biden's health, including in the wake of his debate performance. 'Until January 20, I was responsible for speaking on behalf of the President of the United States. At noon on that day, I became a private citizen who, like all Americans and many of our allies around the world, had to contend with what was to come next for our country,' Jean-Pierre said in a statement to CNN. 'We need to be clear-eyed and questioning, rather than blindly loyal and obedient as we may have been in the past.'
