Two crew members have been killed after two helicopters collided mid-air in Greece as they were battling wildfires, local authorities say.
The two fatalities were a Danish pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer. A British pilot and another Greek coordinator on the second helicopter survived.
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Video of the incident some 65 km (42 miles) west of the capital Athens, shows one of the Bell helicopters hitting the propellers of the other, which bursts into flames. Both fell into a ravine.
Several fires have broken out in Greece this week, prompting mass evacuations. Several other European nations have suffered devastating wildfires after a succession of prolonged heatwaves.
According to the Greek Fire Service, the two leased Bell helicopters collided while taking part in efforts to tackle a large wildfire burning on the Attica-Boeotia border.
The crew members of one aircraft were rescued alive, while the second crew were recovered unconscious and later pronounced dead.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his "deepest sorrow" over the accident.
In a post on X, he said the loss of the Greek coordinator and Danish pilot "fills us all with grief". He also sent condolences to their families.
According to protocol, all Bell helicopters across the country have been grounded, a source from the Ministry of Civil Protection told the BBC.
The source added that the second Bell helicopter involved in the collision made an emergency landing in an area of low vegetation.
"The two people on board, a British pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer – escaped with minor injuries," the source said.
"Both remained conscious and have been admitted to hospital, where they will remain under observation for 24 hours as a precaution."
Erickson Air-Crane and Chinook helicopters, as well as Canadair water-bombing aircraft are continuing to carry out firefighting efforts.
Early this week, France and Spain battled huge fires - two of the main ones were close to Madrid and Bordeaux respectively. Those have now been contained, though they are still burning. Some 300,000 people who were evacuated have started to return to their homes.
In Greece, media reports describe "a titanic battle" along a swathe of territory that includes Porto Germeno, Psatha, Fokida, Megara and Kefalonia, where more than 500 firefighters have been struggling to bring the situation under control over the past 72 hours.
Most wildfires are sparked by people, whether intentionally or accidentally, but climate change is making the conditions for them more common.
Last winter was mild and wet, encouraging vegetation growth, which has then dried out in successive hot spells, generating fuel for wildfires. %!s()
World Series champions for the past two years add Skubal to star-studded roster that already includes Shohei Ohtani.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired the biggest prize on the trade deadline market, getting two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers.
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Skubal got the news on Saturday night during the Tigers’ 8-6 win over the Athletics and was emotional after the game as he prepared to leave the team that drafted him in 2018 and developed him into a pitching star to join the World Series champions for the past two years.
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“I’m excited to be a Dodger,” he said. “I’m excited to get down there and meet all those guys and chase three championships in a row. That’s hard to do, so I’m so excited to be a part of that. But it’s a lot of different emotions. Definitely kind of a roller-coaster a little bit.”
Skubal is the latest star to join the high-priced roster for the Dodgers, which already has big-name players like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Mookie Betts.
If everyone is healthy, he could be part of a rotation with Ohtani, reigning World Series MVP Yamamoto, fellow two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. The Dodgers lead the majors with a 3.36 ERA from their starting pitchers and now add Skubal to the mix.
The Dodgers are in first place in the National League West and before adding Skubal were already the favourites to become the first team to three-peat since the New York Yankees from 1998 to 2000.
ESPN first reported the deal and said the Tigers would receive three minor league prospects in right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith and outfielder Zyhir Hope.
Skubal is eligible for free agency after the World Series in October. He has a $32m annual salary, a record total in arbitration after the team offered $19m, and is expected to sign an enormous contract in the off-season.
The 29-year-old left-handed pitcher said in July that it was his preference to finish the season with the Tigers and to compete for a World Series championship, which has eluded the franchise since 1984. Skubal said it was “very tough” to leave the Tigers having fallen short of the goal of winning a title.
Skubal is 7-5 this season with a 2.79 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 96 2/3 innings. He is 61-42 with a 3.04 ERA over seven seasons, all in Detroit. In two postseasons, Skubal is 2-1 with a 2.04 ERA in six starts.
Skubal had a minimally invasive surgery on May 6 to remove a loose body from his pitching elbow and returned to pitch on June 13.
“The way the surgery went is exactly how it was supposed to go,” he said in July. %!s()
Top economist Steve Hanke told us why he doubts AI will be the job destroyer many expect
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Theron Mohamed
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Steve Hanke says AI costs too much to be a major threat to jobs.
Steve Hanke
The idea that artificial intelligence will be free to use and virtually costless to provide is delusional and dumb, Steve Hanke says.
"This belief is based on a disconnect from reality, as well as a good dose of idiotic economic reasoning," the professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University told Business Insider by email.
"AI is incredibly costly; it is very resource intensive," Hanke continued. "It requires huge amounts of water, power, and physical capital" like graphics chips, he added.
Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta have projected roughly $700 billion in combined capital expenditures this year, and $1 trillion in 2027, as they race to build out the data centers needed to power the next generation of AI models.
Hanke, who served on President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, also addressed widespread concerns that AI will cause massive job destruction.
"Businesses will not be firing everybody and replacing them with AI," he said, because in many cases that will be a lot more expensive than employing humans.
The veteran economist took aim at AI visionaries, describing many of them as "charlatans and hucksters." He said they're "comparing apples and oranges" when they liken AI to software, as providing AI to customers costs money whereas software, once developed, can be sold countless times at virtually no additional cost.
Hanke predicted the "cost of scarce resources that are gobbled up by AI will decide how far the 'AI revolution' goes."
AI optimists have countered that technological advances will make microchips and data centers more power-efficient over time, bringing down the cost of AI.
Elon Musk has made waves for predicting that AI will supercharge productivity and drive down production costs, ushering in an era of abundance where "anyone can have whatever stuff they want."
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has recommended people stop saving for retirement in 10 or 20 years as "money won't matter." Personal finance and AI experts previously told Business Insider they resoundingly disagreed with Musk's advice.
Musk has predicted AI will take over most jobs, and the "best way" for governments to deal with the resulting unemployment is to provide a "universal high income" by mailing checks to everyone.
Mounting concerns about AI
Hanke has been skeptical of AI for a while, describing it to Business Insider in February as "overhyped and potentially dangerous."
Last fall, Hanke said the AI boom could falter if Big Tech companies failed to hit their numbers, and said it "might be wise to buckle your seat belt."
Mark Cuban, the former "Shark Tank" investor, and Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame warned this week about the massive scale of AI spending and Nvidia's key role in financing it, underlining Hanke's concern about how much the technology costs.
Cuban said it was "truly scary" how central Nvidia is to the AI boom, and cautioned it "all could crumble" if the chipmaker gets outcompeted or makes a mistake.
Burry said Nvidia was "overreaching" in its campaign to strike deals with customers to support its chip sales, and its efforts threatened to "push the circular spending to biblical proportions."
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Theron Mohamed
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Theron Mohamed is a London-based correspondent on the Trending team at Business Insider. His coverage spans finance, investing, wealth, markets, and the economy.Theron joined BI in 2019 as a reporter at Markets Insider and rose to the rank of correspondent before moving to the Trending team in 2024. He previously covered tech, media, and telecom stocks for Investors Chronicle magazine and had a brief stint on the Financial Times' Data team. He interned at the Wall Street Journal in New York where he primarily wrote for Heard on the Street.Theron has freelanced for The Independent, The Telegraph, WIRED, and several smaller publications. He holds an undergraduate degree in geography from the London School of Economics, and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.Theron often covers Warren Buffett, Michael Burry, Jeremy Grantham and other top-flight investors. He also writes about the world's wealthiest people and shares financial advice from all manner of rich and successful people.Email Theron at [email protected] and follow him on X @theron_mohamed.Expertise
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GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 3: (UK OUT) Tom Holland is seen on the set of 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' on August 3, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by MEGA/GC Images)
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GC Images
Spider-Man: Brand New Day gathers steam four years after the events of previous instalment No Way Home, which means there is a decade of Peter Parker’s life you need to understand before walking into the cinema. For non-MCU fans, that might seem like a mountain you’d rather not climb, but let me assure you, this movie is worth watching. Plus, you really don’t need to watch the entire MCU (that might take months, no joke).
So if you haven’t caught the film yet because you’re dreading the homework, grab the popcorn and settle in. Here, in chronological MCU order, are both the specific and optional MCU properties that will give you the bare minimum you need to not lose yourself entirely during Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
1. Captain America: Civil War (2016) — OPTIONAL
Stream on: Disney+
This is where Tom Holland’s Peter Parker begins. A fifteen-year-old from Queens gets recruited by Tony Stark to fight Captain America’s faction of Avengers in an airport in Germany. He’s immediately wide-eyed, hyperverbal and very loveable.
2. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) — REQUIRED
Stream on: Disney+
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Peter’s first solo film establishes everything that will eventually come into play — the relationship with Tony Stark, Aunt May, his Queens neighbourhood, the chasm between wanting to be an Avenger and knowing your place is on the ground. This is Peter at his most hopeful, most naive. Brand New Day flashes back to this version of him, so this would give you an idea of who he used to be before he got…well, you’ll see.
3. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) — OPTIONAL
Stream on: Disney+
Peter’s appearance is brief but the scene on Titan is the one that told the world Tom Holland was the real thing. Beyond Peter, this film sets up some backstory for the Hulk — specifically that this is the last time you see Bruce Banner’s uncontrolled Hulk form before Brand New Day brings it back (this detail was in the trailer), and you might need this homework to understand why Bruce Banner would rather never see this version of himself ever again.
Avengers: Endgame (2019) — OPTIONAL
Stream on: Disney+
Peter Parker spends most of Endgame off-screen after being dusted by Thanos in Infinity War, which is why this is optional, but the film is still an important chapter in his story. It brings him back for the final battle against Thanos before the moment that bleeds into everything that follows — Tony Stark’s sacrifice. Far From Home is built around Peter grieving the loss of his mentor and trying to live up to his legacy, so while you can technically skip Endgame, watching it makes Peter’s emotional baggage in the next two Spider-Man film punch you in the face much harder.
4. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) — REQUIRED
Stream on: Disney+
Picks up immediately from Endgame and explains some of Peter’s emotional state for this one. Peter trying to have a normal holiday while grieving Tony, Mysterio’s deception, and the post-credits scene that blows Peter’s life apart — all of it feeds into where the new film finds him. You will not fully feel the four years of no friends and sad little flowers eating alone without this film.
5. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) — REQUIRED
Stream on: Disney+
The most essential film on this list. It’s also actually just the best one, so go ahead and watch it anyway. Brand New Day is the direct sequel to No Way Home’s ending, showing his relationship with Zendaya’s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds, their dreams for the future, and the eventual devastating decision he had to make. Spider-Man: Brand New Day flashes back to this film. There’s a bunch of scenes in the latest movie where the theatre goes entirely silent, but it will not hit as hard without this one. Do not skip this one. %!s()
Is Europe best represented by the bold intellect of Marie Curie, the sprawling imagination of Miguel de Cervantes and the intense musical genius of Ludwig van Beethoven? Or by a migrating stork and a bee-eater, swooping across borderless plains and enjoying freedom of movement across European countries?
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The quest to settle this issue has engaged a surprising number of people across the continent, after more than 6 million people voted in a survey within just a week of its launch to determine whether the newly redesigned euro bank notes should depict either cultural figures or birds and waterways.
The 10 proposals for a full redesign – the first since the single currency’s paper money entered circulation in 2002 – were unveiled by the chair of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, last week. They include five proposals on the culture theme and five on the wildlife theme.
Each offers a different graphic interpretation on colours and motifs for the €5, €10, €20, €50, €100 and €200 notes that were determined by the ECB in advance.
A €20 note design by studios Rubio & del Amo and Cruz más Cruz featuring Marie Curie. Photograph: ECB
Europe’s cultural life is represented on the front of the notes by the American-Greek soprano Maria Callas; the German composer Beethoven; the Polish-French scientist Curie; Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote; the Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci; and the Austrian pacifist and women’s liberation leader Bertha von Suttner, with public scenes of artistic and intellectual activity on the reverse.
The birds selected for the wildlife-themed notes are the wallcreeper, the kingfisher, the bee-eater, the white stork, the avocet and the northern gannet, over different landscapes typical of the continent.
A design by Isabelle Daëron featuring a wallcreeper. Photograph: ECB
Feedback from the survey on the ECB’s website, which closes on 21 September, will feed into but not solely determine which design the central bank choses as a winner at the end of 2026. A spokesperson said the outcome of a second, quantitative survey and the verdict of a jury of designers would also have a bearing on its choice. A combination of the two themes is not expected.
The new notes, which will continue to be printed on paper rather than polymer as in some countries such as the UK, will not come into circulation until 2030 or 2031.
The 10 shortlisted designs, picked from 1,241 applications to an open call in 2025, are all by creatives who don’t usually design bank notes, and some look radically different from paper money anywhere else around the globe.
One of Jan Robert Dünnweller’s proposed designs, with Leonardo da Vinci. Photograph: ECB
In the French artist Isabelle Daëron’s proposals, the birds are flying across a vertical layout rather than the more conventional horizontal one, as are those of Ville Tietäväinen, a Finnish graphic designer who has depicted the bird’s journeys in sequence, progressively moving from the mountains to the sea.
One of Ville Tietäväinen’s designs, featuring an illustration of an avocet. Photograph: ECB
Philippe Geoffroy, the head of section for new banknotes at the ECB, said: “The feedback from the public has been very clear. They want money that feels European.”
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In Britain, the Bank of England drew some ire earlier this year when it announced that redesigned notes would depict wildlife instead of historical figures such as Winston Churchill or William Shakespeare. To some commentators, the “apolitical” animal motifs epitomised the struggle to identify shared cultural rallying points in politically polarising times.
The new euro notes seem to take a step in the opposite direction. Until now, euro banknotes have deliberately depicted “neutral” motifs in order to avoid offending individual member nations: imaginary bridges, doorways and windows that exemplify historic architectural styles without depicting specific real-life European buildings or places.
New notes including the face of the mythological princess Europe in the watermark and the hologram stripe were introduced in 2013 without changing the overall design.
Yet while the current redesign is similarly motivated by the need for new security features, the EU is also not letting an opportunity for identity-building go to waste.
“The main reason behind the re-design is to stay well ahead of counterfeiting,” Geoffroy said. “But along the way we want to increase identification with the single currency and make it more graphically meaningful. We want to move away from neutrality.”
The lineup of cultural icons is not only finely balanced to represent different corners of the eurozone (albeit with a glaring hole in the Baltics). It also showcases artists and thinkers who cannot be claimed by just one country, either because their work transcended borders or because of their migratory biography.
Callas was born in New York but her career flourished in Greece and Italy. The career of Curie, who discovered radium and polonium with her husband, Pierre, spanned Warsaw and Paris. Von Suttner spent time in Prague, Tbilisi and Vienna.
While none of the birds that would be depicted on the wildlife notes are exclusively found in Europe, they would be paired on their flipside with pictures of buildings that house the EU’s political, legal and financial institutions in Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Frankfurt. %!s()
