LA PAZ, Bolivia — Is Bolivia poised to become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” the vital ingredient in batteries for smartphones and electric cars?

The Uyuni salt flats, stretching across a remote Andean plateau in the southwest of the country, are easily the world’s largest reserve of the soft, light, whitish metal coveted by high-tech firms from Silicon Valley to Tokyo.

This year, President Evo Morales has moved swiftly ahead with plans to finally begin reaping a potential lithium windfall of billions of dollars for the impoverished South American nation.

In January, Bolivia opened its first trial plant. It will produce 40 tons of lithium carbonate a year. Over time, the government wants to ramp production up to 30,000 tons — roughly a fifth of current global demand.

However, Bolivia faces aAgencies give tips to bank and jewelry store employees on how to handle armed robbery

Cupertino--Owners and employees from two groups of businesses most vulnerable to violent robberies, banks and jewelry stores, gathered at the Cupertino Senior Center on July 19 to hear suggestions on how handle all aspects of an armed robbery.

Representatives from FBI, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, county emergency service agencies, and the office of the district attorney reported on the situation in Cupertino, which has witnessed a significant number of violent robberies so far in 2001, then listed tips for getting through a robbery safely.

Despite a few callous remarks from law enforcement officials about a bank robber gunned down by a sheriff's deputy, the meeting proceeded with a jovial atmosphere. At one point, Deputy