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This comes as parts of Europe have been ravaged by wildfires this summer after a period of record-breaking heatwaves and little rain – conditions that scientists say have been exacerbated by climate change.

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⁠Four crew members were recovered after the collision in the area of Psatha, west of Athens, on Sunday, the Greek fire service said. Both ⁠crew members from one ⁠of the helicopters – a Greek and a Danish national – ⁠died in ⁠the incident, while the ⁠second ⁠crew – a British and a Greek national – were rescued alive, it ‌added.

Television video showed one of the helicopters explode and plunge to the ground in flames after an apparent rotor collision. Investigations had started into what caused the collision, the fire service said.

The teams were in the Psatha area battling wildfires that have destroyed more than a hundred homes and forced evacuations across Greece.

Separately, firefighters were battling to contain a blaze around Porto Germeno on the Gulf of Corinth, where flames crossed a mountain and reached a military firing range, activating unexploded ammunition.

Nearly 500 firefighters have been deployed, with reinforcements also arriving from France and Romania.

Wildfires in Greece, France, Spain

Europe has been ravaged by wildfires this summer following little rain – conditions scientists say have been exacerbated by climate change. Several new blazes have broken out in Greece after a period of relative calm there.

Gale-force winds that fuelled the Porto Germeno fire have subsided, but flames reached the settlement of Veniza and a major effort was under way to prevent the fire from reaching the nearby coastal town of Megara, the Greek daily Protothema reported.

More than 10,000 hectares (24,200 acres) of land had likely been destroyed so far, it said.

In the village of Agios Konstantinos, residents were doing their best to halt the spread of the blaze.

“The fire has been burning since last night; it is certain that they cannot have forces everywhere. We as residents are doing everything we can,” said Tasos Tzempelikos, 61, who, along with his son, was pouring water on the fire.

On the island of Kefalonia, a 44-year-old man was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of deliberately starting the fire that broke out late Saturday in the Pastra area in the island’s south, the Greek ANA news agency reported.

In France, wildfires in the Gironde and Var departments showed only minor flare-ups, with the southeastern Var blaze not spreading overnight.

In central Spain, fires that ripped through tens of thousands of hectares over the past week were mostly under control, though firefighters were dealing with re-ignitions in some areas.

In the western province of Caceres, around 800 evacuated residents were allowed to return on Sunday but remained confined to their homes as the fire stayed active.

Drying Danube

While fires in France and Spain showed signs of easing over the weekend, the blazes are part of a wider crisis gripping the continent. Hungary’s only nuclear power plant was forced to shut for the first time in four decades as water levels in the Danube River sank to a record low and a new heatwave threatened.

Hungary’s Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, warned that the country faced a critical five days because of the drying Danube, the nuclear shutdown, and water-use restrictions imposed on more than 100 cities and villages.

In Serbia, the drought that has brought the Danube to its lowest-ever level is forcing the country to greatly reduce power generation from hydroelectric plants, the energy minister said Sunday.

The two biggest plants, Djerdap I and Djerdap II, have been reduced to just 20 and 30 percent of their output capacities, Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic told RTS television.

The plants provide about 18 percent of Serbia’s electricity generation. Hydroelectric power accounts for nearly a third of the country’s energy mix, with thermal plants powering the rest.

Water levels in the Danube in Serbia have fallen to their lowest since 1985. Serbian meteorologists say there has been no significant rainfall to feed the river for the past five or six weeks. %!s()

The Fars news outlet affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said numerous ships were stuck in the northern corridor of the strategically vital waterway in Iranian waters on Sunday noon – and they could only pass if Iran’s armed forces allowed.

Iranian authorities have said the same will remain true for a southern sea corridor passing through Oman’s territorial waters.

Announcing his decision not to go ahead with the threatened attack, Trump said it followed a request from Iran and other regional countries after the “perimeters of a deal” had been agreed upon. Writing on social media early on Sunday, he said the potential agreement would “include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat”.

Iran’s acting Defence Minister, Majid Ebn-e-Reza, said Trump’s pullback comment was made “within the context of psychological operations and a war of calculations”.

The brigadier general added in a social media post that Iran’s armed forces consider each threat as real so “we will neither be taken by surprise nor will we be passive”.

Iran’s wartime military command warned on Saturday that US and other interests across the region could be attacked in tit-for-tat strikes if Washington launches threatened attacks against civilian infrastructure, including power plants and petrochemical manufacturers.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, spoke on the phone with Trump before his announcement on halting the strikes, with state media saying he stressed the need to prioritise dialogue “to reduce escalation and the importance of making every possible effort to achieve calm that paves the way for diplomatic solution”. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, had a phone call with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, on Saturday night.

In Tehran, some Iranians pointed out that Trump had made seemingly more immediate threats in the past, including right before announcing a ceasefire in April.

“I didn’t pay too much attention to the latest cycle of threats,” Rana, a resident of western Tehran, told Al Jazeera on Sunday. “I’m stressed that they will hit urban centres again soon, but we have no choice on what happens next,” she added.

Hours before Trump’s announcement, one Iranian social media user joked on X: “My knowledge of Trump tells me by morning he will be writing a lengthy text to say he has reached some sort of an understanding with the right people that they had not reached before”.

Other mediators such Pakistan, Qatar, Oman and Turkiye have also been exchanging messages and trying to nudge Iran and the US towards an agreement after their memorandum of understanding (MoU) reached in June fell apart in less than a month.

That understanding partially reopened the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting a US blockade on Iran’s southern ports and offering a two-month relief from oil sanctions. All the provisions have since been rolled back, with military strikes resumed and fears of a wider conflagration growing.

The US said the MoU entitled ships to pass through the southern corridor in the strait, but Iran maintained the agreement left the country’s armed forces in charge of making arrangements for passage. The IRGC has continued to strike or turn back ships attempting to use the route near the Omani coast.

The conflict has also spread to the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb, where the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen have attacked Saudi energy facilities and attempted to strike or turn back Saudi-linked ships. But the region was relatively calmer on Sunday, as Iran and the US refrained from launching new major attacks.

Prior to the war, Iranians were already facing years of chronic inflation, energy crises and other economic pains, linked with local mismanagement and corruption paired with US sanctions.

The government is battling a heavy budget crunch and has periodically struggled with paying some salaries.

State media on Sunday showed President Masoud Pezeshkian making a phone call during a meeting with the heads of state-run universities to follow up on why university professors and faculty staff have not been paid this month.

Mojtaba Khamenei, who was selected as Iran’s new supreme leader in March after his father Ali Khamenei was killed during the opening salvo of the war, has not made any public appearance amid the ongoing battle over the Strait of Hormuz.

Hamshahri, a newspaper and media outlet affiliated with the Tehran Municipality, released a video on Saturday that said the main reason behind the continued absence ostensibly involved security. It said the “enemies” of the Islamic Republic would be able to glean information about the acoustics of the room the supreme leader was staying in, as well as other data, even if a voice message is released from Khamenei.

Ali Khezrian, a hardline member of parliament from Tehran, said on Saturday that the Islamic Republic must build underground “governance cities” that would offer protection from aerial bombardment.

“We must be able to keep the leaders and officials safe underground and in the bellies of mountains from being assassinated,” he said. %!s()

We’ve put together a list of multiplayer games you can play with your friends anywhere in the world (including one that doesn’t require an internet connection at all!), all under the price of a standard movie ticket.

1

An Eggstremely Hard Game

Where to play: Windows PC

If you ever had to carry around an egg for a whole week, pretending it was a baby for extra credit in health class, you’ve basically played the tutorial for An Eggstremely Hard Game. Released just last week, An Eggstremely Hard Game has players take on the roles of “highly qualified goose parents,” who are trying to bring their egg home. Dropping the egg or bumping into obstacles cracks it, making it even harder to control. Those get increasingly perilous, going from a rock you have to walk around to a series of swinging wrecking balls you and your partner must fly through. If you and your friend don’t work completely in sync, the game’s purposefully clumsy controls and unpredictable physics may leave your precious cargo sunny-side-up on the sidewalk. An Eggstremely Hard Game is only $5, and supports either two or four players.

2

Lethal Company

Where to play: Windows PC

After entering early access in October 2023, Lethal Company took the internet by storm with its combination of irreverent humor and survival horror gameplay. You and your friends work for “The Company,” which sends you to abandoned moons to collect scrap. You and up to three friends can bond over your shared fear of Snare Fleas — giant, fleshy centipedes that dive at you from the ceiling — as you explore procedurally generated rooms. True to the game’s title, “The Company” has little regard for your life: it’ll leave you behind if you fail to make it to your ship on time, and straight-up eject you into space if you don’t meet your scrap quotas. Lethal Company is $9.99, and supports up to four players.

3

Strikers Club

Where to play: Windows PC

If the conclusion of the World Cup already has you missing soccer, look no further than Strikers Club, a multiplayer soccer simulation game that entered free early access last week. Rather than controlling your whole squad, every player on the pitch — including yourself — is a real person. It follows all the rules and conventions of a real match, adding specific gameplay mechanics for each position you choose to play. While it’s still in Early Access — and therefore still working through some issues — you can play it right now for free. Strikers Club supports online PvP and co-op gameplay, with matches ranging from 5v5 to 11v11.

4

Tick Tock: A Tale for Two

Where to play: Android devices, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC

Tick Tock: A Tale for Two is an aptly-named two-player puzzle game set in a mysterious clockwork world. Trapped there by a mysterious clockmaker, you and your friend solve increasingly difficult puzzles by sharing the clues on your separate screens. The story and hand-drawn environments are inspired by Scandinavian fairy tales, creating an eerie, mysterious atmosphere. Tick Tock only takes a few hours to beat, and doesn’t require any internet connection — you just need to be able to talk to whoever you’re playing with. So, you and your friend don’t have to play on the same platform. Tick Tock: A Tale for Two requires two players and costs $5.99

5

Shift at Midnight

Where to play: Windows PC

Shift at Midnight perfectly encapsulates the experience of managing a gas station: restocking shelves, mopping up pools of blood, selling products, trying not to get killed by hideous monsters, et cetera. The cooperative detective horror game, which launched last week, has you and your friends balance running your gas station with protecting yourself from the inhuman doppelgangers who patronize your gas station. As you ring customers up, you check their IDs for any suspicious details, hoping to execute any doppelgangers before they leave and transform into monsters. If you’re not proactive, you and your friends may find yourselves barricading your store, hunkering down, and hoping for the best. Shift at Midnight costs $9.99 and supports up to three players.

6

BOKURA

Where to play: Nintendo Switch (requires Nintendo Switch Online), Windows PC

BOKURA is an atmospheric side-scrolling puzzle game requiring exactly two players and two devices. You and your friend play as brothers who run away from home. After seeing a dead deer, both of you faint and wake up to see wildly different worlds. One of you navigates a world of animals, while the other navigates a world of machines. Like Tick Tock, you and your friend need to be able to talk to one another, either over voice chat or in person, to decode what the other is seeing and solve puzzles as a team. BOKURA requires two players, each with their own device to play it on (i.e., no split-screen co-op), and costs $5.49.

7

Meccha Chameleon

Where to play: Windows PC

Meccha Chameleon is a hide-and-seek game that replaces traditional stealth gameplay with creative mimicry. Your group splits into “chameleons,” who paint themselves to blend into their surroundings, and “hunters,” who try to find hidden chameleons. If you’re artistically inclined, you can camouflage yourself with a level of detail that would make Peeta Mellark proud. Meccha Chameleon went mega-viral this summer, selling 2 million copies less than a week after launching. That said, you may want to be careful with community maps for a bit. Meccha Chameleon is $5.99 and supports 2 to 24 players (though the developer recommends capping your group at 10). %!s()

Image: Lightspeed LA

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A new report details the troubled development history of Last Sentinel, a cyberpunk competitor to Grand Theft Auto that has failed to come together at Tencent's Lightspeed LA studio after six years.

The Tencent-owned Lightspeed LA revealed Last Sentinel in 2023, describing it as an ambitious open-world AAA game at the time. Troy Baker was even involved as the game's performance director. On July 28, after years of mostly silence regarding the project, Lightspeed LA confirmed on LinkedIn that it had laid off developers as part of a shift in direction for Last Sentinel following "extensive internal reviews and play-testing." Then, a report detailing its rocky development emerged.

On July 31, Bloomberg delved into the struggles faced by the Japan-set dystopian open-world game. Its investigation affirmed that Last Sentinel was seen internally at Tencent as a cyberpunk answer to Grand Theft Auto, but ultimately proved too complex for the newly formed Lightspeed LA. This game had a much smaller staff than a game like Grand Theft Auto 6, and the studio leadership's management style was described as "polarizing."

Last Sentinel ultimately floundered in development for six years. During that period, it was delayed several times, missed internal deadlines, and cost Tencent hundreds of millions of dollars. During a playtest earlier this year, it still received mostly negative feedback. While the team worked on an improved demo until July, that also failed to impress Tencent executives. In turn, Lightspeed LA laid off 80 developers.

While Lightspeed LA's official statement claims that Last Sentinel is still in the works after changes to its "creative and development direction," Bloomberg's report seemed unsure that even Lightspeed LA fully knows what direction the game will take next. It likely won't be a Grand Theft Auto-like open world sandbox, though.

As such, it's not too surprising that Lightspeed LA is still not ready to share a release window for this new version of Last Sentinel. %!s()