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King Felipe VI of Spain has faced angry protesters while visiting the Valencia region, which has been hit by unprecedented floods.
Footage shows an angry crowd shouting “murderer” and “shame” at the king, who was also asked why nothing had been done to avoid the tragedy.
Spain’s worst floods in decades have left whole neighbourhoods covered in mud and strewn with mangled cars and debris.
More than 200 people were killed in the floods, with many more missing. Emergency workers are continuing to comb through underground car parks and tunnels in the hope of finding survivors and recovering bodies.
There has been anger at a perceived lack of warning and insufficient support from authorities after the floods.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia have been visiting Paiporta, a town that has been severely affected.
The footage shows the king making his way down a street with a hostile crowd shouting and chanting. Some protesters threw what appeared to be objects and mud at him.
On Saturday Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ordered 10,000 more troops, police officers and civil guards to the area.
He said the deployment was Spain’s largest in peacetime. But he added that he was aware the response was “not enough” and acknowledged “severe problems and shortages”.
This is a breaking story and is being updated regularly
Sunday Brunch fans felt something was amiss with Gone Fishing star Bob Mortimer as he appeared on the Channel 4 programme – leaving fans worried about his health
WAKING up in hospital hooked up to beeping machines, Debbie Douglas felt like she’d “been hit by a bus”.
The mum-of-three, now 66, from Birmingham, had just undergone a mastectomy and reconstruction – which Dr Ian Paterson had urged her to have, after finding a lump days earlier.
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Debbie Douglas has spoken exclusively to The SunCredit: UKTV
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She had a mastectomy and chemotherapy – despite never needing toCredit: UKTV
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Cosmetic surgeon Ian Paterson was sentenced to 20 years in jailCredit: BPM
Just six weeks later, on the orders of the doctor she had been told was “the best consultant in the West Midlands,” Debbie began chemotherapy, taking a drug so aggressive nurses have nicknamed it “the Red Devil”.
She quickly lost all her hair and spent six months feeling horrendous, unable to go to her aerospace systems job.
However, 10 years later, Debbie discovered it was all for nothing.
“All I needed was a lumpectomy,” she tells us in an exclusive interview. “That lumpectomy would have meant I was fit and well within a couple of weeks.”
Debbie was, in fact, one of over 1,000 of Paterson’s patients, who’d been unnecessarily operated on.
Paterson – dubbed ‘The Butcher Surgeon’ – is now serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent in 2017.
An inquest into the deaths of 62 of his former patients began this week. It’s thought to be one of the largest ever held in the UK.
‘Told I was lucky to have him’
Debbie first met Paterson in 2003, when she found a lump in her breast, having had him highly recommended by her private health company.
She says: “I was told he was the best consultant, and I was very lucky to have him.
“From the moment I walked in the door at Spire, I was sold this image that he was the best, and I was also told that his team was the best, his plastic surgeons, nurses, his oncologists.”
Former breast surgeon Ian Paterson’s prison sentence increased from 15 to 20 years
Paterson performed a fine needle aspiration biopsy on Debbie in order to inspect the lump.
“It was a large needle and he didn’t give me any anaesthetic around the breast,” she recalls in upcoming U&Wdocumentary Lies, Deceit, Betrayal.
“He felt where the lump was and said this is really going to hurt. He jabbed it in a number of times and it was like having a red hot poker in your breast.
“It was so painful.”
The following Monday, Debbie met with Paterson again – who told her she had cancer as soon as they sat down.
Having lost both her parents to cancer within a year, the news hit even closer to home for Debbie.
She says: “I actually said to him, ‘Am I going to live? Is it treatable?’”
Paterson said it would be treatable as long as she had a double mastectomy and immediate reconstruction, using the fat and muscle from her stomach.
Debbie recalls: “He said, ‘You’ll go in with two boobs and come out with two boobs and a nice flat stomach.
“I was like, ‘That isn’t my priority. I don’t care if I have a reconstruction or not. I just want to be safe.’”
Hugged kids goodbye
The night before the surgery, Debbie went into hospital to have markings drawn on her body. They showed where surgeons would cut – down her stomach, across her torso, and around her breasts.
She says: “There was a mirror in the room, and I thought I looked like a patchwork quilt.”
She hugged her then-teenage children, who were “all upset” – having lost their grandparents to cancer not long before.
“But I said to them, ‘Look, we’ve got the best consultant, Mr Paterson. Mine’s curable. I’m not going to die. There’s no way I’m going to die,” adds Debbie.
I was sold something that wasn’t true. I thought I had the best consultant. I totally trusted him.
Debbie Douglas
As she came around from the operation, she “felt like she’d been hit by a bus”.
She tells us: “Literally I was hooked up to everything, I had an oxygen mask on, morphine dripping into my arm, an epidural in my spine.
“I was cut from hip to hip. I had a lengthy cut under my armpit, where my lymph nodes were removed, and even my belly button was missing.
“They had to reconstruct a new belly button because they’d used the fat and muscle from the stomach for blood supply to my new breasts.
“I wanted to go back to normal but I couldn’t.”
‘Red Devil’ chemo
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Debbie says she was “mutilated for money”Credit: UKTV
Paterson had told Debbie it would only take six weeks to recover from the operation – and she’d then have chemo.
But, due to how much pain she was in, she even questioned him on whether that was true.
When he reassured her, she believed him, due to his reputation and experience.
“I was sold something that wasn’t true,” she says. “I thought I had the best consultant. I totally trusted him, but still felt uneasy about that.”
Ian Paterson’s chilling crimes
DISGRACED surgeon Ian Paterson was convicted of performing unnecessary surgeries on 10 private patients in 2017.
He was convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding.
He treated the victims at two Spire Healthcare clinics in Little Aston, Birmingham, and Solihull over 14 years.
At the time of the crimes, he was also a respected NHS consultant working at Solihull Hospital.
Nottingham Crown Court heard the motives for his crimes remain unknown.
Prosecutor Julian Christopher said the operations carried out by Paterson were ones that “no reasonable surgeon would have considered justified”.
He continued: “We suggest Mr Paterson was carrying it out not because he thought it was in the best interests of the patients, but for his own, perhaps obscure, motives.
“They were to maintain his image as a busy successful surgeon in great demand and at the top of his game.
“Or to earn extra money by doing extra operations and follow-up consultations, all these being private patients, some funded by insurance, some finding the money themselves.”
The Scotland-born surgeon had maintained that all the operations were necessary – but a jury of six men and five women agreed with the prosecution that Paterson carried out “extensive, life-changing operations for no medically justifiable reason”.
The court heard from victims including a 25-year-old left devastated after unnecessary surgery left her unable to breastfeed.
Police have said Paterson could have had hundreds of victims.
Speaking outside court in 2017, Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Marsh said: “I wouldn’t be able to put a number on it [extra victims] but there were 248 people we took statements from.
“There has been lots of speculation as to his motives.
“Financial gain was one and some patients said he wanted to play God with their lives.
“We will probably never know what his incentive was.”
In a High Court ruling in September 2017 it was announced that about 750 women left disfigured and scarred by evil Paterson will share a £37million payout.
Spire Healthcare, which runs private hospitals in the West Midlands where Paterson worked, will contribute £27.2million to the compensation fund.
A further £10million is to be provided by Paterson’s insurers and the Heart of England NHS Trust.
In February 2020, an independent inquiry found that chances to stop Paterson were missed “time after time”, and that “patients were let down over many years” by private hospitals and the NHS.
A statement issued on Paterson’s behalf, through his lawyers, said he had written to the inquiry and “answered all questions put to him”.
It said he “maintains his innocence of all of the criminal charges of which he was convicted and is actively working on an appeal against those convictions”.
Instead Debbie was in severe pain, and was given chemo six weeks later, with an aggressive drug called epirubicin – which one of the nurses tagged ‘the red devil’.”
She recalls: “After a couple of weeks, my hair started falling out, and I got my friend to shave my head because my scalp was so painful.
“Food tasted awful, you feel sick, and it affects your bowels, so you either have diarrhoea or you’re constipated.
“But, as it builds up in your system, it gets worse, so you can imagine, the fact that I went into chemo so quickly after huge surgery, all my scar tissue, which was trying to heal, was being affected.
“I was still getting over the operation and every time I had chemo, that was all painful again. Every scar tissue ached and tingled.”
Discovering the truth
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Victims outside Nottingham Crown Court where Paterson was jailedCredit: PA
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Another of Paterson’s victims, Tracey Smith with DebbieCredit: PA
It wasn’t until a decade later that Debbie discovered the truth.
In 2013, Paterson was sued by a former patient, whose cancer had returned due to the cleavage-sparing techniques he performed in his mastectomies, which left some breast tissue.
After her case, hundreds of Paterson’s former patients began coming forward with similar stories of their own, showing the extent of expensive operations he’d been carrying out, earning Spire Healthcare millions of pounds.
Paterson was suspended and a recall letter was then sent out to every one of his former patients, including Debbie – who decided to have her medical records reviewed.
I was so angry and so upset, but the worst thing is the effect it has on your families…It’s harder to watch somebody go through it than it is to go through it yourself.
Debbie Douglas
She recalls: “Another doctor told me my lump was only about two centimetres, and the mastectomy and chemo were totally unnecessary.
“I should have had a lumpectomy only, and would have been fit and well within a couple of weeks.”
Debbie – whose treatments, alone, cost around £40,000 – adds: “He mutilated me for money.
“I was so angry and so upset, but the worst thing is the effect it also has on your families.
“For me, I feel like it’s been tough on them as well. They’re, really supportive, 100 per cent behind me and they’re all grown up now, they understand everything,
“But, for them to have to have seen me really poorly, especially when I was having chemo; I know how that affected me when I watched my mum and dad die.
“I think it’s harder to watch somebody go through it than it is to go through it yourself.”
Fighting Paterson
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Debbie has been instrumental in Paterson’s caseCredit: PA
Over the next five years, more and more of Paterson’s patients came forward with horror stories, and he was eventually jailed in 2017 for 17 counts of wounding people with intent after he subjected more than 1,000 patients to unnecessary and damaging operations over 14 years.
He originally was sentenced to 15 years in prison but an appeal – which Debbie was instrumental in – got him another five years added on.
Debbie, who worked in aerospace supply quality assurance, says: “The hardest thing is knowing he got away with it for so long.
“That’s what makes me angry, it’s that you could do that to thousands of people and get away with it. It made me want to fight.
It made me want to fight…I’ve got a daughter and two granddaughters, so I don’t want another Paterson operating on them.
Debbie Douglas
“Because of my job, I knew that procedure should be in place, I knew this shouldn’t have happened and I knew, because I belonged to a cancer support group, that many other people were affected.”
Debbie has now become a campaigner for Paterson’s victims and patient safety, and most recently campaigned to stop Paterson from being moved to an open prison.
She adds: “If I think there’s been an injustice, I’m the type of person to speak up because I want the truth and I’ve also got a daughter and two granddaughters, so I don’t want another Paterson operating on them.
“My daughter went through cancer treatment three times and I hovered around what was happening and asked questions because obviously the trust isn’t there.
“I want to trust doctors and I had to trust them with my daughter.
“It really sickens me to think Paterson was such a trusted person.”
Facing Paterson once more
New inquests going on this week – thought to be one of the largest in UK history – are investigating the deaths of 62 patients, whose cancer returned after having a cleavage-sparing mastectomy by Paterson.
Paterson gave evidence for the first time since his 2017 trial, from his prison cell, and Debbie was there watching him.
She says: “It was a little bit unnerving, but I wanted to see him.
“He’s changed. He’s obviously aged, somewhat lost weight, but actually he was still as arrogant as ever.
“I could see he’s wearing his own clothes, wearing his blue shirt and a poppy to show he’s a ‘nice person’, a good watch, and nice glasses.
“He’s got a window by the looks of things too.
“He can appeal for parole in 2027, but he shouldn’t be [allowed] out in a few years’ time. His prison sentence should be extended.”
All episodes of Lies, Deceit and Betrayal are available on free streaming service U, from 6th November. Watch weekly on U&W, Wednesdays at 10pm.
Video shows the moment Israeli forces abduct a Lebanese man from a town north of Beirut during an unprecedented coastal raid, taking him away on speed boats. Israel says he was a senior Hezbollah member, but the Lebanese government and his family say he’s a civilian sea captain.
Ever since network television started covering presidential election nights in 1948, there have been only two occasions when viewers had to wait more than a day to learn the outcome.
The first was in 2000, when the country was on hold for five weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court put an end to the vote recounts in Florida and gave George W. Bush the White House over Al Gore.
Twenty years later, viewers sweated it out for four days before the networks put 270 electoral votes in President Biden’s column on Nov. 7, 2020. Pandemic restrictions led to officials counting an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots, slowing the process. Former President Trump’s legal challenges to the results and his attempts to block the certification of the vote became a saga that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer calls the election for Joe Biden.
(CNN)
The bumpy ride of 2020 has TV news operations preparing for more uncharted territory when ballot counting begins Tuesday night in the tight race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The 2024 election could be decided by narrow margins in as many as seven states, and Trump already is making accusations of voter fraud, as he did four years ago.
“If the polls are accurate, we’re in for a real doozy,” said Chris Stirewalt, political director for cable network NewsNation and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.
Executives across the network news divisions say they will deploy a greater number of correspondents throughout the swing states, some assigned specifically to deal with election security and protests. Attorneys with experience in election issues have become a very hot commodity in TV newsrooms.
“We really bolstered up our state election law expertise,” said Catherine Kim, executive vice president for editorial at NBC News. “They’re going to be working around the clock.”
NBC News and MSNBC will have a “reading room” at its Rockefeller Center headquarters where its team of legal correspondents and analysts will be ready to break down court cases if they come in.
CNN has hired Benjamin Ginsberg, the election lawyer who represented the Bush campaign in 2000. Fox News has added Thomas Dupree, an assistant district attorney during the Obama administration, to its team of legal experts.
CBS News will have a “Democracy Desk” to analyze voting-related matters and its CBS News Confirmed unit to fact-check reports. ABC has a “Ballot Watch” unit that will monitor election integrity.
Networks once prided themselves on being the first to declare the election results. Not anymore.
“Calling the election is treacherous territory,” said Rick Klein, vice president and Washington bureau chief for ABC News. “I think very few viewers know or care who projects a state first, but every viewer should care that they are projected right.”
Being first and right can even have its drawbacks in the current hyper-partisan environment.
In 2020, Fox News, which teams with the Associated Press and research organization NORC at the University of Chicago to analyze the results, correctly called Arizona for Biden at 11:20 (Eastern) on election night with roughly 80% of the vote counted. The decision, which shifted the unfolding narrative of the race, angered the Trump campaign and caused consternation internally at the network. The conservative-leaning channel even saw an exodus of angry viewers in the months that followed.
Fox News never wavered in its decision to award Arizona’s 11 electoral votes to Biden days before its competitors. But this time around, viewers should be prepared to wait.
“There may not be projections at all on election night,” Klein said. “I think we just need to be honest about the extent of the uncertainty out there even as polls close and the results start to roll in.”
“We’ve come to expect the unexpected along the way, and that will be our approach on election night,” said Doug Rohrbeck, senior vice president, Washington news and politics, for Fox News.
While the process in 2020 was influenced by the tens of millions of people who had voted early, a group that leaned Democratic, no one is sure what the impact will be this time around.
“Republicans, smarting from their loss in 2020, have embraced early and absentee voting,” Stirewalt said. “And former President Trump no longer talks about the problem of mail-in ballots, or certainly not as much. So I think we had better proceed into election night with a lot of humility and a real openness to the possibility that assumptions we’ve had in the past might be wrong.”
Arnon Mishkin, director of the Fox News decision desk, explains his call of Arizona for Biden.
As charges of irregularities in the voting are likely to pop up, news organizations are expected to be transparent.
In previous elections, the political scientists, analysts and statisticians who make up the teams that call the races appeared on camera only when absolutely necessary. This time CBS News plans to give viewers a closer look at the process of calling states. NewsNation is partnering with Decision Desk HQ to handle its vote counting and will have a camera fixed on the room where the counting happens.
“There may not be projections at all on election night,” says Rick Klein, vice president and Washington bureau chief for ABC News.
There will be more correspondents and producers deployed in key counties inside the swing states showing the official process.
“I think we’re going to see more live counting of ballots than ever before,” said Mary Hager, executive editor for politics at CBS News.
There is also another possible scenario for election night 2024: The prognostications could be off, as they have been in the last three presidential election cycles, with the possibility of a winner declared after the polls close on the West Coast.
It happened in 2012 when President Obama was running neck and neck with his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, in the final weeks of the campaign. Obama ended up winning the popular vote by four points and swamped Romney in the electoral vote count 332 to 206.
“It could be an electoral landslide in either direction,” Klein said. “No one should be surprised by either outcome.”
“If the polls are accurate, we’re in for a real doozy,” said Chris Stirewalt, political director for cable network NewsNation.
(NewsNation)
Stirewalt believes viewers will get some guidance from the results in North Carolina and Georgia, where polls close before 8 p.m. (Eastern) and which have a reputation for counting votes quickly.
“We will get an immediate core sample of what the electorate looks like, and we’ll start to figure out between 7:30 [and] 9:30 which way the polls were wrong, or maybe they were right and it’s just a very close race,” Stirewalt said. “If the polls are wrong, they tend to be in the same direction everywhere.”
Stirewalt’s hope is that whatever the outcome, it doesn’t replicate the drawn-out battle of 2000 between Bush and Gore, which happened during a comparatively more civil time in the nation’s politics.
“I do not think we have the institutional strength and confidence in our leaders to go through an ordeal like that,” he said.
The Italian won the penultimate MotoGP in Sepang to force a final round showdown for the championship with Jorge Martin on November 17.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia kept his MotoGP title defence alive with a victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, cutting Jorge Martin’s lead in the driver’s standings down to 24 points before the season’s final race.
Pramac Racing’s Martin’s second-placed finish in Sepang moved him up to 485 points in the overall standings, while Bagnaia is second on 461. Bagnaia’s teammate Enea Bastianini finished third in Sunday’s race, over seven seconds behind Martin.
After a chaotic start, the race at the Sepang International Circuit was restarted for 19 laps under dark clouds and in sweltering conditions.
Polesitter Bagnaia had a clean start off the line and kept the lead heading into the first turn.
In a thrilling first three laps, Bagnaia and Martin threw caution to the wind and went toe-to-toe on every turn as the lead continuously swapped hands between the two title rivals.
Bagnaia, who had pledged on Saturday to go all out in the race, was able to finally put some space between him and Martin in the fourth lap, an advantage he would not relinquish.
The win also helped Bagnaia limit some of the damage from his crash in the sprint on Saturday.
“Managing the heat was the easiest part today, honestly,” said Bagnaia, whose victory was his 10th of the season.
“Jorge was very aggressive. But our pace was too good and like always in the race on Sunday I can attack, I can be more aggressive.
“We just need to understand why on Saturday I’m struggling more to do the same.”
Martin will have destiny in his own hands at the November 15-17 final round, which will be held in Barcelona at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona after the Valencia Grand Prix was cancelled due to catastrophic flooding in the region last week.
Earlier on Sunday, the race was red-flagged after Red Bull KTM’s Jack Miller went down on turn two of the opening laps and crashed into Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and teammate Brad Binder.
Australian Miller received medical attention on the track and was conscious when taken to the medical centre for an examination.
Ducati Lenovo Team’s Italian rider Francesco Bagnaia leads ahead of Prima Pramac Racing’s Spanish rider Jorge Martin (L) during the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang on November 3, 2024 [Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP]
Strictly professional dancers Nancy Xu and Carlos Gu have reportedly fallen out and have even unfollowed each other on social media ending their lengthy friendship
Voters in the US go to the polls on 5 November to elect their next president.
The election was initially a rematch of 2020 but it was upended in July when President Joe Biden ended his campaign and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris.
The big question now is – will America get its first woman president or a second Donald Trump term?
As election day approaches, we’ll be keeping track of the polls and seeing what effect the campaign has on the race for the White House.
Who is leading national polls?
Harris has had a small lead over Trump in the national polling averages since she entered the race at the end of July and she remains ahead – as shown in the chart below with the latest figures rounded to the nearest whole number.
Harris saw a bounce in her polling numbers in the first few weeks of her campaign, building a lead of nearly four percentage points towards the end of August.
The polls were relatively stable in September and early October but they have tightened in the last couple of weeks, as shown in the chart below, with trend lines showing the averages and dots for individual poll results for each candidate.
While national polls are a useful guide as to how popular a candidate is across the whole country, they’re not the best way to predict the election result.
That’s because the US uses an electoral college system, in which each state is given a number of votes roughly in line with the size of its population. A total of 538 electoral college votes are up for grabs, so a candidate needs to hit 270 to win.
There are 50 states in the US but because most of them nearly always vote for the same party, in reality there are just a handful where both candidates stand a chance of winning. These are the places where the election will be won and lost and are known as battleground states or swing states.
Who is winning in swing state polls?
Right now the leads in the swing states are so small that it’s impossible to know who is really ahead from looking at the polling averages.
Polls are designed to broadly explain how the public feels about a candidate or an issue, not predict the result of an election by less than a percentage point so it’s important to keep that in mind when looking at the numbers below.
It’s also important to remember that the individual polls used to create these averages have a margin of error of around three to four percentage points, so either candidate could be doing better or worse than the numbers currently suggest.
If you look at the trends since Harris joined the race, it does highlight some differences between the states.
In Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, the lead has changed hands a few times since the start of August but Trump has a small lead in all of them at the moment.
In the three other states – Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – Harris had led since the start of August, sometimes by two or three points, but the polls have tightened significantly and Trump now has a very small lead in Pennsylvania.
All three of those states had been Democratic strongholds before Trump turned them red on his path to winning the presidency in 2016. Biden retook them in 2020 and if Harris can do the same then she will be on course to win the election.
In a sign of how the race has changed since Harris became the Democratic nominee, on the day that Biden quit the race he was trailing Trump by nearly five percentage points on average in the seven swing states.
In Pennsylvania, Biden was behind by nearly 4.5 percentage points when he dropped out, as the chart below shows. It is a key state for both campaigns as it has the highest number of electoral votes of the seven and therefore winning it makes it easier to reach the 270 votes needed.
How are these averages created?
The figures we have used in the graphics above are averages created by polling analysis website 538, which is part of American news network ABC News. To create them, 538 collects the data from individual polls carried out both nationally and in battleground states by lots of polling companies.
As part of its quality control, 538 only includes polls from companies that meet certain criteria, like being transparent about how many people they polled, when the poll was carried out and how the poll was conducted (telephone calls, text message, online, etc).
The polls have underestimated support for Trump in the last two elections and the national polling error in 2020 was the highest in 40 years according to a post-mortem by polling experts – so there’s good reason to be cautious about them going into this year’s election.
The polling miss in 2016 was put down to voters changing their minds in the final days of the campaign and because college-educated voters – who were more likely to support Hillary Clinton – had been over-represented in polling samples.
In 2020, the experts pointed to problems with getting Trump supporters to take part in polls, but said it was “impossible” to know exactly what had caused the polling error, especially as the election was held during a pandemic and had a record turnout.
Pollsters have made lots of changes since then and the polling industry “had one of its most successful election cycles in US history” in the 2022 midterm elections, according to analysts at 538.
But Donald Trump wasn’t on the ballot in the midterms and we won’t know until after election day whether these changes can deal with the influx of irregular voters he tends to attract.
Written and produced by Mike Hills and Libby Rogers. Design by Joy Roxas.
The clip got shared on X by BBC Sport and went viral – with dozens of fans loving the wonderful reactions from a jubilant Odunston.
Why FA Cup changes are GOOD NEWS
By Martin Lipton
THE FA and Premier League should have done the deal to scrap FA Cup replays years ago.
No doubt traditionalists will moan but it is right that the competition has finally been brought into the 21st century.
Ending replays will bring extra sharpness and excitement to the ties, with the knowledge that there will be a winner, whether in 90 minutes, extra-time or penalties.
If big guns have a bad day, they are more likely to pay the price. Replays after draws give them a fall-back they do not deserve.
Giving the FA Cup total and absolute priority over four weekends – and ensuring there is no competing match on the day of the Final – will enhance the profile of a competition that was in danger of falling out of the spotlight.
And as long as the FA ensures a better split of the prize money fund, weighting it more towards the earlier rounds, and potentially a similar move with TV match money, there should be few losers.
However, despite the special scenes following the equaliser, the day did end in bittersweet fashion.
That is because Guiseley did manage a draw at Stevenage.
But with replays scrapped, it went to extra-time and then penalties, where the third-tier Boro nicked it 5-4 in the shootout to book their spot in the second-round draw.
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The right-back wanted to get on the pitch to celebrate with his team-matesCredit: BBC Sport
The US presidential candidates campaigned in the key swing state of North Carolina on Saturday, seeking to lock in more votes for the election on Tuesday, November 5.
It marked the fourth day in a row that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump visited the same state on the same day, highlighting how votes from a few key states would decide the outcome of the polls.
More than 73 million Americans have already cast ballots as of Saturday, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.
Harris rallied in the city of Charlotte with rock star Jon Bon Jovi and R&B singer-songwriter Khalid, before making a surprise appearance in the highly popular Saturday Night Live show in New York.
Meanwhile, Trump made a stop in the state of Virginia, before heading to Gastonia and Greensboro in North Carolina.
What are the latest updates from the polls?
Nationally, FiveThirtyEight’s latest poll tracker showed Harris ahead by a very slim 1 point, within the margin of error. Neither of the top two contenders breached the 50 percent mark. Harris’s average is 47.9 percent against Trump’s 46.9 percent.
In the so-called Blue Wall states, which typically tilt Democrat but are considered swing states this year, Trump is slightly ahead at 47.9 percent to Harris’s 47.6 percent in Pennsylvania, while Harris is 1 percent ahead in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Trump is ahead of Harris by 1 percent in Nevada, 2 percent in Georgia and North Carolina, and 3 percent in Arizona.
But in a potentially major political shift in Iowa, a state that Trump won in 2016 and 2020, a highly respected pollster showed that Harris is 3 percentage points ahead of Trump at 47-44.
The poll, jointly published by the Des Moines Register newspaper and Mediacom, showed Harris picking up support from women, particularly in older demographics and among independent voters who were not aligned with a political party.
At the same time, the polls showed that only 89 percent of Republicans supported Trump, which means he is in trouble securing his base.
Other polls from the state, however, showed Trump still leading Harris.
What was Harris up to on Saturday?
Campaigning in the city of Charlotte in North Carolina, Harris made a passionate appeal to young voters, a Democrat-leaning demographic, to head to the polls. Past elections, however, have shown that fewer of them showed up to vote compared with older voters.
“I see the promise of America every day in the young leaders who are voting for the first time,” she said.
“You are determined to live free from gun violence, to take on the climate crisis and to shape the world that you will inherit.”
She also continued to sharpen her attack on Trump, saying the former president only cares about his interests, without a comprehensive plan for the future.
“If he is elected, Donald Trump, on day one, would be in that office stewing over his enemies list,” she said. “But when I am elected, I will walk in on your behalf, working on my to-do list.”
When her speech was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters, Harris repeated the same line she had said in previous rallies, “We all want that war in the Middle East to end.
“We want the hostages home. And when I am president, I will do everything in my power to make it so.”
Earlier in the day, Harris also attended a rally in Atlanta during which she called Trump “unstable” and “out for unchecked power”.
After campaigning in North Carolina, Harris made an appearance on the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live in New York City alongside the actor who portrays her on the programme, Maya Rudolph.
“I’m going to vote for us,” Rudolph told Harris.
Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris and comedian Maya Rudolph sit opposite one another on the day Harris makes an appearance on Saturday Night Live in New York City [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
What was Trump up to on Saturday?
Trump squeezed a rally in blue-leaning Virginia between two events in neighbouring North Carolina. It was the start of a streak for him in North Carolina, where he will be campaigning until Election Day.
Trump used his evening rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, to take credit for declining trust in United States media.
“The fake news back there, they were at 92 percent approval rating when we started this journey in 2015. And now they’re less than Congress, which is in the low 12s,” he said.
“I’m very proud of that because I’ve exposed them as being fake”.
Then he returned to one of his favourite talking points: The fears of undocumented immigration into the US.
“I will keep American communities for American citizens. We’re gonna have American people in our communities,” Trump said, repeating the nativist rhetoric that has become par for the course in his “America First” platform.
He also made an effort to tailor his anti-immigrant message to non-white voters in the US, warning for instance that unfettered immigration could deteriorate Black communities.
“If this continues, there will have been no political power left for them,” Trump said. “Their communities will be majority migrant.”
Trump repeated the false claim about Congolese migrants coming to the US.
Harris, he said, “has violated her oath, eradicated our sovereign border and unleashed an army of gangs and criminal migrants from prisons and jails, insane asylums and mental institutions from all around the world, from Venezuela to the Congo”.
“Oh, the Congo. The Congo is sending a lot of people. They’re sending their people in jail. Think of the money they save and the danger, the danger of it all.”
There is no evidence that the Congolese government is sending people from their jails to the US.
What’s next for the Harris and Trump campaigns?
Harris heads to Michigan and Pennsylvania
On Sunday, the Democratic presidential candidate will head to Lansing, Michigan, in the final two days of the election season.
Pennsylvania, another key battleground as well as a fellow Rust Belt state, will be where Harris ends her streak of campaign rallies on Monday.
She has plans to appear in the Latino stronghold of Allentown as well as major urban centres like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on the eve of the election.
Trump heading to Pennsylvania and North Carolina
On Sunday, Trump will swing from Pennsylvania back to the southern state to visit Kinston, North Carolina.
And then, on Monday – the eve of the election – Trump will hit the state capital of Raleigh, North Carolina.
It is a significant investment in a state that has grown increasingly competitive in recent decades.
Recent polls have shown Trump slightly ahead of Harris in North Carolina.
• Seeds for sweet peas and native California wildflowers should be planted in November to get the best blooms this spring. • Sweet peas have a delicate, unforgettable fragrance that has never been successfully duplicated artificially. • They are easy to grow in the ground and containers, and should be a part of everyone’s garden, if only to imprint their lovely scent on the senses of passersby.
At long last, November. The presidential election hasn’t helped my anxiety, but it’s been great for my garden. I can’t wring my hands while pulling weeds and planting seeds.
It’s also made me think a lot about my father, James Marantos, a patriotic military man who introduced me to the miracle of seeds. He was the son of Greek immigrants, born in tiny Caliente, Calif., and raised in Bakersfield. He spoke only Spanish and Greek when he entered first grade. He ultimately earned a college degree (in English) and fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He was a lifelong Democrat who spent most his career in the Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
I so wish we could discuss this election. He died in 2012 just before his 95th birthday, so I can only guess at what he’d say about seeing his beloved country so divided.
But I know for certain what my dad’s final word would be:
VOTE!
Renee’s Garden describes its Watermelon Heirloom Sweet Peas (an English Spencer variety) as “a shade in between fresh-cut watermelon and ripe rosy peaches.”
(reneesgarden.com)
There are plenty of plant-related activities below to distract you from hand-wringing this month, but first, let’s talk about the seeds you should plant now to create beautiful blooms this spring: native California wildflowers and sweet peas, one of the most delicate and fragrant flowers in the world.
My father introduced me to sweet peas when I was 5, and I was stunned that something so small and fragile could have such a powerful perfume. I believe every child should have the same exposure, to imprint their senses forever with its indelible fragrance.
November is the optimum time for SoCal residents to plant these seeds, even if you’re only gardening in containers. Planting now allows the seeds to take advantage of our winter rains and develop strong root systems. Once temperatures warm up in the spring, the plants can put all their energy into blooms.
California poppies are the state flower, and one of the easiest and flashiest native wildflowers to grow from seed.
And one nice bonus about wildflowers: Once they bloom, most will reseed themselves, so you don’t need to keep buying new seeds every year.
The trick to successfully planting wildflower seeds is consistent moisture, said Genevieve Arnold, Theodore Payne’s seed and conservation program manager. Ideally, you mix your tiny wildflower seeds with three parts horticultural sand to one part seeds and broadcast this mix just before a good soaking rain.
But the rains don’t always happen on cue, and most of us don’t have easy access to horticultural sand, so Arnold recommends mixing the seeds with a lightweight cactus potting soil, then scattering it over ground you’ve dampened with a hose.
Purple lupines blend beautifully with orange poppies, but look for varieties in yellow as well.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
You can lightly rake the area afterward, “but it’s key to remember that most California wildflowers should be sown no deeper than an eighth of an inch,” she said. “And if it’s not raining, then lightly water the seeds in,” taking care not to wash them away.
If the rains don’t come, keep the area moist, but don’t soak the site, Arnold said, “because if it’s waterlogged you can create rot or conditions where fungus will form.”
The plants should sprout, but don’t expect much above-ground action until the spring, she said. What’s important is happening underground as the roots get established. If the area where you’re planting is weedy, understand those weeds will be in competition with your flowers next spring, so try to plant on as much bare ground as possible.
Enchanting Sweet Peas sells seed for this long-stemmed Spencer variety known as Blue Shift, so named for its “mesmerizing color-shifting blooms.”
(Glenys Johnson)
Sweet peas are magic
At least, that’s what I thought the first time I smelled them. The fragrance is not easily described, “but it is unforgettable,” said Glenys Johnson, who’s been been growing and selling seeds for the English Spencer variety of sweet peas through her mail-order business, Enchanting Sweet Peas, for 26 years in Sebastapol, Calif., north of San Francisco.
“People remember the scent from their childhoods; it’s a scent that connects you to other memories even if you can’t describe it,” said Johnson.
Note that all parts of the sweet pea are inedible, despite their yummy fragrance, and the flowers are extraordinary too — delicate crepe-papery blooms growing thickly on vines in a wide range of colors, like creams tipped in violet, dainty pastel pinks, near blues, deep purples and vivid oranges and reds.
The more you pick these flowers, the more they bloom, so you can easily collect many bouquets, and never worry again about air fresheners, since even a handful can fill a room with delicate scent.
“It’s never cloying,” said Renee Shepherd, whose Felton, Calif.,-based nursery Renee’s Garden offers a large selection of seeds online and at many retail SoCal nurseries.
These Fire and Ice sweet peas sold by Renee’s Garden provide a range of vivid colors that make easy — and frequent — bouquets.
(reneesgarden.com)
Sweet pea fragrance “is light, like orange blossoms with a touch of honey, but you have to grow them to experience it,” Shepherd said. “They’ve never been able to make the fragrance into a perfume because it’s so undefinable. People have tried, but it never smells right. You really have to grow the real thing.”
Most sweet peas like to climb, so plant the seeds by a fence or some kind of trellis, even if they’re growing in a large container, unless you choose a couple of windowbox varieties where the sweet peas are bred to spill out of pots. Those varieties are fragrant enough to perfume a patio or balcony, but the flowers are short-stemmed, said Shepherd, so they don’t make good bouquets.
If you want flowers for cutting, choose the long-stemmed climbing varieties — both Johnson and Shepherd offer many colors and styles. (Fig Earth Supply nursery in Mount Washington also sells seeds and seedlings.)
Shepherd said in her experience, the showy Spencer varieties can struggle in hot inland areas, but other varieties flourish even in high-temp spots like Bakersfield.
Sir Jimmy Shand, a white, long-stemmed Spencer variety sweet pea with lilac/mauve edging, produces huge blooms with a huge fragrance, said Glenys Johnson of Enchanting Sweet Peas.
(Glenys Johnson)
Johnson likes to use bamboo poles and her teepee pole ring to create a small trellis when she sows seeds in containers. She prefers fabric pots, “the larger the better,” around 30-gallon size, to give the roots room to grow and enough weight to keep the plants from tipping over, since they can grow up to 9 feet tall.
Plant sweet peas about a half-inch deep in compost-enriched soil and keep the area moist but not soggy. As the tiny plants emerge, keep a sharp eye out for birds, gophers, snails and slugs who might find the seedlings tasty, Shepherd said.
If you have a real problem with pests, sow the seeds in flats outside to more easily protect them from critters, Shepherd said, and then plant the established seedlings in the ground in the early spring, when they should be sturdy enough to withstand nibblers.
Renee’s Garden sells packets of Windowbox Sweet Peas specifically for growing in containers. This mix is called Color Palette Cupid, and the short stems mean the flowers won’t work well for bouquets, but they still have plenty of fragrance to perfume a patio or balcony.
(reneesgarden.com)
It’s an easy tradition to establish, and you’ll be a hero with your neighbors when you offer them bouquets. “I met a woman who told me she always plants her seeds on Thanksgiving,” Johnson said. “She says she puts her turkey in the oven and her seeds in the ground while the turkey is cooking. It’s a good memory jog.”
Which reminds me: Wishing you all a safe and delicious Thanksgiving with as many friends and family as you can crowd around a table.
Newsletter
You’re reading the L.A. Times Plants newsletter
Jeanette Marantos gives you a roundup of upcoming plant-related activities and events in Southern California, along with our latest plant stories.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Upcoming events
Nov. 2 Ventura County 12th Farm Day, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., a chance to tour more than 15 farms, ranches and agricultural organizations in Ventura County. The tours are self-guided, and visitors can choose where they want to visit. Tickets are free but must be reserved online in advance. venturacountyfarmday.com
Marigold flowers are a critical part of Día de Muertos.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
2024 Bones, Skulls and Marigolds, 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, a class for adults about the Day of the Dead, with participants painting their faces into sugar skulls (with artist instruction), dissecting owl pellets to find bones and learning about the botanic and cultural significance of marigolds. Pan dulce and adult beverages provided. Register online, $35 ($30 members). arboretum.org
Nov. 2-3 San Gabriel Valley Chrysanthemum Society Show & Sale, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day in Ayres Hall at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia. The show is free with $15 admission to the Arboretum ($11 seniors 62+ and students with ID, $5 children 5-12, free to members and children 4 and younger). arboretum.org
Nov. 2 and 16 City Plants Shade Tree Adoptions, from 3 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 2 at the Día de los Muertos Festival in Boyle Heights; from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 16 in Crenshaw, North Hills and Watts; and from 9 to 11 a.m. on Nov. 16 in Winnetka. Residents of the city of Los Angeles can adopt up to seven trees for free at these events as long as they plant the trees in the ground on their property. Proof of address required — photo ID with an L.A. city address or an L.A. Department of Water and Power bill. cityplants.org
Nov. 9 UC Master Gardeners of Orange County present Thanksgiving Herbs, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Food and Farm Lab, Great Park in Irvine. Learn how to plant an herb basket to grow seasonal herbs instead of buying them at the grocery store. This is a demonstration event only; no supplies will be needed or provided. The demonstration is free. mgorange.ucanr.edu
A hummingbird takes a lunch break.
(Stephen Breskin)
Autumn Leaf Crown Workshops, noon to 1:30 p.m. for families with children ages 4-10 and 2 to 3:30 p.m. for adults only. Children must be accompanied by adults during the family session. All materials supplied. Register online. Tickets are $25 ($20 members); a child’s ticket includes free entry for one adult during the family session, but adults who want to make their own crowns during the family session must purchase their own ticket. arboretum.org
Hummingbird Flights: Make Your Own Feeder Using Recycled Wine Bottles, a class from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Rolling Hills Estates. Participants can enjoy a flight of three tasters of wine while creating a hummingbird feeder from a wine bottle. Attendees must be 21 or older. Register online. The price of the class includes admission to the garden, $40 ($36 members). southcoastbotanicgarden.org
Nov. 9, 16 and 23 California Native Plant Garden Design, a three-part hands-on workshop taught by L.A. garden designer Steven Gerischer, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley. The classes will cover garden styles and design, converting irrigation systems, sustainability and modeling gardens after patterns in nature. Theodore Payne’s introductory online class, “Right Plant, Right Place” ($35/$25 for members), is a prerequisite for taking the design class. Register for the three-part class online, $348.65 (members $295.29) for individuals; $412.67 (members $359.32) for couples working on one project. eventbrite.com
Nov. 9 and 23 Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy Native Plant Sales, 10:30 a.m. to noon at the George F. Canyon Nature Center in Rolling Hills Estates on Nov. 9 and the White Point Nature Education Center in San Pedro on Nov. 23, selling plants grown by the conservancy’s native plant nursery. Admission is free. pvplc.org
Nov. 10 Transitioning Succulents From Summer to Winter Growers, a talk by grower Keith Taylor at 1 p.m. at the South Coast Cactus & Succulent Society’s November meeting at the South Coast Botanic Center in Rolling Hills Estates. Admission is free. southcoastcss.org
The California dogface butterfly is the state insect.
(Ernie Cowan / For the San Diego Union-Tribune)
Parent & Me: Bug Expedition, 10 to 11 a.m. at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Rolling Hills Estates. Children and their parents go on an expedition to learn about the insects in the garden, with a magnifying glass, pencil and crayons to record their findings. All supplies provided. Register online. The cost for children is $7; the class is free to parents, but parents must pay $15 general admission to enter the garden. southcoastbotanicgarden.org
Nov. 14 Fire-Resilient Gardens: A Maintenance Walk and Talk with Theodore Payne Foundation instructor Erik Blank, 2 to 4 p.m at the foundation in Sun Valley. Learn how to design and maintain landscapes in high-risk fire areas. Register online, $17.85 ($12.51 members). eventbrite.com
Nov. 15 Intro to California Native Plant Garden Design taught by Theodore Payne Foundation Horticulture Director Tim Becker at the foundation grounds in Sun Valley. The class will cover basic landscape design with native plants. Register online, $60.54 ($55.20 for members). eventbrite.com
Native Plant Water Gardening in Containers with horticulturist Andrew Chaves, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley. Learn to create and maintain a water garden with native plants. Register online, $40 ($30 members). eventbrite.com
MiniNature Reserve Installation of Native Plants from 10 a.m. to noon outside the Family Dollar store in Oxnard, as part of the nonprofit MiniNature Reserve’s program to preserve nature in urban areas and beautify small business storefronts with native plants, at no cost to the business, except providing water to get the plants established. Volunteers are needed to help plant. Register online; participation is free. eventbrite.com
Nov. 17 Community Planting Day at Lincoln Heights California Native Plant Corridor, 9 a.m. to noon at 210 S. Avenue 20 between Albion Street and Broadway in Lincoln Heights. Volunteers will work with leader Marie Massa to add more native plants to a strip of city property next to the 5 Freeway once full of weeds and trash. The event is free. instagram.com/ave20nativeplants/
Tall magenta spires of fragrant hummingbird sage, a California native plant, silhouetted against a blue sky.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
Nov. 22 Propagating California Native Plant Cuttings, a class taught by Theodore Payne Foundation Horticulture Director Tim Becker from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the foundation grounds in Sun Valley. Students will learn to start and grow plants from cuttings and leave with a flat of 50 starts. Register online, $92.55 ($81.88 members). eventbrite.com
Nov. 23 Botanic Printing on Paper: A Natural Dye Workshop taught by painter Linda Illumanardi, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley. Students will learn how to fold Victorian puzzle books, fill them with California native leaves and flowers and immerse the piece in natural dye. They also will walk through the foundation’s demonstration garden to identify native plants used to create dyes. Most supplies will be provided. Participants are asked to bring scissors, a ruler and any California native leaves or wildflowers they’d like to use in their design. Register online, $92.55 ($81.88 members). eventbrite.com
Marine Park Community Garden Two-Year Anniversary, 9 a.m. to noon in Santa Monica, a celebration open house with activities for children (painting pots and making seed packets) and cooking demonstrations using produce picked from the garden. Expect demonstrations about the garden’s Compost Cooperative. Admission is free, no registration is required. santamonica.gov
Nov. 30 DIY Wreath-Making Party, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Rolling Hills Estates. Learn to select and arrange plant materials to create a handcrafted wreath. All tools and materials provided. Register online, $55 ($50 members). southcoastbotanicgarden.org
SoCal’s Santa Ana “devil winds” have always been a given for this California native, but I never had a clue how they happened until I read this fascinating article by atmospheric scientist Ned Kleiner. Mind-blowing hint: Those hot, dry, dusty winds start with cold dense air in the high desert of southern Nevada.
“They took Knut’s teacher, you know.” So starts the chilling story by L.A. Times Letters Editor Paul Thornton about his grandfather’s teacher in Norway, Lars Nødtvedt, who was murdered by the Nazis during World War II for resisting the “Nazified curriculum” being forced on the schools. It’s just the kind of story my father would have clipped for us to read, especially with all the threats and accusations against teachers today.
L.A.’s celebrity cougar P-22 died as a result of injuries and illness in 2022, but he looked healthy in 2014 when a remote camera captured him walking through Griffith Park.
(Associated Press)
Remember the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing inspired by L.A.’s late great cougar P-22? They’ve finally constructed a near football-field-sized structure that spans the entire 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, but there’s still much to be done before animals can cross. Next step? Adding tons of soil and 5,000 hyperlocal native plants.
And speaking about P-22, here’s a nonpolitical question to chew on over Thanksgiving dinner: If Lassie has one, along with Kermit, Godzilla and now, even Batman, why can’t L.A.’s most famous feline celebrity get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
Mabel Wulff risked her life to protect the St Thomas à Becket Church in Hamburg
Hidden away in a church in Hamburg is a plaque dedicated to a relatively unknown Welsh woman, outlining astonishing acts of bravery.
Mabel Wulff from Newport lived in Nazi Germany – surviving years of Gestapo harassment and bravely fighting fires caused by falling bombs.
The plaque says the St Thomas à Becket Anglican Church, known as simply “the English church” for many years, would have been destroyed without her – after she hid its artwork to save it from damage, smothered fires as they started.
She also sheltered people to save their lives.
“She’s a part of history – Newport history and Hamburg history,” says Eddie Wulff, Mabel’s grandson who has spent the past few years trying to learn more about his grandmother’s life.
“But very few in Wales seem to know about it. She was formidable.”
Eddie Wulff, 82, believes his grandmother Mabel’s actions should be remembered
It is a story that begins in Newport in 1909 when seamstress Mabel Phillips married Max Wulff, a German sailor.
They couldn’t have imagined the difficulties ahead, with Max setting up a restaurant on Alexandra Road in the Pill area of the city and the couple welcoming two sons in 1911 and 1913.
Eddie Wulff
Max and Mabel Wulff met and fell in love in Newport
But the family were separated, with Max seen as an enemy of the state by the British government and sent to prisoner of war camps in Lancaster and on the Isle of Man.
Eddie Wulff
This photo shows the horse and carriage used for Max and Mabel’s wedding on Alexandra Road in Pill
Life for Mabel and her sons Edward and Leonard became difficult, says Eddie.
“There was a lot of anti German feeling in Newport. They asked Mabel whether she would divorce Max because he was a German – she refused to do that.”
It was a feeling Eddie himself remembers, being in school in Newport at the end of the 1940s, where he recalled being called “Nazi” and “Gestapo”.
“They must have had it even worse” he said.
Sent back to Germany
As soon as the war ended, Max wasn’t allowed to return to Newport but sent back to Germany, where his young family would soon join him.
“They had so much hassle – every stage of their life had been hard,” Eddie said.
That became apparent again in 1930s Hamburg. By then Mabel was the caretaker of “the English church”, a Church of England church originally established because of the trade links between the city and the UK.
Eddie Wulff
The English Church was rebuilt in the years after the war and reconsecrated as St Thomas a Becket Church in 1947
Once war broke out, an Anglican church with a British caretaker attracted numerous visits from the Gestapo.
“She said they really were nasty and they were strutting about. They were always looking for the Union flag and the British Legion flag which Mabel had hidden under the altar,” Max said.
“They were bouncing about, asking where these things were – they were actually walking on top of them.”
Eddie Wulff
Mabel returned the flag she’d hidden to the British Legion in Hamburg at the end of the war – it is still used to this day
As a key port city, Hamburg was targeted by sustained bombing raids, most notably during Operation Gomorrah in 1943.
In anticipation of this, Mabel hid and stored some of the beautiful paintings and engravings from the church, meaning they were saved from damage.
Madeleine Resühr
The painting above the alter, a copy of Raphael’s Sistine Madonna dating back to 1838, was protected by Mabel during the War – it still hangs in the church.
It seemed there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect the building during the raids, putting her life at risk.
“She did put fires out, she went around and smothered them and got water and put them out on numerous occasions. She did save the church,” said Eddie.
Madeleine Resühr
The church was badly damaged by bombings
Mabel Wulff also let families, displaced by the bombings, shelter in the church – again drawing the attention of the Gestapo.
“She was a good person. You didn’t mess with Mabel – she was formidable,” Eddie recalls.
Mabel was caretaker of the church for 40 years
At the end of the war, Mabel brought out the union flag she had hidden under the altar and draped it over the church’s balcony as British Troops entered the city.
Mabel’s bravery was noted by Church of England officials in 1947, thanking her for the “great personal danger” she put herself in.
In 1956 she was awards a British Empire Medal for her actions.
Madeleine Resühr
The plaque in St Thomas à Becket church in Hamburg
Even though Mabel returned to Newport in her later years and lived with Eddie and his family when he was a child, much of her story was unknown until relatively recently.
“You would have to drag it out of her. I am very proud of her. Most of it passed me by most of my life. I am in my 80s now and I’m just realising how important my grandmother was.”
China’s approach to smart city development offers valuable lessons for countries in the Global South. While the approach may differ from Western models, China’s strategic use of technology, system integration, focus on economic growth, and partnerships provide a roadmap that can be adapted to developing nations. China’s emphasis on economic growth is driven by the need to create jobs, attract investment, and support industrial clusters, which are vital for maintaining social stability and fostering development. This focus is highly relevant for countries like Indonesia and other Global South nations facing similar challenges. With around 700 million people in the Global South living in extreme poverty, according to the World Bank, economic growth becomes a key driver for smart city initiatives, aiming to create jobs and improve living conditions. This article explores key aspects of China’s smart city development and their relevance for the Global South while acknowledging the importance of local adaptation.
Leveraging Technology for Efficiency and Innovation
China’s smart cities have demonstrated significant economic and social impacts. According to a Deloitte report, smart cities in China contributed around 50% of China’s GDP in 2022. Investment in smart city projects is expected to reach $422 billion by 2025 (IDC). These investments have also created millions of new jobs, particularly in the technology and innovation sectors.
China has aggressively adopted advanced technologies such as AI, Big Data, IoT, and Cloud Computing to enhance public services, including intelligent transportation systems, public security, and energy management. These technologies help address critical urban issues like traffic congestion, flooding, and pollution.
Similarly, India’s Smart Cities Mission provides an example of leveraging technology to improve urban services, with initiatives such as IoT for real-time water quality monitoring in Ajmer and smart waste collection in Surat. Unlike Western models that emphasize data privacy and public participation, China focuses on rapid, large-scale implementation—a strategy well-suited for countries seeking quick urban improvements.
System Integration and Collaboration
The impact of integrated systems is evident in the increased efficiency and improved quality of public services. For example, Hangzhou’s ‘City Brain’ system has reduced traffic congestion by 15% and improved emergency response times by 50%. In Shanghai, smart grid technology has boosted energy efficiency by 10% and cut carbon emissions by 15%.
A key factor in China’s smart city success is the development of integrated platforms that connect government departments and systems, facilitating data sharing and collaboration. This centralized, top-down approach contrasts with the decentralized models seen in the West. For the Global South, where government structures are often fragmented, adopting similar integration strategies could significantly enhance efficiency and public service effectiveness. Examples include Rwanda’s ‘Irembo’ platform, which provides online access to government services, and Kenya’s ‘Nairobi County Command and Control Centre’ for real-time traffic and safety management. Such integration promotes responsive and coordinated governance, which is crucial for developing nations.
Focus on Economic Growth and Inclusivity
The economic benefits of smart cities in China are reflected in citizen satisfaction. A survey by McKinsey found that 80% of residents in Chinese smart cities are satisfied with their quality of life, citing improvements in public services such as healthcare, education, and transportation. This focus on enhancing quality of life through economic development is particularly relevant for the Global South.
China’s smart city initiatives emphasize fostering economic growth, creating jobs, and ensuring development benefits all citizens. Many smart cities in China support specific industrial clusters, such as technology, manufacturing, or tourism. For example, Shenzhen has become a global tech hub, attracting investment and creating jobs. Smart cities also support startups and SMEs by providing infrastructure, incubators, and financing. This focus on local economic development and improving quality of life is highly relevant for countries like Indonesia. While Western cities prioritize sustainability and public participation, China’s emphasis on social stability and economic growth resonates with many developing nations seeking to uplift their citizens.
Investment and Partnership Strategies
The Smart Cities Mission in India serves as an example of effective investment in smart city projects. Over $7 billion has been allocated to smart city projects across 100 cities, improving access to clean water, sanitation, and affordable housing for millions of people. In Rwanda, the ‘Irembo’ platform now provides online access to over 100 government services for more than 90% of the population, while Nairobi’s ‘County Command and Control Centre’ has helped reduce crime and improve emergency response times.
China’s ability to attract private and foreign investment for smart city projects has been a major factor in its success. By adopting innovative financing models and partnering with international investors, China has accelerated infrastructure development and technology transfer. Countries in the Global South can benefit by following similar strategies to advance their smart city projects. Compared to other BRICS countries, China’s proactive engagement in foreign partnerships has allowed for rapid growth, making it a model for nations seeking to expedite smart city development.
Relevant Case Studies from China
The success of China’s smart city initiatives can be better understood by examining specific examples. These case studies highlight how different cities have leveraged technology to enhance urban management, economic growth, and sustainability. By looking at these examples, other nations can see how adaptable strategies can address their unique urban challenges and further their development goals.
Hangzhou: The City Brain platform has contributed to economic growth by enhancing transportation efficiency and reducing costs associated with traffic issues.
Shenzhen: The city has implemented an efficient, environmentally friendly public transportation system, demonstrating the role smart city technologies can play in achieving sustainability goals.
Shanghai: Smart grid technology has increased energy efficiency by 10% and reduced carbon emissions by 15%, helping the city move towards sustainability goals.
Conclusion
In addition to China’s experience, smart city initiatives in other regions have also shown promising results:
India: The Smart Cities Mission has allocated over $7 billion for projects that improve essential services such as water, sanitation, and affordable housing, benefiting millions of people.
Rwanda: The ‘Irembo’ platform has enabled over 90% of the population to access government services online, improving transparency and efficiency.
Kenya: The ‘Nairobi County Command and Control Centre’ has reduced crime and improved emergency response times.
Colombia: Medellin’s smart city initiatives have reduced crime rates by 80% and improved access to public transport.
Brazil: Rio de Janeiro’s early warning flood system has saved numerous lives by providing timely alerts.
China’s Role in Promoting Smart City Development in BRICS
At the 16th BRICS Summit held in Kazan, Russia, from October 22-24, 2024, BRICS announced the addition of 13 new partner countries, including Indonesia. This expansion marks a significant growth of the bloc and highlights BRICS’ increasing influence on the global stage. The new partner countries are Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Being a BRICS partner, though not a full member, opens doors for greater collaboration with BRICS nations in various fields, such as trade and investment, infrastructure development, political cooperation, and technology transfer. These collaborations can enhance market access, encourage infrastructure projects, strengthen coordination on global issues, and facilitate the exchange of technology and knowledge.
China is often seen as a leading country in smart city development, although ‘success’ can be interpreted in different ways. Key factors contributing to China’s success include extensive technology deployment, strong data integration, scale and speed of implementation, a focus on innovation, and improvements in quality of life. China could further enhance its smart city narrative within the BRICS context by sharing its experiences and success stories. Promoting collaboration and best practices would position China as a leader in the smart city agenda for BRICS.
This could involve technology transfer, joint investments, and knowledge-sharing initiatives to help other BRICS members adapt China’s smart city strategies. However, challenges may arise due to differing governance structures and political systems among BRICS nations. Addressing these challenges would be essential for successful cooperation and collective progress.
The Global South, including countries like Indonesia, can learn from China’s experience in areas such as technology adoption, system integration, and economic growth. While China’s model offers valuable lessons, adapting these strategies to local contexts is crucial, especially given data privacy, public participation, and sustainability concerns.
Additionally, the centralized nature of China’s model may not fit the diverse political structures found in many Global South countries, requiring modifications. Moreover, while data privacy and public participation are mentioned as challenges, a deeper analysis of the potential negative impacts of China’s model is needed—particularly regarding surveillance and civil liberties.
Governments in the Global South that operate democratic systems must understand the boundaries related to privacy and mitigate potential social costs. Transparency in public communication is also necessary to reduce potential conflicts. The solutions for these partnerships are explained below, such as joint technology development, capacity-building initiatives, and infrastructure co-investments.
These partnerships present opportunities, such as technology transfer, economic growth, and accelerating the achievement of net carbon emission goals, and challenges, including aligning governance frameworks and ensuring equitable benefits. By blending rapid innovation with community-centric policies, developing nations can create effective, inclusive, and sustainable smart cities.
PAUL THIRLWELL almost helped his boyhood club reach the FA Cup Final – now he is desperate for one of his Harrogate Town players to secure their own fairytale.
The 45-year-old grew up following Sunderland home and away alongside his parents and brother, which included a trip to Wembley for their 1992 final defeat to Liverpool.
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Paul Thirlwell, left, played for Sunderland against Millwall in the 2004 FA Cup semi-finalCredit: Alamy
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The ex-Premier League midfielder is hoping for some cup joy on Sunday with Harrogate TownCredit: X @HarrogateTown
Thirlwell then burst on the scene aged 20 as the Black Cats thumped Chelsea, who included stars like Marcel Desailly and Gianfranco Zola, 4-1 in the Premier League in 1999.
But it would be a midfielder he came up against that day that would help inflict FA Cup heartbreak on him four seasons later when player-manager Dennis Wise guided Millwall to a 1-0 win over Sunderland at Old Trafford in the semi.
Thirlwell told Sun Sport: “We’ll probably never get a better chance to get to the final with it being two Championship teams at the time. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way but it was a great experience. It’s just a shame we got done as we’d have faced Man United.
“I’d played against him [Wise] before on my debut but everyone knows what he was like, tenacious and knowing all the dark arts.
“But Millwall had some good players like him, Tim Cahill who scored on the day and went on to have an unbelievable career, Danny Dichio, but they also had that edge that made them so tough to play against.
“Of course you want to win, but when you look back and think that you played in a semi-final then you appreciate now that it is quite a big achievement.”
These days Thirlwell is assistant manager to Simon Weaver at League Two Harrogate Town, a club he finished his playing career at after spells with Sheffield United, Derby and Carlisle.
“I moved to Wetherby and was totally unaware that it was next to one of the club’s directors. “He maybe spoke to the gaffer and then mentioned me and after a chat we hit it off straight away.
“I didn’t just want to go anywhere as a player as I’d dipped my foot into the coaching so I wanted a bit of both.
“I got involved with coaching the U21s here and then we went full-time and the opportunity arose to become assistant manager and wow, here we are still here nearly a decade later.”
Major A-list celebs Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney expand Wrexham empire with new brewery
During that time they have climbed from non-league into the EFL and enjoyed FA Trophy joy in 2020.
But as they prepare to host Hollywood-owned Wrexham, who are pushing for League One promotion, Thirlwell says that he is desperate for long-serving star Warren Burrell, 34, to get his big FA Cup moment this year.
He said: “You’d probably have to speak to some of the younger lads now but I think definitely for people of my era that the cup still has the magic.
“I keep trying to tell our lads, who are all Arsenal, United, Spurs supporters, that we have to get Warren, who is a huge Liverpool fan, to Anfield. It’s one of those places that he’ll never play at unless it comes in the cup, so just things like that make the cup massive for me.”
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Harrogate’s long-serving defender Warren Burrell would love a trip to AnfieldCredit: Rex
And Thirlwell, who admitted the game being televised adds an “extra edge”, says the whole club from top to bottom want to put on a show against the big-spending Welsh side owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
“When you get a big club at home in the early rounds then you are hoping that it gets on the tele and as it happens we have,” Thirlwell said.
“And I do think it helps, not that anybody tries harder, but it does give you an extra edge when you know it’s on TV.
“But everyone at the club wants to get everything right on the day as you are showcasing the whole club.”
He added: “We are one of, if not the, smallest club in the Football League but we have a go on and off the pitch as best we can.
“We are realistic to the point that usually bigger clubs do win these games but we are going into it with optimism and want to cause an upset. Someone will this year so why not us?”
Students like Ali, Anna K, Anna and Marie (clockwise from top left) are divided about staying in the town
Kalundborg, a town of just 16,000 people on the Danish coast about an hour’s drive from Copenhagen, is as close as you might get to a modern-day gold rush town.
It’s the main production centre for weight loss drug Wegovy. Semaglutide, used in Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic, is made in a factory here, and parent company Novo Nordisk has invested more than $8.5 billion (£6.5bn) in the town. That’s nearly the entire GDP of Monaco.
But persuading people to actually live in the town could prove tricky.
There’s an influx of workers and builders at the factory in the morning and an exodus in the afternoon – locals call it the “Novo Queue” and recommend avoiding the town’s road for these hours each day.
Hardly any of the workers stay – they live outside and drive in.
So when there’s £400,000 of investment per resident, what’s there not to like?
Behind the rosy figures, Kalundborg faces many challenges, from rundown schools and low incomes to many children being overweight.
State school grades in Danish language and maths here are below the national average. Some on the town’s periphery have few facilities inside or out, with just old swings in the playground.
Some schools are run down in the town
“If you saw that, you will take one of the big cities around here and say, ‘Well, we will live there and then I can drive to Kalundborg to work,'” regional councillor Helle Laursen Petersen tells me.
She says these schools are struggling to attract experienced teachers, helping to fuel low expectations among many parents.
After all, she says, they think their children will always get a job at the Novo Nordisk factory, so why bother trying to get to university?
Ali, Anna K, Anna and Marie at Gymnasium, the most academic secondary school in the area, tell me they want to leave to study.
“It might become interesting later, but as of now, I think it’s a bit too boring to settle down here – I think I’d like a larger city,” Anna K says.
But Ali and Marie are more excited about coming back after their studies, hopeful of more job opportunities in the town so they can enjoy its natural beauty more.
Problems – and hope
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Novo Nordisk is ploughing investment into its new manufacturing plant in the town
Meanwhile Brian Sonder Anderson, who runs the Blue Angel cinema and is head of the local trader’s association, points out that supermarkets and bakeries are booming locally as factory workers flock to them on their lunch breaks.
But other shops, such as those selling shoes and clothes, quickly open then shut down again because of the amount of workers living elsewhere.
Many families on low incomes live here, priced out of the capital Copenhagen where rents and property prices have soared – leaving some on benefits and others relying on work at the factory.
Kalundborg also has a health problem – it’s in the highest 5% of Danish towns for children being overweight.
Novo Nordisk, meanwhile, is now Europe’s most valuable company with a revenue last year of more than $33bn – bringing its market value to more than $500bn.
Investment in the town aims to add 1,250 jobs to the existing 4,500 employees at the Kalundborg plant and ramp up production of its best-selling drugs. While the company represents about 1% of the Danish workforce, it accounts for a more sizeable proportion of its growth.
Denmark’s economic growth was 1.1% over the first nine months of 2023. But strip away the pharmaceutical sector, dominated by Novo, and the economy shrank by 0.8%. Some analysts have warned that parts of the country’s economy risks becoming too reliant on the pharmaceutical industry.
The town’s mayor Martin Damm is upbeat, insisting that more than 1,000 new jobs are being created here every year and some young people are happy to call it home.
“In Europe people are moving from the rural area into the big cities and this is going the opposite way,” he says.
“This is the little city [that] attracts big investment.”
Miguel, 18, is hopeful about Kalundborg’s future
He also insists that schools are being refurbished or already have good facilities – and that rising prosperity will, in time, lead to healthier lifestyles.
Miguel, an 18-year-old student from Madrid studying bio-technology on one of the new university courses in the town, has just joined a local football team with players from Brazil, Mexico, Poland and Ukraine.
“There’s so many international people in this town and almost everyone that I’ve talked to in English has responded in English,” he says.
Amanda, from Brazil, insists opportunities are here – she’s landed a job, placed her two young children in a local school and hopes that they’ll stay here for university.
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The town is home to a famous five-tower church
A new highway is also being built to help ease the town’s chronic congestion – but getting people to live here will be the real fix for that.
Students at the Gymnasium think the town is at something of a crossroads.
“In five years, I think the town [will have] grown quite a lot – I hope for a multi multicultural town,” says Anna K.
“If that is so, then I might consider moving back.”
With a musical and cultural legacy so vast it’s nearly impossible to quantify, singer/guitarist David Gilmour could easily rest on his impressive laurels. Especially at 78, when some of his British brethren and peers, including ELO’s Jeff Lynne, are making final-bow tours of greatest hits. But Gilmour, who joined psych-prog progenitors Pink Floyd two years after the band’s 1965 inception, proved vibrant and vital at his fourth show in Los Angeles and final evening of a three-night-stand at the Hollywood Bowl.
Anyone who has listened to an FM rock station in the last 50 years likely has at least a half-dozen Pink Floyd songs committed to memory. With 1973’s “Dark Side of the Moon” and 1979’s “The Wall” collectively selling more than 80 million albums worldwide, the band’s evocative, provocative lyrics and trippy, sometimes pointed and painful video and visual accompaniment are as heady as Floyd’s singular sound.
A 20-song set spanning more than two hours (with an intermission) featured enough Floyd classics, including “The Great Gig in the Sky,” “Breathe (In the Air),” and a pitch-perfect encore of “Comfortably Numb” for even a casual fan. Not that there were a lot in attendance; Gilmour aficionados tend toward the fanatical, the guitarist’s instantly recognizable tone and solos, notably the emotive psych-blues of “Comfortably Numb,” iconic.
Pink Floyd’s last tour was in 1994; the group’s final, one-off live performance in 2005 (at Live8), and the acrimony stemming from personal, creative and legal battles between Gilmour and bassist/singer/songwriter Roger Waters is unlikely to ever cease.
But Gilmour does a wonderful job of balancing Floyd material with his solo catalog of five studio albums since 1978. Songs from his 2024 “Luck and Strange LP” mesh seamlessly with older material, thanks in no small part to a stellar band that includes a trio of female singers/instrumentalists who made “The Great Gig in the Sky” heavenly, and the solid playing and energy of longtime bass player Guy Pratt. The evening began with two new songs, including the spare, meditative title track, before launching into “Dark Side of the Moon” classics and “Fat Old Sun” from 1970’s “Atom Heart Mother, “ a timeless track buoyed by Gilmour’s steel guitar. A lovely cacophony of bells signaled “High Hopes” from 1994’s “The Division Bell “(the second Floyd album without Waters), Gilmour’s emotional, pacific vocal delivery magical and melded with sweetly surreal guitars.
Though many songs have a lull-like quality in parts, the show itself had no lulls, even in softer moments: With two acoustic guitars leading the heart-wrenching classic “Wish You Were Here,” you could hear a pin drop. With more than 760 million streams, the track is rightfully at the top of the Pink Floyd canon. Ultimately, the evening had scant disappointments, though “There’s No Way Out of Here,” an evocative fan favorite from Gilmour’s 1978 self-titled solo debut, would have been a welcome addition.
Since the early 1990s, Gilmour’s frequent lyrical collaborator has been wife Polly Sampson, whose sensitivity and topicality often reveals a heart-rending reality that’s never heavy-handed. She’s especially spot-on in the stunning “A Single Spark,” Gilmour singing, “These days of wild uncertain times I ask the empty skies / Who will keep things rolling, who to sing Hosannas to.” Ditto the indictment of universal war culture “In Any Tongue,” the song’s animated accompaniment heartbreaking, Gilmour’s tasteful use of his tremolo bar giving the song an aura both haunted and haunting. The family talent stretches to daughter Romany Gilmour, whose youthful, pure voice and persona has a lovely gravitas, as exemplified on the new song “Between Two Points.” Another winner off the new album was “Dark and Velvet Nights,” accompanied by big-screen animated artwork from Latvian-born mixed-media artist Julia Soboleva, her outsider-art style lending a raw, fresh and almost voodoo-like mystery to the visuals.
Gilmour and Co. created a beautifully haunting evening for a chilly Los Angeles Halloween. One night after the city’s spectacular baseball triumph and with a fraught election day looming, Gilmour’s songs and presence proved a perfect antidote to the external, a welcome humanity shining through every note.
Donk is one of the most promising e-sportsmen of our time. In 2024, Danil Kryshkovets was only 17 years old, but he had already become a legend of the community. In February, he took part in a tournament in Katowice, where he took out top-5 opponents. Naturally, the success was associated not only with intense training but also with the original Donk settings. in particular for the crosshair. This article written by Volodymyr Huda is dedicated to the Donk crosshair settings, but you can learn more about CS2 pros settings on the Profilerr website.
What Mouse Does Donk Use?
Donk uses only the LOGITECH G Pro X Superlight Magenta mouse with 800 DPI and a SteelSeries QcK+ mouse pad. Other recommended settings:
Windows 6 sensitivity;
overall sensitivity 1.25;
eDPI 1000;
pulse frequency – 1000 Hz.
Donk also prefers to use a keyboard from Logitech, the G Pro X Keyboard model. HyperX Cloud II headphones help him respond to all changes in the gaming environment in a timely manner. As for the screen settings, there is nothing supernatural here either: you need to specify a resolution of 1280×960 with a stretched 4×3 image. It is worth noting that the Team Spirit member prefers the AK-47 and M4A4. The high efficiency of his settings is not guaranteed if you use other weapons.
The player chose the mentioned mouse for a reason, it has the highest sensitivity and responsiveness. The simplicity of the black case design should not be confusing, as all 5 keys perform the assigned task flawlessly. Users of this mouse note the exceptional ease of use and impressive battery capacity (the battery can work up to 90 hours without recharging). So, even a long match or intense competition with friends will not leave you without energy in decisive moments. It is worth emphasizing the absence of slipping in the hand, which is so annoying for many people. The response takes no more than 1 millisecond. All in all, it is an excellent solution that can be used by both a beginner and an experienced CS2 player.
G Pro X Keyboard and HyperX Cloud II are also great for a game as cool as that of a young player.
With a headset like that of the Donk player, you can spend long hours in front of the screen without any difficulties. High microphone sensitivity will facilitate joint sessions of fighting opponents, and it is easy to move it to the required position. Only a few gaming headphones from other manufacturers can compete with such a model.
Graphics And Hand Position Settings
You can position your hands and orient your weapon exactly like Donk using the viewmodel commands listed above. Increased performance in the game is achieved using a specially selected resolution. The graphics quality is deliberately reduced in order to increase FPS to the limit. Only in this case can the actions be as effective as possible, and the Donk crosshair will benefit the players. You need to set:
The average number of shadows on the screen;
Minimum texture detail;..
Disable texture streaming;
Low detail of effects and shaders;
Enhance player contrast;
Multi-core processing.
Multi-sampling is performed in 8x MSAA format. FXAA anti-aliasing must be disabled. Textures are filtered bilinearly. Vertical synchronization, display of blurred motion, three-monitor mode, and the use of ubershaders are completely unacceptable. Donk uses a BenQ Zowie XL2546K monitor.
Additional Important Settings
It is worth emphasizing that the authentic Donk player crosshair must be used at a brightness level of strictly 102%. You also need to set high shadow quality but disable global shading of the image. The gamer will find the extended dynamic range and FidelityFX Super Resolution mode useful. The low latency of NVIDIA Reflex will also be useful. Sniper mode sensitivity should be equal to one.
In addition, the crosshair design style should be classic, and friendly fire notifications must be disabled. It is unacceptable to follow the recoil or leave the center point. Other important indicators:
length 1.5;
thickness 1.0;
gap – 4.0 (regardless of the selected weapon);
outline equals zero;
the value of red, blue, and green, as well as the transparency index – 255;
the color must be selected arbitrarily.
In the “T-shaped” column, you should specify “Not needed”.
Radar, Interface, And Other Details
Donk CS 2 crosshair assumes several more important details. The radar should be centered on the player. The size should be set strictly to 1, and the zoom should be set to 0.70. In the column “Change the shape of the radar in the results table” the answer should only be “Yes”. The in-game interface should be made single in order to fully experience the advantages of the tool. As for additional launch parameters, Donk does not use them at all, preferring the default settings.
Tips For Setting Up a Crosshair in CS2
Even if you don’t need a donk CS2 crosshair, it is still important to understand the crosshair settings for effective play. There are a lot of settings that change:
color;
geometric shape;
degree of response to a large spread from a weapon.
By typing cl_crosshairstyle 0, you can start the dynamic mode. The expansion and contraction will begin immediately. If this option does not suit you, it is better to type the command cl_crosshairstyle 4. The static mode of the sighting mechanism may seem boring to someone. But this impression is shared rather by those who observe the process from the outside. Players who are directly involved in the game, as a rule, experience irritation from the constant changes of the crosshair.
Although the classic Donk player’s crosshairs are pure white, this does not mean that yours should be the same. The fact is that excessively dim models can be indistinguishable from textures. The easier it is to notice this detail on the screen, the higher the accuracy will be. After cl_crosshaircolor and a space, you need to specify the index:
zero – red;
one – green;
two – yellow;
three – blue;
four – turquoise.
Final Thoughts
In August 2024, the average number of CS2 players worldwide reached 897,337.9, which clearly shows the popularity of the shooter. If you want to stand out from the crowd, we recommend constantly practicing your gaming skills and testing the settings of pro players. To learn about the pro settings of the best players in the history of the game, including s1mple and ZywOo, we recommend visiting the Profilerr service, available to players from New York to Seoul.
