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BAGUIO CITY — The country’s mines should start processing metals and other minerals in the Philippines, instead of selling raw ore abroad, an industry expert said on Thursday during the 70th Annual Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Conference held here. Graciano Yumul Jr., a geologist and researcher who serves as president of Nickel Asia’s Cordillera Exploration Co. Inc., said this was to reduce the country’s vulnerability to supply chain disruptions amid world tensions and conflicts and the even more extreme weather due to climate change. The Philippines has embraced green technologies to reduce its carbon footprint, as it deals with erratic weather that was best displayed by the succession of typhoons that recently struck the country in a matter of days, said Yumul. “The world has breached the 1.5 degree [Celsius temperature] threshold it was fighting to avoid [and the progression of typhoons that ended last week with ‘Pepito’ (international name: Man-yi)] are six reasons why climate change is real,” said Yumul, who ran the state weather bureau until 2012 as undersecretary of the Department of Science and Technology. READ: Toward responsible mining: a push for change Mining has become even more crucial to the economy due to the rising demand for critical minerals needed to produce digital devices and electric vehicles and eliminate the use of fossil fuels. “But we have to recognize that pricing [of world metals and minerals] is not dictated by mining—it is dictated by smelting companies,” Yumul pointed out. The local industry is a top producer of nickel and copper, for instance, but unprocessed metals go to refineries in India and China which dominate the supply chain. “Any transformation to clean energy would always have China as a major factor [for change],” Yumul said, after revealing that Chinese smelters have slowed down production and may even close next year due to supply constraints. This situation could “open up supply chain problems for copper,” which would affect the Philippine economy, he warned. The refinery output has not been going to renewable energy projects, but to “non-transport and non-energy usage” like construction, Yumul explained, because green projects like electric vehicles have had a bad market start. Yumul said building refineries is dictated by economics and business strategy, stressing, “We can’t keep saying we cannot compete.” The industry will need to produce much bigger volumes of metals to sustain these refineries and make them cost-effective, but few mines have been opening, according to Luis Sarmiento, president of the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association, during a Nov. 19 news conference. Because the Marcos administration has promoted the country’s “green transformation,” “we should not restrict mining exploration, since the Philippines’ competitive advantage is its mineral resources,” Yumul said. Last year, the industry produced P249.71 billion worth of metallic minerals and exported $7.32 billion worth of unrefined minerals, according to government data. The industry is composed of 59 metallic mines, six nonmetallic mines, and quarries that operate on over 755,000 hectares of mineral lands. Yumul also urged the government to finally compile a list of critical metals that would give the Philippines “leverage” in trade deals with countries that need the Philippines’ gold, copper, nickel, and even coal. “Coal has been fueling our green transformation,” Yumul said, because coal-fired plants are still the cheapest fuel for generating electricity. Critical minerals, he said, are resources that are “important to the economy and national security and are most impacted by supply chain disruptions.” For the moment, gold, nickel, and copper are the Philippines’ de facto critical minerals, although titanium and manganese could be part of the list that is being developed by different government agencies including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Energy, said Dr. Rogel Santos, who heads the Marine Geological Survey Division of the DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB). Santos’ team has been examining the potential of offshore mining for extracting critical minerals and has been mapping the country’s territorial seabeds and coastlines. He outlined MGB’s marine surveys at the conference. “Critical mineral listing is a national issue that has to be decided as soon as possible,” Yumul said. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . READ: Rare earth metals at the heart of China’s rivalry with US, EuropeBEL AIR, Md. — As President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration solidifies its plan for mass deportations, local law enforcement agencies are preparing to ramp up a controversial program that allows them to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The 287(g) program empowers state and local law enforcement officers to help enforce federal immigration law and will likely be one of the ways the new administration bolsters its manpower as it seeks to launch what it calls the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. But it also may also be a flashpoint for a legal showdown that’s brewing as Inauguration Day draws closer. Tom Homan, who will serve as Trump’s “border czar,” visited Texas Tuesday to tout the forthcoming administration’s plans for mass deportations. “We’re not waiting until January,” Homan said. “We’re going to put a plan in place and secure this nation.” Homan, the former acting ICE director during Trump’s first term, has promised to “take the handcuffs off ICE.” The 287(g) program was added to the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1996 under then-President Bill Clinton. It authorizes ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the ability to perform certain functions of an immigration officer. Once a suspect is arrested for a crime, a trained corrections officer can access an ICE database to see more information about their immigration status and may then detain the person for up to 48 hours if ICE chooses to pick them up for deportation. Supporters of the program argue that it does not allow local officers to round up undocumented immigrants on the streets, and that any enforcement is done within an agency’s jail or detention center once a suspect has been arrested for other charges. According to ICE , as of May 2024, law enforcement agencies in 21 states participated in the program. Harford County, Maryland, Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler is a proponent of the program, saying he believes that local law enforcement should partner with ICE to help enforce immigration laws. He also pushed back against criticism that it would lead to undocumented immigrants being unfairly targeted. “This isn’t stopping people on the street — saying ‘show me your papers,’” Gahler said, “If they’re brought in — they’re arrested for something that they have committed, an act they’ve committed against the citizens of our community. And at that point, they’re held accountable for the action of being in the country illegally.” Gahler is no stranger to being at the center of the country’s immigration debate. He has made several trips to the southern border — and worked on a high-profile murder case in his county allegedly involving an undocumented immigrant. Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, was reported missing on Aug. 5, 2023, and her body was found the following day off a popular running trail. Victor Martinez Hernandez, an El Salvador native, was arrested after a 10-month nationwide manhunt. He was extradited to Maryland, where he’s been charged with first-degree murder and rape. The victim's mother, Patty Morin, remembers when she first learned the suspect was undocumented. “I was actually very angry,” she said in an interview with NBC News. “I thought we had laws in place for this type of thing. ... But as information became more and more available, I realized that somehow something went wrong somewhere.” Another supporter of the 287(g) program is Samuel Page, the sheriff of Rockingham County, North Carolina. It’s a much more rural area than Mecklenburg County, where controversy over the program erupted in 2018 when a new sheriff cut ties with it. Page said his county signed up for the program in 2020 and put about a dozen corrections officers through the training. He said there have been fewer requests for ICE detainers during President Joe Biden’s administration. “When President Biden came in, he ended a lot of those programs that were good to protect the American people,” Page said. “We got to draw the line and say the rule of law is going to matter in America.” The 287(g) program has long been controversial. Democrats have moved to cancel agreements in various parts of the country. The American Civil Liberties Union strongly opposes the program and argues it amounts to racial profiling while instilling fear in immigrant communities. The Maryland chapter of the ACLU has said that local police officers are “wholly unprepared” to act as immigration agents. “This hurts those families,” said Todd Shulte, the president of FWD.us, an immigrant advocacy group. “This leads to worse public safety outcomes. It erodes a sense of trust in communities and hurts the economy.” Even within ICE, there is debate about “whether the juice is worth the squeeze,” according to Jason Houser, a former ICE chief of staff. It may be effective for large cities, he said, where having trained corrections officers help with immigration enforcement inside jails might free up other ICE agents to search for immigrants with more serious criminal records on the streets. But in sparsely populated areas, the time and effort to train officers could be seen as inefficient. Other critics have also said the 287(g) program merely serves as a political messaging tool for conservative sheriffs. Trump’s campaign platform promised to require local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. But a growing number of Democrats are vowing to defy that. Earlier this month, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance that prohibits the use of city resources in immigration enforcement. Elected officials in Massachusetts are already clashing with the Trump team over immigration. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said he’d be willing to go to jail to stop efforts by the president-elect that he believed were illegal or wrong. It’s all setting the stage for a clash after inauguration. “Local and state officials on the frontlines of the Harris-Biden border invasion have been suffering for four years and are eager for President Trump to return to the Oval Office,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump’s transition team. “On day one, President Trump will marshal every lever of power to secure the border, protect their communities, and launch the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrant criminals in history.” As for the 287(g) program, corrections officers in Harford County, Maryland, are preparing for changes next year with the incoming Trump administration. “I believe we’re going to be very busy,” said Sgt. Christopher Crespo. The program “has been very effective. ... The last thing you need to do is have someone in the street commit a murder and find out that they were here illegally.”
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The BJP on Monday accused the Congress of running a smear campaign against Union home minister Amit Shah following allegations that his remarks in the Rajya Sabha insulted Dr B.R. Ambedkar. The ruling party said that instead of engaging in ‘drama’, the Congress should apologise for always “insulting and humiliating” Ambedkar. The saffron party also accused the Congress of using out of context a small portion of Shah’s recent speech in the Rajya Sabha in a bid to establish its political identity. “The Congress, which always insulted B.R. Ambedkar, is holding press conferences across the country. Stop this drama. Stop this hypocrisy,” senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a press conference at the party headquarters. “First of all, publicly apologise and then hold press conferences,” said Prasad. He also said that the people of the country were very mature and the Opposition party’s efforts will not succeed. “The Congress party’s recent show of admiration for Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar is nothing but a hollow drama. The Congress’ past actions completely contradict their current stance,” said the BJP leader. Prasad said the BJP would hold press conferences around the country to “expose” the Congress by telling people how the party and its leaders insulted Ambedkar. “We have all the proof,” he added. The BJP leader also slammed Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal for describing as a “badge of honour” the FIR against Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in connection with last week’s face-off between ruling and Opposition MPs on the Parliament premises. “A case was filed against Rahul Gandhi for pushing and shoving (BJP) MPs and a Congress general secretary, who is very close to him, said it was a badge of honour in their fight to honour the legacy of B.R. Ambedkar... What a bundle of lies,” he said. Gandhi is wearing “badge of dishonour for insulting and humiliating the legacy of Ambedkar”, he charged. Prasad said the BJP believed that all those who made “some honest efforts” to build the nation should be respected. “This is the difference (between the Congress and the BJP)... We honour even our staunch rivals who have tried to build the nation in their own ways. We published a book on E.M.S. Namboodiripad (CPI(M) leader and Kerala’s first chief minister) when Atal Behari Vajpayee was prime minister,” he said. After the BJP assumed power under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan was conferred with the Padma Bhushan and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) supremo Sharad Pawar the Padma Vibhushan, he added. Asked about Jawaharlal Nehru, Prasad said, “The biggest proof of honouring our rivals is the Prime Ministers’ memorial and museum. Earlier, only Nehru’s memorial was there. Now, there is (a memorial of) every prime minister. The country should remember all the prime ministers.” Continuing its agitation against Amit Shah, alleging that he insulted Ambedkar with his remarks while participating in a debate on the Constitution in the Upper House last week, the Congress is holding countrywide press conferences and "Ambedkar samman (respect)" marches in the next few days. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, "It has become a fashion for the BJP to blame Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Congress leaders of the past. They use this tactic whenever they have no response on pressing issues of today's India." The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress announced an "Ambedkar Samman March" on Tuesday in Jammu to press for the demands. "We demand the resignation of Mr Shah, besides a public apology, for his remarks on Ambedkar in Parliament. We will continue to fight for it," the Congress' Jammu and Kashmir working president, Raman Bhalla, told reporters, as quoted by news agency.
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Easter Sunday is four months away, falling on April 20 in 2025 but some supermarkets already have seasonal stock out on their shelves. Chocolate eggs and hot cross buns have already been spotted for sale in shops including Morrisons, Tesco and Asda. As reported by Sky News , Gary Evans, 66, from Margate, shared a picture of Creme Eggs on display at his local Morrisons on Boxing Day. I’m a very liberal person but seeing Morrisons selling #Easter eggs right after #Christmas is where I draw the line 🥲 pic.twitter.com/RZR4gsvanx "I just think it's crazy that everything is so superficial and meaninglessly commercial... [there's] something quite frantic about it," he said. Meanwhile, Joseph Robinson, saw themed Kit-Kat and Kinder Surprise products at his local Morrisons in Stoke-on-Trent on Friday evening (December 27). He said: "It's funny as they've not even managed to shift the Christmas chocolates off the shelves yet and they're already stocking for Easter. "I wish that supermarkets weren't so blatantly consumerist-driven and would actually allow customers and staff a time to decompress during the Christmas period." (function (d, s, n) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; js = d.createElement(s); js.className = n; js.src = "//player.ex.co/player/0510432a-67f5-49e1-af16-71055345f409"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); js.setAttribute('programmatic', 'true'); js.onload = function () { const playerApi232038 = ExCoPlayer.connect('0510432a-67f5-49e1-af16-71055345f409'); playerApi232038.init({ "autoPlay": false, "mute": true, "showAds": true, "playbackMode": "play-in-view", "content": { "playFirst": [ { "title": "Discontinued UK Sweets/Chocolates", "src": "https://large-cdn.ex.co/transformations/production/07e8370e-04f6-4f11-86d9-86c3c15c0e54/720p.mp4" } ], "playlistId": "649d49728b6b9000128a479e" }, "sticky": { "mode": "persistent", "closeButton": true, "pauseOnClose": true, "desktop": { "enabled": false, "position": "bottom-right" }, "mobile": { "enabled": false, "position": "upper-small" } }}); }; }(document, 'script', 'exco-player')); On X (formerly known as Twitter) user @Jingle1991 shared an image of Malteser Bunnies in Sainsbury's on Christmas Eve and pointed out: "Easter chocolate already out. Jesus hasn’t even been born yet". Another added: "I’m a very liberal person but seeing Morrisons selling #Easter eggs right after #Christmas is where I draw the line". In an alternative view, marketing consultant Andrew Wallis, 54, admitted he was surprised to see Easter eggs in the Co-op in Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire. However, he added it also illustrates "forward-thinking" from big businesses. Recommended reading: He explained: "It made me reflect on how big brands are always thinking ahead and planning early. "My message to retailers would be: while planning ahead is important, it's also essential to be mindful of consumer sentiment. "Some might feel it's too early for seasonal products like this but others might see it as a sign of forward-thinking. Striking the right balance is key to keeping customers happy."AP Business SummaryBrief at 2:31 p.m. ESTIowa QB Cade McNamara slams 'ridiculous' rumors
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