The global economic recovery has run out of steam, reveals ACCA's (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) latest Global Economic Conditions survey, with confidence taking a hit and a return to solid economic growth moving further away.
This is despite important improvements in conditions on the ground across most of ACCA’s risk indicators – especially the outlook for employment and investment – and even modest gains in the popularity of government actions to deal with economic turbulence.
opportunities for their organisations as consumption in debt-laden wealthy countries refuses to keep up and governments roll back their support for businesses.
- Business confidence levels have also eased. Only a third now report any business gains at all, while 28 per cent report losses of confidence. Only 29 per cent of respondents adjusted their expectations of their organisations’ incomes upwards in the first quarter of 2010, down from 32 per cent in 2009.
- Accountants have adjusted their views about the duration of the recovery – only 15 per cent now believe the recovery has less than a year to run, down from 18 per cent in late 2009.
Although one in two respondents predicted that the global economy would return to stable growth in one year or less, down marginally from late 2009, ACCA has also noticed a steady rise in the percentage of extreme pessimists – those expecting a recovery in three years or more – which now stands at 11.4 per cent, up marginally from last quarter.
The findings of the Q1 2010 survey suggest further divergence in the economic trajectories of the world’s regions.
This is the only region left where respondents still report an accelerating net improvement in economic conditions. A full 79 per cent believe conditions are about to improve or already doing so. These perceptions are, however, accompanied by easing income expectations (46 per cent revised expectations upwards in Q1 2010 – 50 per cent did so in Q4 2009) and forecasts of a long and weak recovery – 45 per cent of respondents expect a return to stable growth in two years or more.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the pace of recovery, while brisk, appears to have levelled off in almost all respects and business confidence has eased significantly. Just under two thirds (64 per cent of respondents believe conditions are about to improve or already doing so. Alarmingly, respondents here have been reporting a slowing recovery for many months. Only 27 per cent expected a return to stable growth in two years or longer in September 2009; 40per cent did in February 2010. Moreover, members here have reported the first net fall in government support for investment since such measurements began.
These ominous signs could be accompanied by returning inflation. In the Asia-Pacific region, the share of respondents reporting rising operating costs has risen in every quarter since these surveys began, and jumped from 24 per cent to 36 per cent in the three months to February 2010.
The economic outlook in Central and Eastern Europe has finally bottomed out in early 2010. Forty-eight per cent of respondents in the region now believe that economic conditions are about to improve or already doing so, while an equal number believe they are deteriorating or stagnating.
This, however, disguises the true levels of optimism in the region: accountants here expect a quicker recovery than their colleagues anywhere else in the world, with a full 54 per cent predicting a return to stable growth in one year or less. Hence gains in business confidence have been sustained for another quarter, while income expectations are stable.
Despite some improvement in members’ economic outlook, Western Europe continues to languish behind the rest of ACCA’s regional markets across most of ACCA’s measures.
A full 50 per cent of respondents here believe we are at the bottom of the downturn and will stay there for some time yet, while only 12 per cent believe things are getting better – this percentage is nearly four times as high in Africa and Asia. Expectations of the timing of the recovery have been improving very slowly since last May, with 51 per cent of respondents now expecting a return to stable growth in 1 year or less, while confidence has fallen marginally, with 31 per cent of respondents reporting a loss of confidence, against 29 per cent who reported gains in confidence.
The recovery in North America picked up pace in early 2010, with economic indicators finally crossing into positive territory. 56 per cent now believe that conditions are other improving or about to do so, against 43 per cent who think they are deteriorating or stagnating.
Income trends appear to be unchanged - incomes are still falling slightly, with 30 per cent saying their organisations were negatively affected. Confidence trends are similarly negative but stable.
· The fifth ACCA Global Economic Conditions Survey was carried out between 9 and 28 February 2010.
1 It is based on 1,361 responses from professional accountants in 95 jurisdictions around the world.
2. ACCA is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. We have 393,000 students and 137, 200 members in 170 countries worldwide.
3. ACCA has worked with governments, national organisations and development agencies in emerging economies- for over 20 years - promoting the accounting profession, to create value for the communities, businesses and individuals it serves.
4. ACCA believes that globalisation of business means that one set of reporting standards is essential. We favour the principles-based IFRS.
5. ACCA understands the real issues facing small businesses as 63,000 of our members work in SMEs or small partnerships worldwide.


Missed the spring planting season? It's not too late to plant.
The Chicago Botanic Garden staff continues to plant all summer long — there is not enough time to get all the planting done only in the spring and fall.
I have been doing a lot of traveling and missed the spring planting season and am wondering if it is OK to still do some planting. There is some very hot weather in the forecast, and I worry about how the new plants will fare.
Some gardeners have the opinion that one should only plant in the spring and fall. There is no reason to stop planting during the summer, in my opinion, and I have always gotten good results doing so. The Chicago Botanic Garden staff continues to plant all summer long — there is not enough time to get all the planting done only in the spring and fall.
The garden centers that I have been shopping at recently all still have a great selection of plants grown in containers and balled and burlapped trees and shrubs. The balled and burlapped trees and shrubs are typically dug in late winter/early spring while dormant and held above ground in the garden centers. Production nurseries are limited in which plants can be dug during the summer season. Bare-root plant material (no soil around the roots) is generally planted in very early spring before growth has begun. Bare-root plants can be held by suppliers in coolers to extend the planting window, but summer is not a good time for installing bare root plants.
Proper watering of plants before and after planting is much more critical during the hot summer season. Plants can be quickly damaged during hot and dry spells if they are not watered enough and can quickly dry out while sitting above ground before installation. It is important to keep plants moist before planting to minimize stress on the new plant material. Plants in containers can sometimes be difficult to remoisten if they are planted in your beds when dry. It is best to water them before planting if the pots have dried out. Plants that are grown in containers have a lighter growing medium that will generally dry more quickly than your garden soil, so they will need more frequent, light watering until their roots grow out into the surrounding garden soil. This may mean watering a couple times a week during very hot periods for the first few weeks of establishment.
Newly installed balled and burlapped plants need about 1 inch of water a week — be sure the root ball is getting water. Evergreen trees, when watered with a sprinkler, can shed water away from the root ball. The garden bed will then be moist while the root ball of the tree is dry; in time, the roots will grow out into the bed, but you need to focus on moistening the root ball throughout the summer. The amount and frequency of watering will vary depending on the soil conditions in your garden and weather conditions. Sandy, very well-drained soils will dry out more quickly than heavier clay loam soils.
Go ahead and plant this summer. Then mulch the new plants to improve the appearance, prevent weeds and help conserve soil moisture.


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Birdman Honors His Mother in the Video for "Ms. Gladys"
Mother's Day might not be for a couple more weeks, but it looks like Birdman is getting a jump on things with his new video for "Ms. Gladys." The song is about his mother, Ms. Gladys, and her attempts to keep raising him on the straight and narrow while he got involved in all sorts of trouble. Any Birdman fan knows that he's referenced her in a number of songs in the past, so it's interesting to see her story being expanded upon.
The video starts off with a picture of her and the caption "For you Ms. Gladys. Rest in Peace." From there, Birdman and New Orleans rapper Neno Calvin hang around the Big Easy, talking about growing up in the area and getting into trouble.
You can watch the "Ms. Gladys" video above.


ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE – Pope Benedict XVI said on his way to Africa today that condoms were not the answer in the continent's fight against HIV. It was his first explicit statement on an issue that has divided even clergy working with AIDS patients.
Benedict had never directly addressed condom use. He has said that the Roman Catholic Church is in the forefront of the battle against AIDS. The Vatican encourages sexual abstinence to fight the spread of the disease.
Some priests and nuns working with those living with HIV/AIDS question the church's opposition to condoms amid the pandemic ravaging Africa.
Benedict's first papal trip to Africa will take him to Cameroon and Angola. Africa is the fastest-growing region for the Roman Catholic Church, though it competes with Islam and evangelical churches.
The pope also said today that he intends to make an appeal for "international solidarity" for Africa in the face of the global economic downturn.
He said that while the church does not propose specific economic solutions, it can give "spiritual and moral" suggestions.
Describing the current crisis as the consequence of "a deficit of ethics in economic structures," the pope said, "It is here that the church can make a contribution."
On the plane, Benedict also dismissed the notion that he was facing increasing opposition and isolation within the church, particularly after an outreach to ultraconservatives that led to his lifting the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop.
"The myth of my solitude makes me laugh," the pope said, adding that he can count on a network of friends and aides whom he sees every day.
In a letter to Catholic bishops released last week, the pope made an unusual public acknowledgment of Vatican mistakes and turmoil in his church over the rehabilitation of Bishop Richard Williamson.
While acknowledging mistakes were made in handling the affair, Benedict said he was saddened that he was criticized "with open hostility" even by those who should have known better.


Four And One Half Furlongs - BEATEN CLAIMING $5,000. -Purse $10,100. For Three Year Olds and Upward Which Have Not Won A Race Since September 27, 2016 or Which Have Never Won Four Races.
4 - Unbridled Critic has been sharp of late. Is coming off layoff, but loves this distance.
6 - Easy Topper has won two of last three starts, gets the very godo Tracy Hebert aboard.
8 - Praksis has been consistent in career and loves this distance.
Exacta/Trifecta/$.10 Superfecta Five And One Half Furlongs - MAIDEN. - Purse $24,500. (Includes $3,000 from NMHBA Fund) For Registered New Mexico Bred Maidens, Fillies And Mares Three Years Old and Upward.
5 - Heavens Warning has hit theboard in all three starts. Likes the distance and gets very good jockey aboard.
4 - Miss Nobility has hit the board in 6 of 7 starts, comes from solid Fred Danley barn.
1 - Ballinouttacontrol has hit board in four of 10 starts. Use in all exotics.
Five Furlongs - MAIDEN CLAIMING $7,500. - Purse $9,700. For Maidens, Fillies Two Years Old.
5 - Plenty Special ran a nice second in debut but has been off since the summer. Proceed with caution.
9 = Kafe Curves is dropping in class. Coms from the strong Henry Dominguez barn.
6 - Blue Eyes Who has hit the board in both starts. Use in exotic wagers.
Three Year Olds and Upward.
4 - R C Dillinger has been really good of late and owns 12 career victories. Has run well on track.
5 - Tom’s Hat is steady and is a threat for win honors.
1 - Reeser has hit board in 16 of 32 starts, including 9 wins.
Started For A Claiming Price Of $5,000 Or Less In 2015-2016.
9 - Oh If I Catch you has won four straight, has good speed and loves the distance. The one to beat.
3 - A P Wild has hit the board in 24 of 40 starts, comes from the very good Justin Evans barn.
6 - Laycock Bay has won 9 of 26 and has run well on track.
Have Never Won Three Races.
4 - Way Nifty won by more than seven lengths in last start. The one to catch and beat.
3 - E Bar Gold ran a good sescond in last start, comes from the very good Tony Sedillo barn.
7 - Hit a Lick has hit board in seven of nine starts. Major player in this race.
Mexico Bred Maidens, Three Years Old and Upward.
12 - Confidentially Who has hit the board in five of nine starts and just missed getting the win in last out.
1 - Dr. Jax has hit the board in 6 of 11 starts and should like the distance.
6 - Secret R F improved in last stsart. Use in exotic wagers.
Have Never Won Two Races.
7 - Bella Anatola has hit the board in 7 of 10 starts and comes from solid barn.
4 - Shimmer and Shine ran an improved second in last start, comes from very good Dallas Barton barn.
1 - Mrs. Guty won by nearly 11 lengths in last start. Major threat for win honors.
Six Furlongs - STAKES. - Purse $85,000. FOR TWO YEAR OLD FILLIES REGISTERED NEW MEXICO BRED.
10 - Sippin has been the one to beat in her young career. Is 5 for 5 and loves the distance.
7 - Proud Cecilia has hit the board in five of seven starts. Comes from solid barn.
1 - Ivy Gimlet is improving for trainer Henry Dominguez. Has hit the board in three of four starts.


Horsham are facing their toughest month of the season in February and go into it with no margin for error, according to manager Dominic Di Paola.
The Bostik League South East Division play-off race remains as tight as ever after the weekend’s results.
The Hornets emerged from a bruising encounter with a narrow 1-0 home win over Ramsgate to remain fourth in the table.
They have narrowed the gap on second-placed Hastings United to just four points, trail Ashford United in third by a point and are three ahead of Whyteleafe in the final play-off place.
Di Paola has been wary of their games in February for a while and has previously said it could make or break their promotion push.
They travel to East Grinstead on Saturday and host Hastings on Tuesday night. The following weekends see a trip to VCD Athletic, a home game against Three Bridges and a clash at Whitstable Town.
Di Paola stressed: “It’s a really tough February. We have Hastings and VCD Athletic in there. It’s probably our toughest month so far.
“Looking at it, game after game is tough. What it will do, though, is come the end of month, we will have a good idea of where we will be in the table.
“It is so, so tight. We have spoken before and looking at Hastings then they were six points ahead, yet it’s just three points now – a couple of results make a big difference. If we do not win a couple, it can all change.
The Hornets begin their tricky month with a trip to East Court to face a 13th-placed Wasps on Saturday.
Di Paola is wary of the threat their hosts possess with a number of experienced players in their ranks.
Add to that, the fact Horsham will be without the banned Lewis Hyde and Charlie Harris and Dylan Merchant both have injuries and could miss the game.
On the problem at centre-back and Merchant’s injury, Di Paola explained: “He has a problem with his back and I am a bit more worried about it than he is as I know how bad backs can be.
“He is stiffening up after any exercise and waking up in the mornings in pain.
“Lewis Hyde is out for three games now as well, so we will have to have a little sort-out this week of what we are going to do. Hopefully, Dylan comes through and we can patch him up.


SINGAPORE - It appears there are two truths to living in Singapore - do not mess with a food order and when a dispute erupts, call the police.
And so it was on Thursday (Nov 9) at 11.30am when a woman, who wanted to be known only as Madam Xu, ordered a plate of wanton mee with char siew from a stall at the hawker centre at Pasir Ris MRT station. After she ate the noodles, it hit her that the meat tasted like chicken.
Shin Min Daily News reported on Saturday that she questioned the male employee who sold her the dish.
"I just asked him if the char siew was chicken, and he started shouting at me and repeatedly scolding me with vulgarities, making me very angry," said the 65-year-old retiree, who called the police.
The signs at the shop show "Chicken Wanton Noodle" and "Chicken Char Siew Rice" in bright colours, and in English and Chinese. Char siew usually is made with pork.
The police told The Straits Times on Saturday that they received a call for assistance at 10 Pasir Ris Central at 11.31am.
When the police arrived, they spoke to the manager of the stall, who apologised to Madam Xu on behalf of the employee.
When calm returned, the police left the scene.


MONTREAL—Dear Ontario voters, proportional representation could soon be coming to a province near you. While electoral reform is not on the radar of the ongoing provincial campaign, the reverse will be true when Quebec goes to the polls in the fall.
Earlier this month, three of the four parties in the National Assembly including the currently leading Coalition Avenir Québec signed an electoral-reform pact.
Should one of them win the Oct. 1 vote, its government would be honour-bound to introduce legislation within its first year in office to move Quebec to a mixed-proportional voting system. The pact is not legally binding but it does bear the signature of the party leaders.
Under the scenario of an opposition victory, Quebec could presumably vault over British Columbia — where a plebiscite on electoral reform will be held next fall — and become the first province to cross the finish line to a proportional voting system.
But did we not just see this movie at the federal level and did it not end on an unhappy note for electoral reform proponents?
There are two major differences between the Quebec bid to make the fall election the last to be held under the first-past-the-poll system and Justin Trudeau’s similar undertaking in the last federal campaign.
1. Trudeau never sought a mandate to implement a specific voting formula. He was also never particularly clear on whether he would submit his proposal to a plebiscite before implementing it.
In Quebec next fall, a vote for the CAQ, the Parti Québécois, Québec Solidaire or the Green party will be a vote for a mixed proportional system, to be put in place in time for the following election. The implementation of the Quebec pact is not conditional on a referendum.
That matters because so far provincial attempts to change the voting system have failed the test of a plebiscite. When B.C. votes on electoral reform next fall it will be that province’s third kick at the can in 13 years. In between the first vote and the upcoming one, the threshold for victory has been lowered from 60 per cent in 2005 and 2009 to a simple majority in 2018.
2. Prior to becoming prime minister, Trudeau had voiced support for a preferential ballot. But none of the other parties would support that formula. Once it became clear the Liberals could not get the reform they wanted, the prime minister ditched his promise.
In any event, in Quebec’s case, a CAQ or PQ government would not have a handy excuse to wiggle out of the pact as its signatories have agreed on a mixed-proportional system.
That is not to say that the CAQ’s François Legault or PQ’s Jean-François Lisée — should one of the two become premier later this year — would not have cause to pause on the way to changing the system.
The ruling Liberals are offside on the multi-party consensus but as opposed to the federal Conservatives who had cause to fear that a more proportional voting system would see them consigned to the opposition benches, Philippe Couillard’s party could well benefit from a reform.
It is not the first-past-the-poll system that has kept the Liberals in power in Quebec for most of the past 15 years but rather the determination of a growing number of voters to deprive the PQ of a chance to plunge the province into another debate on its political future.
That chance could become slimmer under a different voting system.
Quebec’s last majority PQ government — elected under Lucien Bouchard 20 years ago — had less popular support than the runner-up Liberals.
In the election before that in 1994, Jacques Parizeau secured the governing majority he needed to go ahead with a referendum by beating the Liberals 45 per cent to 44 per cent.
More so than any other Quebec party, the Liberals pay a price for the high concentration of part of their vote. They enjoy massive support among non-francophone voters but that only translates into a small fraction of the province’s seats.
Take the current Quebec polls: province wide, the numbers suggest the Liberals are highly competitive. But in reality Couillard is in trouble because his party is trailing badly in the francophone ridings that will determine the outcome of the fall election.
It would be hard to craft a proportional voting system that would not be a gift that keeps on giving for the Quebec Liberals.
Correction - May 18, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the 2009 electoral reform referendum threshold for victory as a simple majority. In fact, the threshold for victory in 2009 was 60 per cent.


The uptown event will be the first pep rally to be held in the uptown park, which is at 300 S. Church St.
The Panthers depart for California on Sunday. They play the Denver Broncos Feb. 7 at 6:30 EST at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara.
How many jump celebrations will Cam do during the Super Bowl?
Who will America root for in the Super Bowl?
Where and when is Super Bowl 50?


The whole release of Fortnite for Android outside of the Google Play eco-system has caused some consternation over security.
Google has made it easier for Fortnite fans to not fall for fake listings by noting that the game isn't available on Google Play Store yet. Unlike most developers who rely on the Google Play Store for distribution of their apps, Epic feels that Fortnite can draw enough interest to allow them to avoid needing a third party distributor. You'll leap out of the Battle Bus with a huge grin on your face, get oh-so-close to shooting the first unsuspecting player you see, and have the game quit out within a few seconds of you landing on the ground.
XDA-Developers explains that when people sign up to the beta, their Pixel downloads an app that replaces a placeholder app, making everything work just fine.
While this move will make Epic Games more money than otherwise, it will also set up a unsafe precedent for Google. The web Play Store does not have this feature, though.
With the Android launch finally upon us, we project that, based on Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data, Google stands to miss out on at least $50 million in platform fees during the remainder of 2018 due to this unprecedented decision.
If more developers follow Epic's path, then the road to unauthorized and potentially harmful downloads on Android devices will only widen. Instead, Epic Games will offer the title on Android through its own launcher.
Google isn't very happy about this as they seem to put Fortnite's main competitor PUBG at the top of search results when someone searches for the aforementioned game. We'll keep you updated on the latest.
The manager pointed to those players who, alongside Pogba, had little training due to post-World Cup breaks. Here are three winners and three losers from Friday night's Premier League opener.


The Canadian government has made immediate changes to the Aeronautical Act, including restricting recreational drone flying height to 90 metres.
Canada is bringing in strict measures for the recreational use of drones, with Transport Minister Marc Garneau announcing new restrictions on Thursday to curb the number of incidents in which recreational drones have flown too close to planes.
Under the new restrictions announced as part of the Aeronautical Act, recreational drone -- or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) -- operators must now mark their devices with contact information, and cannot fly them at night or in cloudy conditions.
Drones are now also not allowed to fly higher than 90 metres; within 75 metres of buildings, vehicles, or people; within 9 kilometres of airports, heliports, seaplane bases, or anywhere aircraft take off and land; within controlled or restricted airspaces; within 9 kilometres of a forest fire where it could interfere with police or first responders; and if operators are not within 500 metres of their drone.
Penalties include fines of up to CA$3,000 for individuals and up to CA$15,000 for corporations for failing to follow the new restrictions.
"I'm taking strong measures now before a drone hits an aeroplane and causes a catastrophic event. That's the kind of nightmare scenario that keeps me awake at night," Garneau said.
Recreational drones that weigh between 250 grams and 35 kilograms do not need special permission from Transport Canada to fly, and a person operating a recreational drone must give way to manned aircraft at all times.
Commercial, academic, and research drones are exempt from the new restrictions; however, operators must follow the rules in the Canadian Aviation Regulations section 602.41 - Unmanned air vehicles and respect the Criminal Code, your provincial Trespass Act, as well as all applicable municipal, provincial, and territorial laws that apply, the Canadian government explained, with those not obeying potentially copping up to CA$25,000 in fines and/or jail time.
As of September, commercial operators of "very small remotely piloted aircraft" in Australia were no longer required to obtain a number of regulatory approvals to fly their unmanned vehicles under new regulations approved by the Australian government in April.
Under the changes, the government also gave the directive to drop the terms "drone" and "unmanned aerial vehicle" and replace them with "remotely piloted aircraft" (RPA) to align itself with International Civil Aviation Organization terminology.
The changes apply to RPA used in commercial operations weighing less than 2 kilograms maximum take-off weight. Under the new rules, drone operators must also notify the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority that they intend to fly their aircraft and adhere to a set of standard operating conditions, which include flying only during the day within a visual line of sight; below 120 metres; more than 30 metres away from other people; more than 5.5 kilometres from controlled aerodromes; and not near emergency situations.


Janet Lim-Napoles had more than P500 million in a savings and loan cooperative of members of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) deposits under her name, her husband, children and employees allegedly running dummy nongovernment organizations (NGO) siphoning state funds through ghost projects.
Lawyer Levi Baligod said whistle-blower Benhur Luy had the complete records of funds Napoles had amassed from profits of her bogus NGOs that were pumped into Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association Inc. (AMWSLAI) through the help of the thrift association’s president and chair, Ricardo L. Nolasco Jr.
“There are questions on whether Napoles and the persons she used were eligible and whether these investments were in keeping with AMWSLAI’s limits on deposits,” Baligod said in an interview.
The Inquirer called Nolasco’s office, his personal staff and compliance officer Ronald Dominguez for comment on this report but he had not replied as of press time.
Baligod said Napoles wanted to maximize the bonanza from her fake NGOs by placing the money in a safe but high-yielding deposit account. “AMWSLAI gives up to 13-percent interest earnings, tax free,” the lawyer said.
He said that Nolasco apparently accommodated Napoles despite the fact that AMWSLAI had a P3-million limit on its deposits per individual to prevent an abuse of the funds.
Based on documents furnished by Luy, who was entrusted by Napoles to record and balance her business books, Napoles funneled a total of P510 million in deposits to AMWSLAI from Oct. 9, 2009, to April 2011.
— P55 million deposited in April 2009 in the accounts of Napoles and her children James and Jo-Christine (P10 million each); and Gertrudes Luy (P25 million).
— P100 million or P25 million each in the accounts of Jaime Napoles (Janet’s husband), William Lim, Luy and Vanessa Ajos Eman (a president of one of the Napoles’ NGOs) deposited in October 2009.
— P4 million under Edwin Tan in February 2010.
— P205 million deposited in June 2010 under Liza Ho Maclang (P5 million) and Winnie Villanueva and John Raymund de Asis (P100 million each).
— P29 million under Rosita Kawson Co (P25 million) and Bonifacio Lao Maclang (P4 million) in July 2010.
— P30 million in December 2010 under Karen Panlilio Pantoja.
— P25 million in January 2011 under Napoles.
— P62 million under Gertrudes Luy (P25 million), Janet (P5 million) and her children James and Jo-Christine (P16 million each) in April 2011.
Luy’s records included the account and certificate numbers of each placement, terms of placement (between two and three years), and interest per annum (10 and 13 percent).
It could not be determined whether the funds were rolled over.
Napoles, head of JLN Corp., has accused Luy of stealing P300,000 from her company and taking out two loans amounting to P5 million from AMWSLAI on her behalf without her authorization.
Also on Monday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said in a statement that she had ordered the creation of a special panel to look into the misuse by seven NGOS allegedly controlled by Napoles of P200 million in funds under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in 2007 and 2008.
Morales has also given the five-member panel the leeway to conduct a preliminary investigation and administrative adjudication of all other cases that may arise from or involve the utilization of the PDAF. She said a case buildup by her field investigation office had started even before Luy blew the whistle on the pork barrel scam.
The panel will look into graft and falsification charges filed against former Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, Undersecretary Narciso Nieto, Director Teresita Panlilio, chief accountant Angelita Cacananta, budget officer Ronald Venancio, cashier Nilda Baui, three notaries public, three certified public accountants and 24 private individuals behind the seven NGOs led by Luy and his fellow whistle-blower Merlina Suñas.
The Ombudsman said Pangandaman, Nieto, Panlilio, Venancio and Baui have also been slapped with administrative charges for grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, gross neglect of duty and serious dishonesty.
The seven NGOs implicated in the CARP fund scam were Luy’s Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation Inc.;, People’s Organization for Progress and Development Foundation Inc. led by Suñas; Philippine Agri and Social Economic Development Foundation Inc. led by May-Ann Kilapkilap as president; Agri and Economic Program for Farmers Foundation Inc. led by Nemesio Pablo; Agricultura para sa Magbubukid Foundation Inc. led by Jocelyn O. Piorato; Masaganang Ani para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc. led by Marina Sula; and Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation Inc. led by Simonette Briones.
The 245-page complaint said Pangandaman and his coaccused granted funds for projects classified as “agri-business development,” “micro-livelihood project” or “agricultural production” to the seven NGOs in violation of the Commission on Audit circular on the release of funds to NGOs and people’s organizations.
The complaint alleged that while the NGOs said they made deliveries to projects in several municipalities in Cagayan, Pangasinan, Cavite, Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur, the listed beneficiaries denied getting anything from them.
The CARP fund scam is seen as a precursor of the P900-million Malampaya fund scam that whistle-blower Suñas claimed was concocted by Napoles, Pangandaman and Nieto in 2009 using fake NGOs that made ghost deliveries.


L O C A T I O N & L I F E S T Y L E sum up this unique offering of this 3+ bedroom home on almost half an acre in the prestigious Greenhaven section of Rye. Views of Long Island Sound and access to the Greenhaven Association beach and dock. First time offering in over fifty years… Build your dream home, down size or enjoy a weekend retreat, the choice is yours! Beach time, summer fun, clambakes, sun, sand and sea! Opportunity awaits the discerning buyer….


IT’S not very often these pages are graced by a 335-year-old house, but then, Glencastle House, Co Waterford, is no ordinary property.
Built in 1676 during the restoration of King Charles 11, its construction date is confirmed by a plaque on the wall, along with the name of its owner, Ian Francis Everett.
Little is known of Everett other than he took possession of a fine chunk of rich farmland along the Suir as a reward for crushing a rebellion in the north. And this within 25 years of Cromwell’s campaign in Ireland. The Lord Protector may even have marched along this part of the river on the way to take Carrick on Suir.
The house Everett built, while in the Dutch style, is a simple, well-to-do farmer’s dwelling rather than an aristocratic status symbol and in that sense, it’s pretty rare.
Set on the bank of the Suir, with valuable fishing rights, you could almost fish out of the windows. With the river running fast nearby, you would imagine that as a result of this, along with its age, Glencastle would be a reeking damp house.
Not a bit of it — there are some areas that need attention, in particular two of its five bedrooms, but this is a house that gleams with care and tender custody, a house that’s moved with the times, but retains it’s cannon-proof walls, it’s 20’ high ceilings and a sense of possession of its landscape.
Now its being sold for the first time since the 1950s and along with its 276 acres of land has an asking price of €3.25 million.
The farmhouse is quaint and sheltered by a boundary of trees and a high wall, which separates it from the farmyard. The setting is vaguely reminiscent of a Dutch landscape with its canal-like waterway and flat, fertile fields.
Only the majesty of Sliabh na mBan puts paid to the conceit as it rises from the plains across the Suir.
This symbol of Tipperary towers over the Waterford/south Tipperary border, but Glencastle House, however is officially in Co Waterford.
Just up the road is Gurteen de la Paor, a neo-Gothic castle owned by Gottfried Helnwein, a prolific and renowned Austrian artist who hosted the wedding of Dita Von Teese and Marilyn Manson, a hand-fasting that lasted all of a year.
The photographer, painter, installation and performance artist has a worldwide reputation and has lived in this part of Tipperary for so long, he took out Irish citizenship.
The house comes with a modern shaker kitchen and wood burning stove, a glowing and burnished dining room. An impressive drawing room has windows on three sides is the perfect rectangular shape for entertaining and relaxing and has a fine, white marble fireplace at its centre.
Overhead, there are three bedrooms off a wide landing, all of which are double rooms and the final two bedrooms are over the kitchen and will need renovation.
Glencastle House goes to auction on March 31 with a guide price of €3.25 million through joint agents Shelley Purcell and Collins O’Meara.


Police arrested a man early Friday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence after he hit the side of a Long Beach Fire Department truck in a parking lot.
“Initial investigation revealed that a male adult driver hit the side of a Long Beach Fire Truck while exiting a parking lot,” said police spokeswoman Shaunna Dandoy.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the fire truck was parked or moving. The collision happened in the 600 block of Long Beach Boulevard in Downtown, police said.
Police arrested 30-year-old Reggie Vail on suspicion of driving under the influence, hit and run with property damage and an outstanding warrant and is being held on $15,500 bail.


Primark said on Monday it has stopped buying clothes from three Indian suppliers who were accused of using child labour.
The cut-price clothing chain said the factories contracted finishing embroidery work to smaller firms in southern India which employed children.
It was alerted to the problem by a six-month BBC Panorama investigation.
The company also promised to employ a full-time officer in southern India to act as its ‘eyes and ears… continually investigating how and where garments are made’.
A spokesman added: ‘Most of our clothes are bought from the same factories as other fashion retailers and people producing them are paid exactly the same, whatever the label and whatever the price in the shop.
The company said it would set up a Primark Better Lives Foundation to give financial help to organisations devoted to improving the lives of young people.


The Peterborough Petes earned an overtime victory over the Erie Otters on Thursday night at the Memorial Centre.
Adam Timleck’s game winner in overtime earned the Peterborough Petes a 5-4 victory on Thursday night at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
With the victory the Petes vault into first place overall in the OHL’s East Division with a 6-2 record.
Pavel Gogolev (3), Brady Hinz (4), Cameron Butler (4), and Chris Paquette (6) all scored in regulation, while Timleck (2) netted the game-winning goal 4:08 into extra time.
Rookie netminder Tye Austin made his first OHL start, turning away 21 of 25 shots faced before leaving the game. Hunter Jones stopped all 11 shots faced in relief.
Butler’s goal ties him for the league-lead in goals by a rookie, while Nick Isaacson continues hold the league’s best plus/minus rating at +12.


Some conservative bloggers took this to mean that President Obama ordered the removal of the flag.
This administration and, by extension, the Democrat Party are now so thoroughly divorced from the history, traditions and morals of America that we might as well admit the Marxist left has executed a successful coup d'état on this Republic.
What an absolutely pitiful little manchild Obama is. As if turning his back on Debra Burlingame (sister of Charles Burlingame who piloted the plane that went down at the Pentagon during 9/11) wasn't pitiful enough. Now we learn that the Obama regime had an American flag removed from the live shot of his photo op at Ground Zero today.
Does flying the American flag at Ground Zero now constitute "spiking the football???"
According to the Drudge Report Archives, Drudge ran a headline reading, "REPORT: Team Obama takes down US flag before Ground Zero event..." which linked to Tapper's tweet.
One problem. It isn't true. Multiple photos show that the flag was on full display when Obama arrived at Ground Zero. Tapper's tweet was posted at 6:30 pm -- hours after the President had left. In all likelihood, Tapper was saying that the flag was being removed before his live shot for ABC World News when he made his tweet.
To their credit, both Malkin and Ross have acknowledged that they got the story wrong, though Malkin erased her erroneous post rather than add a correction to the initial, inflammatory post, while Ross claimed "perhaps Tapper just confused all of us" and added, "I'm sticking by my "Marxist coup d'état" comment."
Conservative media correcting falsehoods is the exception to the norm (here are just a few from Malkin and Ross that have gone uncorrected). Perhaps if they checked if a story sounded plausible before running with it, they'd spread less untruths.


Turkeys, family, and football: Great articles about Thanksgiving.
Wild turkeys, crazy relatives, and beloved rituals.
Is there a way to keep the Black Friday crowds safe?
The origins of the term Black Friday are obscure. Some think that it was first used by the police in Philadelphia to describe the snarled traffic and sidewalk hassles that came with the day after Thanksgiving and crowds arriving for the city’s annual Army-Navy game. Others have defined Black Friday as the day that merchants’ balance sheets crossed over into the black. Either way, it is now a de-facto national shopping holiday. On TV, images of people racing through the aisles of stores for sale-priced items, in a sort of American Pamplona, have become as much a part of the day after Thanksgiving as leftovers. Shoppers get discounts, programmers get some lively content for a slow news day, and retailers get free publicity: a good deal for everyone, except for the clerks who have to work that day, breaking up fights among shoppers and cleaning up the mess left behind.
How science changed our holiday feast.
The history of the first Thanksgiving: The Indians who first feasted with the English colonists were far more sophisticated than you were taught in school. But that wasn’t enough to save them.
By fall the settlers’ situation was secure enough that they held a feast of thanksgiving. Massasoit showed up with “some ninety men,” Winslow later recalled, most of them with weapons. The Pilgrim militia responded by marching around and firing their guns in the air in a manner intended to convey menace. Gratified, both sides sat down, ate a lot of food and complained about the Narragansett. Ecce Thanksgiving.
All the while, Bradford wrote, Tisquantum “sought his own ends and played his own game.” Covertly he tried to persuade other Wampanoag that he could better protect them against the Narragansett than Massasoit. In case of attack, Tisquantum claimed, he could respond with as many Indian troops—plus the Pilgrims. To advance his case, Tisquantum told other Indians that the foreigners had “buried in the ground” a cache of the agent that had caused the epidemic and that he could manipulate them into unleashing it.
The next morning would begin the four hellish days spent with my family. Ninety-six hours jam-packed with television, eating and being treated like an idiot.
A Thanksgiving lesson in forgiveness.
For many people, Thanksgiving is about bringing together family and friends; for some, it is centered around the ancient autumnal harvest festival; for others, it is an opportunity to count and express our most precious blessings; for yet others, it is a holiday devoted to copious amounts of football and alcohol. I believe deeply in all these versions, but for me Thanksgiving is very much about the pardoning of turkeys. The tradition of the presidential turkey pardon is wonderfully rife with distortion, ambiguity, and error—as all good stories should be—but what is most perplexing about this bizarre ritual is our uncertainty about its origins.
In a St. Louis suburb, the Turkey Day high school football game is more than just an old-fashioned rivalry.
There are places in America where football is taken more seriously, and there are Thanksgiving Day high school football rivalries that are older than the 96-year-old series between Webster Groves and Kirkwood (box, page 82), but nowhere is the tradition so ingrained in the lives of generations of two communities, and nowhere is it more redolent of America’s all-but-extinct small-town culture. Turkey Day has featured the sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of players who battled for the black-and-orange-togged Statesmen or the red-and-white Pioneers. The local radio station, KFNS, sells tens of thousands of dollars in advertising for its broadcast of the event. Shops and restaurants cater to the football crowds and the hundreds of family reunions the game prompts every year. The friendly rivalry shapes relationships among the two towns’ residents all year round, and not just among the teenagers. Turkey Day is the cornerstone of the two communities’ identities.


CHICO — Composting will be the topic for the next Butte Rose Society meeting, at 7 p.m. March 26, at the Chico Veterans Memorial Hall, 554 Rio Lindo Ave.
With spring being the time to fertilize, the month’s topic will be composting, with speaker Ward Habriel of Paradise.
Habriel has been a master composter since 1996 through the Alameda County Office of Education. He has been employed as an environmental educator for Stopwaste.org, and managed organic gardens in the Bay Area, as well as demonstrating different types of compost bins and methods.
He has presented composting information through various programs in schools, home and garden shows, and community meetings.
Habriel is president of the Paradise Garden Club, and on the board of California Garden Clubs and Pacific Region Garden Clubs, and vice chair of Butte County Fire Safe Council. He has been involved in firewise landscaping, water conservation and green building.
April Fool’s is the theme of the meeting, and visitors should expect a few surprises, according to the program coordinator.
Guests are free, but an annual membership is only $25. The society’s website is www.butte-rosesociety.org.
For information, contact program director Sandy Anderson at sandychico@gmail.com or by calling 342-1164.


Jay Deshmukh, an Indian national who was deputy of the AFP bureau in Tehran, had apparently tried, together with his assistant, to cover a protest gathering Feb 15 despite an official ban.
The 40-year-old Deshmukh had been working for the AFP in Tehran since 2009.
Dozens of reporters and photographers from the foreign media are said to have lost their accreditation for having tried to cover last month's protest demonstrations.
Restrictions on local and foreign media in Iran have drastically increased following protests against alleged fraud in the June 2009 presidential election, which saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected.
Since July 2009, the foreign media has officially been banned by the foreign press department of the culture ministry from directly covering the protests and contacting opposition figures.
Any violation of the ban would lead to prohibition from work or even expulsion.
The Iranian judiciary last month established a special prosecution office for offences related to media.


The Eagle County Fair and Rodeo dates back to 1939 when hundreds of folks from the region came to the county seat to share in a day of competition and camaraderie. Along with the ropin’ and wranglin’ the 4-H exhibits featured livestock, arts and crafts. Housed in the Eagle River Center, the 4-H exhibits are not to be missed today. This is where the hard work and dedication of local youth comes to fruition.
4-H is the largest youth development organization in the nation, helping youngsters pursue interests that range from photography to computers, but we checked in with those raising everything from steers, sheep, chickens, pigs, even bunnies at this year’s fair. These kids have worked countless hours to raise an animal worthy of the annual auction. This dedication to tend to and care for some living being other than oneself speaks volumes to the character these kids possess. The 4-H emblem is the four-leaf clover, which stands for Head, Heart, Hands and Health and these kids exemplify all of these qualities.
Logan Story is a 14-year-old 4-H exhibitor who has been showing animals since she was 5 years old. In almost a decade, she has learned much more than how to take care of and show an animal at the Eagle River Center. “Being in 4-H is just like being in one big family, plus you learn so much about responsibility, not only for the animals you raise, but also the money you raise and where it goes. I typically pay back my parents first and then use it towards my next animal and put some away for college,” Story said.
It also helps them learn how to handle stress. “This whole week is really hectic and you are running around getting your animal ready to show and your parents are running around trying to help but once I enter the show ring, all that goes away. I just focus on my animal in that exact moment and what I am doing and it really helps calm your mindset,” Story said.
I’ve had they opportunity over the years to interview the 4-Hers and have always enjoyed it because these kids were all so well spoken and poised, have a lot of respect for their craft and I sensed they were destined for success later in life because of the core values learned through 4-H. The Junior Livestock Auction, which was held on Saturday, July 28, was an opportunity for kids to showcase their hard work and earn money to buy a new animal for next year’s auction or put it towards a college fund. These kids learn business and people skills and also become stewards of the community.


Buying advertising can be expensive and creating the ads can also be a time-consuming and difficult process. While there's no doubt that advertising and other traditional marketing efforts can be helpful in growing your client base, knowing what options are available and which are the most effective can often be the biggest challenge to a small business owner.
1. Effectiveness. A recent study by the Direct Marketing Association notes that every dollar spent on e-mail marketing has a return of $45 to $51. You'll still be competing with other businesses for your customers' attention, but the study shows that open rates for e-mail marketing pieces are 10 times higher than conventional direct mail.
2. Ease. Anyone with basic computer skills can build an e-mail list and compose an e-mail to send out to customers. However, business owners should take care to not send out poorly developed, poorly designed or irrelevant messages which can cause your customers to turn away from your business. If you need help, consider services that offer e-mail marketing software services to help you get started. Providers, such as Easy Contact (www.easycontact.com), offer services that will help you create an e-mail newsletter, simplify the process of sending marketing e-mails and help you track customer responses.
3. Affordability. With the help of easy-to-use, affordable tools, e-mail marketing is more cost effective than almost any other marketing or advertising alternative.
4. Speed. There are few ways to get your message out faster than through e-mail marketing. If you send out an e-mail coupon in the morning, you could see customers using it at your business by the afternoon.
5. Personalization. By offering exclusive information or personalized specials to your customers, you'll build a relationship with them and gain their loyalty. E-mail messaging also offers an easy platform for your customers to share your message with their friends. It also allows them to share the message with their friends via social media.
6. Measurable results. If you have the right software, you can track how many people opened your e-mail, clicked on website links in the message or forwarded it to others, among other things.
E-mail marketing provides a platform to reach your customers without expending a ton of time and energy or spending all of your available marketing budget. A simple, affordable program that allows you to create, send and track your e-mail campaigns quickly and easily. For more information and tips on e-mail marketing, visit www.easycontact.com.


“We have filed a criminal complaint to inform the prosecutor of certain irregularities in violation of environmental law that have occurred in the heart of the Ministry of the Environment which is involved with authorizations of projects,” said attorney Raúl Montenegro.
The construction at the site has been suspended until an environmental assessment is completed to determine the plant’s future impact on the area. Local newspaper La Voz reported that the environmental study could be completed as soon as early February.
The multinational company said it will appeal the decision. “We consider our right to build legitimate since we have complied with all legal requirements and have obtained authorization to build according to the regulations,” said Monsanto’s statement.
The company stated that it already conducted an environmental assessment, which is currently under the review by the provincial Secretary of the Environment.
Activists had been blockading the construction site for 113 days, preventing workers from completing work on the plant.
In October a new report revealed that pesticides sold by Monsanto are linked to health problems ranging from birth defects to elevated rates of cancer in Argentina. A lack of regulations has led to widespread misuse of Monsanto’s products in agriculture rich Argentina.
Media investigations pointed to a clear link between the use of pesticides sold by Monsanto and worsening health problems in Argentina. The reports documented a number of occasions when toxic pesticides were used close to populated areas and consequently contaminated the water supply and caused health problems.
The multinational company is facing global criticism elsewhere as well. In October thousands took to streets across the world’s cities to protest the use of GMO products, with Monsanto a common target. Over 50 countries have been taking part in the march for world food day, and across 47 different US states.
The demonstrators have been calling for the permanent boycott of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and “other harmful agro-chemicals,” according to March Against Monsanto’s official webpage.
A previous anti-Monsanto protest was held in May. It started as a small event, but turned into a global campaign with over 2 million people in 436 cities, across 52 countries, joining the rallies.
Nevertheless Monsanto saw its shares surge by more than 2% on Wednesday morning after announcing better-than-expected first quarter earnings earlier that day. The company said that for the quarter ending November 30, 2013 it earned 368 million, or 69 cents per share. One year earlier, the company earned only 339 million during that period, the Associated Press reported.
Categories: Agriculture, Environment, Health & Science, Investments, Politics, Argentina, International, Latin America.
Tags: Argentina, Cordoba, Genetically Modified Organisms, Monsanto, Monsanto pesticides, Raul Montenegro.
Seems Monsanto found the mythical Malvinas.
@1 Seems like you might be right, but on the other hand they may be lying, what do you think, can we trust them?
It is amazing to me the savior of the Arg economy is not welcomed with open arms.
Do they want any business in that country?


Previous visitors describe walking through Jaffa as similar to strolling back in history. Beautiful views of and stone buildings delight travelers who make the trek. Except now, the interiors of these ancient buildings have been transformed into art galleries and cafes. Throughout the city, narrow alleyways funnel you past jewelry-makers and fruit vendors into the primary square, where a thriving flea market sells everything from antiques to regional snacks.
Jaffa is located about 2 miles south of downtown Tel Aviv. You can visit Jaffa at any time, day or night. It can be reached via bus Nos. 1, 25, 41 and 83. You can visit Jaffa at any time, day or night. While you don't have to pay to wander, you may want to have some shekels on hand should something in the market or the galleries strike your fancy. For more information, visit the Ministry of Tourism website.


The National Council of Resistance of Iran exposed Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and a heavy water facility at Arak in 2002.
An exiled Iranian opposition group said on Thursday a delegation of North Korean experts in nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles visited a military site near Tehran in April amid talks between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program.
The dissident National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) exposed Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and a heavy water facility at Arak in 2002. But analysts say it has a mixed track record and a clear political agenda. Iran says allegations of nuclear bomb research are baseless and forged by its enemies.
Iran and six world powers are trying to meet a self-imposed June 30 deadline to reach a comprehensive deal, but issues remain including the monitoring and verification measures to ensure Iran could not pursue a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
Citing information from sources inside Iran, including within Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Paris-based NCRI said the seven person North Korean Defense Ministry team were in Iran for the last week of April. It was the third time in 2015 that North Koreans had been to Iran and a nine person delegation was due to return in June, it said.
"The delegates included nuclear experts, nuclear warhead experts and experts in various elements of ballistic missiles including guidance systems," NCRI said.
There have previously been unconfirmed reports of ties between the two countries on ballistic missile cooperation, although nothing specific in the nuclear field.
The UN Panel of Experts that monitors compliance with sanctions on North Korea has reported in the past that Pyongyang and Tehran were regularly exchanging ballistic missile technology in violation of UN sanctions.
The NCRI said the North Korean delegation was taken secretly to the Imam Khomenei complex, a site controlled by the Defense Ministry, east of Tehran. It gave detailed accounts of locations and who the officials met.
It said the delegation dealt with the Center for Research and Design of New Aerospace Technology, a unit of nuclear weaponisation research and planning center called the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), which is under United States sanctions. NCRI said the unit researches and manufactures interior parts of nuclear warheads.
"Tehran has shown no interest in giving up its drive to nuclear weapons. The weaponisation program is continuing and they have not slowed down the process," NCRI spokesman Shahin Gobadi said.
UN watchdog the IAEA, which for years has been investigating alleged nuclear arms research by Tehran, declined to comment. Iranian officials declined to comment. North Korean officials were not available for comment.
Several Western officials said they were not aware of a North Korean delegation traveling to Iran recently.
North Korean and Iranian officials meet regularly in general diplomatic activity, although on April 23, Kim Yong Nam, North Korea's ceremonial head of state and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held a rare meeting on the sidelines of the Asian-African summit in Jakarta.


The next time you feel like God can't use you, just remember..."
*.MOSES had a stuttering problem.
*.SAMSON had long hair, and was a womanizer!
*.JEREMIAH and TIMOTHY were too young.
*.DAVID had an affair and was a murderer.
*.The Disciples fell asleep while praying.
*.The SAMARITAN WOMAN was divorced … more than once!
*.TIMOTHY had an ulcer .
The Lord is waiting to use your full potential.


Samsung's Notebook 9 Pen is a nice example of the company taking what works on the smartphone and bringing it to a larger screen. But Samsung also misses opportunities to connect its broader product roadmap to its laptops.
Samsung has powered-up its Smart TV experience with a 'One Remote' control and an upgraded voice recognition feature that will allow consumers to use smart features more smartly, says its development team.
Samsung latest laptop lineup led by the Notebook 9 Pen is notable, but misses key opportunities on multiple fronts to provide connective tissue between its products and services.
The reviews of the Notebook 9 Pen are in, and most tout Samsung's use of the S Pen stylus as a bridge to the Galaxy Note 8, but they also gripe about the overall design.
The Good: The Samsung Notebook 9 Pen is extremely light but powerful, has plenty of ports, multiple biometric security features and includes Samsung's excellent S Pen stylus.
The Bad: Especially for a premium-priced laptop, the design is bland. Battery life is merely OK. The stylus feels better suited for a small phone screen than a laptop screen.
The Bottom Line: With the Notebook 9 Pen, Samsung works some key features from the Galaxy Note 8 phone into a premium two-in-one laptop.
Overall, Samsung came in with a price too high at $1,399 and missed a halo-effect opportunity.
Read also: Will Bixby consolidate Samsung's smart TV and IoT experience?
Clearly, Samsung's primary product focus is on smartphones, TVs ,and appliances. The components such as processors and OLED screens are what really pays Samsung's bills. In some ways, laptops appear to be almost like a side project to Samsung.
Laptops and 2-in-1 devices can bridge Samsung's smartphones and TVs as well as its Internet of Things platform. Remember the laptop can -- and often does -- become a smart home server or hub. Electronics makers try to force other hubs on us -- refrigerators and TVs, for instance -- but laptops are a more natural fit.
Samsung has a B2B business that aims to connect the Galaxy line of smartphones, large screens, the smart office, and even virtual reality. The lead device in the workplace remains the laptop.
Two-in-1 devices offer an opportunity for Samsung to use its software to connect experiences.
Strong laptop designs serve as word-of-mouth marketing fodder for the Samsung brand.
Samsung's laptop lineup, which also includes the Notebook 9 and Notebook 7 Spin, is solid. But these ultra slim notebooks could have done more to position Samsung in other areas. These notebooks look like they operate in some Samsung silo without the connective tissue to other units and innovation hubs.


Computer chips are arguably both the most complex things ever mass produced by humans and the most disruptive to our lives.
So it's remarkable that the extraordinary pace they have evolved at was in large part influenced by a three-page article published 50 years ago this weekend.
It noted that the maximum number of components that manufacturers could "cram" onto a sliver of silicon - before which the rising risk of failure made it uneconomic to add more - was doubling at a regular pace.
Its author, Gordon Moore, suggested this could be extrapolated to forecast the rate at which more complicated chips could be built at affordable costs.
The insight - later referred to as Moore's Law - became the bedrock for the computer processor industry, giving engineers and their managers a target to hit.
Intel - the firm Mr Moore went on to co-found - says the law will have an even more dramatic impact on the next 20 years than the last five decades put together.
But could its time be more limited?
Although dubbed a "law", computing's pace of change has been driven by human ingenuity rather than any fixed rule of physics.
"Moore's observation" would be a more accurate, if less dramatic, term.
In fact, the rule itself has changed over time.
While Moore's 1965 paper talked of the number of "elements" on a circuit doubling every year, he later revised this a couple of times, ultimately stating that the number of transistors in a chip would double approximately every 24 months.
"In the beginning, it was just a way of chronicling the progress," he reflects.
"But gradually, it became something that the various industry participants recognised as something they had to stay on or fall behind technologically.
"So it went from a way of measuring what had happened to something that was kind of driving the industry."
For most people, imagining exponential growth - in which something rapidly increases at a set rate in proportion to its size, for example doubles every time - is much harder than linear growth - in which the same amount is repeatedly added.
To illustrate an example of exponential growth that follows a similar course to Moore's law, imagine that as part of an exercise regime Mary swims the length of a 22m (72ft) pool, the size found in many hotels.
Every two years, Mary doubles her distance, and she is committed to repeating this over the course of 50 years.
So, after two years her regime consists of 44m.
At first, the increasing rate of growth may not seem overly impressive. After 10 years, Mary is swimming 704m - or 32 lengths.
That is nearly the equivalent of travelling the length of a football pitch seven times.
But the two-yearly doubling effect does not take long to dazzle. By 26 years - about half-way into her workout scheme - she would have to travel 180km.
That is the equivalent of swimming five and a half times across the English Channel at its narrowest point or once across the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from mainland China.
By the time Mary reached 50 years, she would have to swim 738,198km.
That is the equivalent of travelling all the way from the Earth to the Moon and back again, at least for much of our satellite's orbit. Phew!
Moore retired in 1997, but Intel still follows his lead.
"Having Moore's Law as a guide - or as some of us have said, as our guiding north star - has kept us on pace, both in terms of how far we should scale and when we should scale," Mark Bohr, Intel's director of process architecture and integration, tells the BBC.
"Without [it] I think we'd be many generations behind in terms of technology.
"Instead of having all the computing power of a smartphone in your hand today, we'd still be using desktop computers from 10 to 15 years ago."
Mr Bohr acknowledges, however, that progress comes at a price.
Intel has had to spend ever increasing amounts on research and its manufacturing plants to stay on target.
And some question how long it can maintain this trick.
In 2013, the firm's ex-chief architect Bob Colwell made headlines when he predicted Moore's Law would be "dead" by 2022 at the latest.
The issue, he explained, was that it was difficult to shrink transistors beyond a certain point.
Specifically, he said it would be impossible to justify the costs required to reduce the length of a transistor part, known as its gate, to less than 5nm (1nm = one billionth of a metre).
"The amount of effort it's going to take to do anything beyond that is substantial," he said.
"We will play all the little tricks that we still didn't get around to, we'll make better machines for a while, but you can't fix [the loss of] that exponential. A bunch of incremental tweaks isn't going to hack it."
In simple terms, a transistor is a kind of tiny switch that is triggered by an electrical signal.
By turning them on and off at high speeds, computers are able to amplify and switch electronic signals and electrical power, making it possible for them to carry out the calculations needed to run software.
The first transistor - invented in 1947 - was roughly 2.5cm (1in) across.
You can now fit billions into the same space.
Intel has yet to reveal how it intends to overcome the challenge, but Mr Bohr insists progress is being made.
"Over the past 30 years there has been a long string of industry experts who have predicted the end of Moore's Law within five to 10 years," he says.
"Although I have a lot of respect for Bob Colwell, I think he's wrong."
Forthcoming advances in computing power will dwarf previous achievements, Mr Bohr adds, with the consequence that processors will "disappear" into our clothes, accessories and wider surroundings.
British firm ARM - whose rival chip designs are used by Samsung, Apple and many others - agrees that ever smaller transistors should continue to deliver benefits for many years.
But it highlights that in the mobile age, things have moved beyond simply trying to offer more processing power at a reasonable price.
The focus now, it says, is to add functions to tablets and smartphones - such as slow-mo video capture and faster downloads - while ensuring that their batteries are not over-taxed.
"What's important is if you are changing experiences, it's not just about am I providing more compute capability," explains marketing chief Laurence Bryant.
"What appeals to consumers is great battery life and thin devices."
This is why there has been a recent trend towards "multi-core" processors.
These squeeze in more transistors to support complex tasks, but keep many of them powered down much of the time in order to extend battery life.
Even if processors do stop being improved as quickly as we've become accustomed to, computing itself could continue to leap forward.
"It's not quite irrelevant whether the density of transistors per chip continues to increase at the same exponential rate for the next 50 years - it would be great it it did - but our future and progress with all things digital does not depend on that very much," comments Andrew McAfee, cofounder of MIT's initiative on the digital economy.
"It depends more on getting tools out there to more people and improving our approaches with software and algorithms."
He says he frequently speaks to developers who report code-based advances that make Moore's Law look "ridiculous in comparison".
But he acknowledges that that the software industry would benefit from its own equivalent to the rule.
"When we talk to our friends working at the cutting edge of software systems that do artificial intelligence they say: 'Look this terrain is shifting so quickly that we don't even have a rough rule of thumb or a heuristic to use to see where we should be in 12 months, we keep getting surprised."
It's technology's job to supersede the old and leave it on the scrapheap.
So, it's only fitting that this fate will befall Moore's Law, whether it is now or in the decades to come.
Whatever the date, it's indisputable that its creator has left his mark on computing's early years.
"It's amazing how often I run across a reference to Moore's Law," the 86-year-old remarks.
"In fact, I Googled Moore's Law and I Googled Murphy's Law.
"Moore beats Murphy by at least two to one."


MANILA, Philippines — The death toll from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Bohol and other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao rose to 85, police said Tuesday, as more reports trickled in about toppled buildings and historic churches near the epicenter.
Bohol police chief Dennis Agustin said that over 60 of the deaths came from the province, where the quake hit near the town of Carmen. At least 16 others died in nearby Cebu province and another on Siquijor Island.
Meanwhile, in a text message to reporters, Police Officer 3 Carl John Legazpi, operations clerk of the Bohol provincial office, said that there were 62 fatalities from several towns in Bohol.
The quake struck at 8:12 a.m. and was centered about 33 kilometers (20 miles) below Carmen on Bohol Island, where many buildings collapsed, roads cracked up and bridges fell.
“We ran out of the building, and outside, we hugged trees because the tremors were so strong,” said Vilma Yorong, a provincial government employee in Bohol.
“When the shaking stopped, I ran to the street and there I saw several injured people. Some were saying their church has collapsed,” she told The Associated Press by phone.
As fear set in, Yorong and the others ran up a mountain, afraid a tsunami would follow the quake. “Minutes after the earthquake, people were pushing each other to go up the hill,” she said.
Offices and schools were closed for a national holiday — the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha — which may have saved lives.


Despite modern advancements in photography making it easy for every man, woman, and child to get their Annie Leibovitz on, taking breathtaking photos isn’t always quite as simple as just hitting the shutter button. To make the most of your camera, you should understand a wide range of prerequisites, skills, and advanced functions in order to get terrific-looking photographs. One of those skills can mean the difference between capturing a blurred mess and a sharp stunner: autofocus.
Perhaps one of the most important steps to taking beautiful photography lies with understanding how your camera’s focusing system works. All cameras — whether you own a high-end or an entry-level interchangeable lens model — feature a collection of autofocus (AF) sensors and processors that work tirelessly to focus on a subject or object.
To help you get a better understanding of autofocus systems, we’ve put together this simple rundown on how these features work and when to use each autofocus mode. We can’t guarantee reading our guide will allow you to achieve National Geographic acclaim, but it’s a great reference for any amateur or novice photographer, and will definitely help you capture better photos.
Autofocus is either performed by a dedicated AF sensor (in DSLRs) or on the imaging sensor itself (in mirrorless cameras, or DSLRs set to live view mode). Traditionally, DSLRs offered much faster autofocus performance because of this, but in recent years, mirrorless cameras have caught up thanks to on-chip phase detection.
There are basically two types of autofocus that cameras can use: phase detection or contrast detection. Phase detection is generally considered the superior method for all focusing scenarios, but particularly for continuous autofocus and subject tracking. This is due to its ability to calculate not just when a subject is in focus, but whether an out-of-focus subject is back-focused or front-focused, letting the camera know which direction to move the lens in order to bring it in focus.
Contrast detection, on the other hand, works by looking for contrast alone, as maximum contrast occurs when an image is in focus. While this technique can be just as accurate as phase detection for nonmoving subjects, it will generally be slower and less accurate for moving subjects as it can only tell whether or not something is focused or defocused, but not which direction it needs to move the lens. Contrast detection systems are notorious for focus “hunting,” in which the lens racks from one end of the focus range to the other trying to find the area of most contrast.
A camera’s autofocus accuracy greatly depends on the location, type, and the outright number of autofocus points.
Most modern mirrorless cameras employ a hybrid approach of contrast and phase detection. Dual Pixel AF is a phase detection technology employed by Canon on both its mirrorless cameras and DSLRs. Nikon DSLRs still use contrast detection when in live view mode, but the new mirrorless Z series features on-chip phase detection. Panasonic Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras use an advanced contrast detection technology called Depth from Defocus, which analyzes the blur pattern of compatible lenses to determine whether an object is front or back-focused.
What’s an autofocus assist beam?
An autofocus assist beam is an incredibly useful feature found on many cameras. It’s essentially a small flashlight which uses either visible or infrared light to help a camera’s autofocus sensors when there isn’t enough ambient light for them to work properly. Many external flashes also have advanced AF assist beams built into them, which actually project a grid onto the scene for the AF points to lock on to.
While every camera features an autofocus sensor and processor, the range of specific autofocus points varies from model to model. A camera’s autofocus accuracy — and pure capability — greatly depends on the location, type, and the outright number of autofocus points. For example, top-tier cameras tend to have autofocus points in the three digit range (the Canon EOS R has more than 5,000), whereas entry-level models may feature fewer than a dozen.
High-end DSLRs typically feature cross-type sensors that cover most of the desired image, allowing for the highest accuracy. Surrounding these cross-type sensors are a series of lower accuracy, vertical line sensors that provide one-dimensional detection. Though these are inferior to the cross-type sensors, they complement the framed image to help achieve the best possible focus. Lower-end DSLRs also feature cross-type sensors, though the flexibility drastically differs compared to higher-end models.
Most entry-level models tend to feature just one cross-type sensor for f/2.8 apertures, and lose the functionality of these sensors with smaller apertures. One way to assist with the focus process on these cameras is to initially use the maximum aperture afforded, even if you plan on snapping on a smaller aperture. Though not a definitive solution, this does tend to help the smaller aperture achieve the desired focus even though it lacks several autofocus points.
Moreover, using the central autofocus point — with either a high-end or entry-level SLR — on objects outside of the center of your desired image helps achieve a better focus lock for the entire photograph. Simply point the center of your camera at an off-center object, allow the autofocus sensors to find a desirable focus level, then reframe your camera back to the original position.
A camera’s autofocus modes help determine exactly how the camera focuses — photographers adjust them based on the subjects they are shooting, like if you are photographing something that’s moving or something that’s stationary. Autofocus modes (and the related autofocus area modes) can be adjusted inside the menu, while many high-end cameras have a shortcut using physical controls. If you can’t find the autofocus mode options on your particular camera, take a look at the camera’s manual to locate them, since each model may be different.
Unless you prefer shooting moving objects most of the time, chances are you’ll likely use one-shot focusing while taking pictures. One shot or single-servo AF, as the name suggests, focuses only one time when the shutter button is half-pressed. Because the focus only works once, if the subject moves between that half press and when the image is actually taken, even slightly, the image will be out of focus. The one-shot or single shot focus, often abbreviated as AF-S, works best with stationary subjects, like food and landscape photography.
Most cameras also offer a type of continuous focus mode which continuously tracks moving objects, while simultaneously adjusting its focus distances accordingly. Where the single shot focus measures the focus only once, continuous autofocus works the autofocus system constantly between the time the shutter button is pressed halfway and when the shot is actually taken.
If you shoot burst mode, continuous autofocus will continue to track the subject between those frames. (Some cameras require slower burst speeds to use continuous autofocus, however). Depending on which brand of camera you own, this function may go by several different names. For instance, Nikon calls this feature its continuous focus, while Canon refers to it as AI Servo focusing. It’s also often referred to shorthand as AF-C.
Autofocus modes choose how the camera focuses, autofocus area modes choose where the camera focuses.
Continuous focus functions by anticipating the movement of objects in the frame, based on the movement speed and location of the object at prior distances. To account for its own lag in shutter speed, the camera uses its prediction of the object’s location to focus on a spot in the frame where it intends the object to be.
Using continuous focus greatly improves your chances of shooting clear pictures of moving objects. It’s best for any subject that’s moving, besides the obvious like sports photography, active kids and pets, and even people walking are best shot with this setting. Don’t just leave the camera on AF-C forever, though — the focus system anticipates movement and if your subject isn’t moving, you could end up with an out-of-focus shot. Some cameras also an AF-A mode, which is where the camera decides whether to use AF-C or AF-S mode.
Autofocus modes choose how the camera focuses, autofocus area modes choose where the camera focuses. If your camera selects a different subject than the one you had in mind, you’re not using the right autofocus mode. Autofocus modes and autofocus area modes are distinct — you choose two each time you adjust the autofocus settings, not one or the other. Some autofocus area modes do require a specific autofocus mode — tracking autofocus options, for example, are only available once you are in continuous autofocus.
On by default, this autofocus area mode allows the camera to choose what should be in focus. You can see what the camera has selected with the points that pop up on the screen or viewfinder, but in this mode, you can’t change them. This mode is helpful because it’s simple to use and faster than changing the focal point, but it doesn’t really let you choose where to focus. Generally, the camera will simply focus on the closest object in the frame.
Unlike auto area, single point autofocus lets the photographer choose where to focus without reverting to manual focus. In this mode, you move one autofocus point around on the screen or in the viewfinder and place that point directly over what you want to focus on. Depending on the camera model, you can move that focus point using the same arrow buttons you use to navigate the menu or using a joystick, if your camera has one. This autofocus mode is the most precise and gives the photographer the most control over where the camera focuses. It’s used in portraits to focus on the eyes, landscapes to get most of the scene in focus and many other genres. The downside is that you have to actually move that point — and it can be difficult to move the point fast enough with quick moving subjects.
Dynamic is similar to single point autofocus, only once you focus on that single point, the camera will follow that object, even if it moves around the frame. Tracking is helpful for shooting fast action, since it’s hard to move the autofocus point faster than the subject moves.
A hybrid between auto area and single point, this autofocus area mode uses a group of autofocus points instead of a single point. Unlike auto area, you can direct the camera to focus on a specific part of the frame. This mode still focuses on the closest object, but only within the designated AF point group. It’s not as specific as single point autofocus, but it can be much easier for certain subjects, particularly small, fast-moving ones where keeping a single AF point over them would be difficult.
Just like the name implies, this is a fully automatic mode that looks for faces (and on some cameras, even individual eyes) to focus on. This is a particularly useful mode for vlogging when you need to shoot video of yourself and can’t monitor the focus. Since this requires image analysis, face detection only works on mirrorless cameras or in live view. Not all cameras have this feature, but it is becoming more common.
If you took a photo that’s out-of-focus, chances are, adjusting either the autofocus mode or autofocus area mode would have captured a sharp shot. If the camera is focusing on the right spot of the image (you can tell by where the focal point pops up in the viewfinder as you shoot) but is still out of focus, you are probably using continuous autofocus on a still subject, or using single autofocus on a moving subject. Remember, single is for still subjects, continuous is for action.
If the camera isn’t even focusing on the right part of the image, then the autofocus area mode is to blame. The default auto area mode is easy to use, but doesn’t give you much control. Using single point autofocus instead offers more control, while tracking or dynamic autofocus offers that control but can keep up with moving subjects.


Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is a complication of a strep throat caused by particular strains of group A beta-haemolytic streptococci.
Although common in developing countries, ARF is rare in the United States, with small isolated outbreaks reported only occasionally. It is most common among children between 5-15 years of age. A family history of ARF may predispose an individual to the disease.
Symptoms typically occur 18 days after an untreated strep throat. An acute attack lasts approximately 3 months. The most common clinical finding is a migratory arthritis involving multiple joints.
The most serious complication is carditis, or heart inflammation (rheumatic heart disease), as this may lead to chronic heart disease and disability or death years after an attack. Less common findings include bumps or nodules under the skin (usually over the spine or other bony areas) and a red expanding rash on the trunk and extremities that recurs over weeks to months. Because of the different ways ARF presents itself, the disease may be difficult to diagnose. A neurological disorder, chorea, can occur months after an initial attack, causing jerky involuntary movements, muscle weakness, slurred speech, and personality changes.
Initial episodes of ARF as well as recurrences can be prevented by treatment with appropriate antibiotics.


Guardian News and Media, publisher of the Guardian and Observer titles, has revealed its mean gender pay gap is 11.3 per cent favouring men.
Among the group’s editorial employees, the mean gap falls to 7.4 per cent.
In non-editorial departments, where the Guardian said there was a “a higher proportion of men in the highest paid roles”, the mean gap was 17.2 per cent.
This compares to a national average mean gender pay gap of 17.4 per cent.
ITN, which also published its gender pay gap report today, revealed a 19.6 per cent mean gender pay gap. The BBC’s gender pay gap is 9.3 per cent, while PA’s is 0.8 per cent.
GNM employs 1,557 people in the UK, of which 876 are men and 681 are women.
The pay data published in today’s report includes full and part-time staff and casual workers, but not freelances.
It shows that of the 390 staff in the group’s highest pay quartile, 65 per cent are men (252). Conversely, in the lowest pay quartile 57 per cent are women.
In a joint statement, Guardian editor Katharine Viner (pictured) and chief executive David Pemsel said the publisher was “committed to creating a workforce that is diverse and inclusive”.
They said: “The gap is driven by two main factors: there are more men in the highest paid and most senior roles; and there are more women in lower paid administration, sales and marketing roles.
It laid out an eight-point plan to achieve the equal gender balance, which includes fast-tracking women’s progression via a Women in Leadership programme and offering a mentoring scheme for all women.
Read the full Guardian gender pay gap report.


North Korea: Peace? Nuclear War?
The North Korean nuclear crisis presents the contemporary world’s greatest risk, not just of major war but most importantly of nuclear war.
Political scientist Asfandyar Mir has studied security affairs in South Asia for years.
At the end of the Cold War, American and Russian scientists came together—overcoming political, cultural, and geographic divides—to work toward a common goal of reducing nuclear threat. In this video, Siegfried S.


Most liquor stores are owner-operated, and Sunday was owners’ only day off. They also had to pay an increased liquor license fee to open on Sunday.
Liquor store owners in Warner Robins were even more strongly against opening on Sunday. For the first couple of months after sales were allowed, not one liquor store opened on Sunday. However, it wasn’t long before the ranks began to break. Now 11 of the 12 package stores in Warner Robins are open on Sunday. The only holdout is Top Shelf Liquor on South Houston Lake Road.
The city of Warner Robins actually changed its ordinance to accommodate stores that didn’t want to open on Sunday. Originally, after the referendum passed in November, council raised the liquor license fee from $4,500 to $5,000 to account for the extra day of sales.
But when it became clear stores didn’t want to open on Sunday, council changed it, so store owners only had to pay the extra fee if they did open on Sunday. Since that time, owners have come in and paid the extra $500 to open.
Bobby Patel, manager of Rocky Mountain Liquors on Watson Boulevard, reluctantly began opening on Sunday about three months ago. He also said once other stores starting opening, he didn’t feel he had much choice.
Basically, the sales he does have on Sunday now are offset by lower sales on Saturday. “I would close on Sunday now if everybody else did,” he said.


LEXINGTON – In the state rankings posted by Scott Gerber at OhioTennisZone.com, Lexington is No. 9 in Division II as it prepares for its own invitational Saturday and a 16-team field that includes seven other ranked teams.
But the standings that matter most to Lex coach Ron Schaub are where his girls finish in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
Lex's 14-year reign as the only program to win the OCC came to an end last fall when Ashland used better top to bottom depth to prevail by 1.5 points.
Getting back on top is Lex's mission, led by the senior trio of Sylvia Goldsmith, Hayliegh Tucker and Katie Volz. A huge addition is freshman Gracie Pfieffer, who, truthfully, was ready to play varsity tennis a couple of years ago.
"Sylvia's a good leader, a good captain," Schaub said. "Gracie's real steady and puts a lot of time in. She makes somebody beat her. She'll never beat herself. And Hayliegh and Katie are able to help us in both singles and doubles."
Long-time Ashland coach Rick Crooks retired from coaching the boys and girls at the end of the last school year, but agreed to come back at the request of athletic director Jason Goings.
The Arrows lost eight seniors off last year's OCC title squad, with seven junior varsity players moving up to join lone returnee Korinne Harris. She was 24-6 last year as a freshman and runner-up at No. 3 singles in the OCC.
By contrast, match experience isn't a problem for Lex. Goldsmith, who will be playing in college for NCAA Division II Belmont Abbey in North Carolina, is a three-time MVP in the OCC and three-time state tournament participant in singles.
This is the first season she hasn't come off an injury after breaking her right foot twice and fracturing her left ankle. She's aiming for a fourth state berth, but this time in doubles with Pfieffer, who has been playing like a high school veteran for quite some time now.
Volz and Tucker also will pair up come sectionals. Tucker, a three-time OCC champ, went to state last year in doubles with Madi Mueller.
Another team goal is to make it back to the Final Four in the state team tournament for the first time since Goldsmith's freshman year. For that to happen, they'll need players other than the top four to step up.
Abbey Dawson, who won the No. 1 OCC doubles title last year with Mueller, is part of the senior class, along with Emma Cummins and Jessica Miller. Rounding out the squad are junior Rachel Madore and freshmen Sara Nelson and Kylie Diehl.
"It feels like just yesterday I was like, OK, I'm going to be a freshman," Goldsmith said. "Now it's my last year and it's just hard to believe.
"This was the first time I've had all winter to prepare. Usually I'm getting out of a boot in April or it's like, OK, I've got two months to prepare for the season. But, yeah, this year is going well."
Lex began this week with a 4-1 victory over Mount Vernon, the team that will probably offer the stiffest title challenge come the OCC tournament on Sept. 29 at the College of Wooster courts.
Saturday's Lex Invite will be staged at three venues: the high school courts, Lakewood Racquet Club and Ontario's courts.
Toledo Central Catholic, ranked No. 4 in DII and the biggest roadblock in Lex's bid to advance from the Northwest District to the Final Four, is competing in the tournament. Also in the field is defending DI state champ Magnificat, led by defending OHSAA state singles champ Anna Roggenburk.
North Canton Hoover, Perrysburg, Upper Arlington, Laurel and Solon are other DI or II ranked teams competing at Lex, along with Galion, the only area school other than the hosts.
Grace Cornell was in the Spartans' lineup last year. Now she's the head coach. Despite juggling the job with her first year of college and taking over at the last minute, the Spartans got off to a 5-2 start with seniors filling the singles slots: Emily McCarrick started 6-1 at No. 1, Alex Wasylenki started 6-1 at No. 2 and Ava Naumoff is No. 3, moving between there and doubles. Playing doubles are sophomores Maddie Yeager, Alexie Lorenz, Madalyn Fikentscher and Isabelle Kern.
"It's been great to work with these girls since we already had a special bond from playing together before I graduated," Cornell said. "I'm eager to keep pushing them to improve and hopefully recruit some new girls for next year to grow the team."
The Rams, coached by Tom and Theresa Hill, finished runner-up at the River Valley Invitational. Seniors Ally Marsh and Chloe Lyndsay are at No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, with junior Caylynn Penney at No. 3. Abrya Pierce and Bailey Hill are the No. 1 doubles tandem, with Natalie Reynolds and Helanna Hicks at No. 2.
The Hills have 27 girls on the team.
"We're excited to have the underclassmen coming out and believe that if we keep working hard this is the start of great years in girls tennis at Madison," Tom Hill said.
Seniors Jade Salyers and Haley Foss and juniors Anya Doklovic, Lizzie Burson and Haley Mazander are the returnees from a team that went 14-5 in Todd Friend's first year as coach.
The challenge this year was replacing last year's three singles players. With 18 girls out, Friend has the depth for an interchangeable lineup.
"With no expectations, the girls worked hard last year and earned their 14-5 record by gutting out some tough, close matches and gaining confidence in their game," Friend said. "Galion (led by 2017 state qualifier Kayley Gimbel) should be the favorite in the MOAC (MId-Ohio Athletic Conference) but I would love to see us get a second or third in the league tournament."
Coach Kyle McKelvey can draw from 23 girls, including seven returning lettermen: junior Jensen Feussner at No. 1 singles, seniors Leah Karnes and Kristen Long at No. 2 and 3, respectively; senior alternate Faith Gosser, the No. 1 doubles team of junior Jarica Awwiller and sophomore Madison Sharrock and sophomore alternate Jessica Long.
"No one player on the team will be a hero that can carry things on her own," McKelvey said. "Any win will have to be a divided team effort."


Chennai, July 20 (IANS) High on commercial value, the slick trailer of Pawan Kalyan-starrer Telugu action-drama "Attarintiki Daaredhi" is a mix of action, comedy, romance and drama in appropriate proportions.
The trailer, which released Friday, promises that the film will entertain audiences when it hits the screens in August.
Directed by Trivikram, who is known for action films such as "Athadu" and "Julayi", "Attarintiki Daaredhi" appears to be an out-and-out entertainer with an apt tagline "celebration of entertainment".
The film will be the second collaboration between Pawan Kalyan and Trivikram after blockbuster Telugu romantic action-drama "Jalsa".
Trivikram hasn't compromised on anything, including special punch lines for Pawan Kalyan, which he mouths in his signature style with a hint of sarcasm.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu is paired opposite Pawan in the film.
"I'm extremely lucky to be paired opposite a star," she said at the audio launch of the film Friday.
"Attarintiki Daaredhi" also features Praneetha, Brahmanadam, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Boman Irani, Ali and Nadiya in important roles.