Technologies

Greece’s fires: Causes, casualties and everything you need to know

It was the hottest summer in Greece since 1987.

Amid its fiercest heatwave in 30 years, Greece is facing a «natural disaster of unprecedented proportions.» Those are the words of the country’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who said in an address to the nation on Monday that firefighters had battled over 580 fires.

With the blazes well into their second week, at least two people have died, around 10% of the country’s forests have been burned, and the international community is sending supplies. «We may have done what was humanly possible, but sometimes that wasn’t enough in the uneven battle with nature,» Mitsotakis said Monday night.

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Confronting imagery of the flames has spread across social media, showing alarming scenes similar to catastrophic fires seen in Australia and California. It comes less than a month after floods devastated central Europe, and as Siberia, Turkey and Italy too battle intense wildfires.

The wildfires are thought to be a product of climate change, with extreme weather events made more likely by Earth’s warming atmosphere. On Monday the International Panel on Climate Change released its latest report, detailing the path humanity is charting to a potentially uninhabitable world.

When did the fire start?

The fires began in late July, in the city of Petras. As July turned to August, conflagrations occurred mainly in four more regions: Attica, Olympia, Messenia, and Evia. The fires in Attica and Evia are north and northeast of Athens — close enough for suburbs in Athens to literally feel the heat, with the blue summer sky now turned into a smoky grey — while the fires in Olympia and Messenia are in south western, more regional Greece.

The fires are blazing throughout much of the country, with Deputy Civil Protection Minister for Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias saying over 60 fires were active over the weekend. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said firefighters had battled over 560 fires in total.

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Despite the breadth of the wildfires, the northeast island of Evia is the epicenter. The national government has urged residents of Evia to evacuate their homes, though many have defied orders. Boats have been ferrying thousands of Evia residents to safer parts of the country.

With no end immediately in sight, the blazes have already proven to be an ecological disaster. An estimated 10-12% of the country’s forests have been burned, amounting to 93,000 hectares of damage. Two people have died in the fires, including a firefighter, and 20 have been injured.

What caused the fires?

Extreme heat. Greece has experienced a particularly hot European summer, said to be the most sustained heatwave since one in 1987 that killed over 1,000. The heatwave has also affected Italy and Turkey, with wildfires in the latter country having claimed eight lives already.

Potential arson is being investigated as a cause, with at least three people having been arrested for arson thus far. However, the heat conditions that allowed the blazes to spark and blaze are being blamed at least in part by climate change. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was unequivocal on the blaze’s cause: «If there are even few people who have reservations about whether climate change is real, I call on them to come here and see,» he said.

«We have seen devastating fires in Turkey and Greece amid an intense and long-lasting heatwave in the Mediterranean,» said World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. «Siberia — a region traditionally associated with permafrost — has once again seen huge wildfires after exceptional heatwaves, fires and low Arctic sea ice in 2020.»

«The harsh reality of climate change is playing out in real time before our very eyes.»

An IPCC report published Monday contained a staggering amount of data and evidence that human activity is causing the planet to warm, and our window to arrest the process is closing. The report provides the most up-to-date estimates on the increasing likelihood the climate will surpass a 1.5-degree Celsius level of warming in the next decades, and — as IPCC reports have since 1990 — it urges immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Is anyone helping Greece?

Thankfully, yes.

Over 20 countries have contributed to Greece’s battle against the wildfires. Firefighters have been sent by France, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Kuwait, Israel, Kuwait, Maldova, Romania, Qatar, Serbia, Slovakia, the UK and the Ukraine. Others, like Russia, Spain and the US have sent airplanes and other vehicles.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 29, #432

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 29, No. 432.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

It’s Rivalry Saturday, so Connections: Sports Edition gives a big game a nod with two caregories. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Fire it on in there.

Green group hint: Buckeyes.

Blue group hint: Wolverines.

Purple group hint: Not double.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Baseball pitching feats.

Green group: Associated with Ohio State.

Blue group: Associated with Michigan.

Purple group: Triple ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is baseball pitching feats. The four answers are immaculate inning, no-hitter, perfect game and shutout.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Ohio State. The four answers are dotting the I, gray, scarlet and The Horseshoe.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Michigan. The four answers are blue, Hail to the Victors, maize and The Big House.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is triple ____. The four answers are A, crown, double and play.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Nov. 29

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 29.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s Saturday, so it’s a long one. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Hockey disks
Answer: PUCKS

6A clue: Signature headwear for Mr. Monopoly
Answer: TOPHAT

7A clue: Seedy establishment?
Answer: NURSERY

8A clue: Bioweapon at the center of a 2001 envelope scare
Answer: ANTHRAX

9A clue: Cleverly skillful
Answer: ADROIT

10A clue: Sleeping enclosure for a pet dog
Answer: CRATE

11A clue: Picks up the tab
Answer: PAYS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Play, as a film character
Answer: PORTRAY

2D clue: Ultimate consequences
Answer: UPSHOTS

3D clue: Sweetheart, in French
Answer: CHERIE

4D clue: 24-___ gold
Answer: KARAT

5D clue: River in which Achilles was dipped (except for his heel!)
Answer: STYX

6D clue: Frozen landscape
Answer: TUNDRA

7D clue: Civil rights org. co-founded by W.E.B. Du Bois
Answer: NAACP

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Technologies

Repair Your Electronics at Home With This Rare Black Friday Discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go Toolkit

This toolkit rarely goes on sale, so take advantage of this opportunity to snag it for only $40.

While Black Friday is an excellent time to replace old smartphones or broken laptops at a discount, not everyone is looking to splurge on new tech right now. If you’re shopping on a budget, or simply like the devices that you have and aren’t ready for an upgrade, investing in an electronics repair kit may be a wise option. We’ve spotted a discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go tech toolkit, bringing its price down to just $40. But don’t delay, Black Friday is in its final hours and this kit rarely goes on sale.

The iFixit Pro Tech Go kit can be used to open up and repair a wide range of electronics, including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, and smart home devices for DIY repairs like battery or screen replacements. The kit has a 32-bit Moray driver kit, an opening tool, a suction handle, a jimmy, a spudger and angled tweezer to carefully open your devices.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Repairing your own tech can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. It also reduces e-waste by helping your devices last longer rather than throwing them away over minor issue. As of this year, all 50 states have introduced right-to-repair legislation designed to give people a legal right to fix their own tech, and several states have already signed it into law.

You can check out more deals from iFixIt now on Amazon. Plus, for other budget buys, check out our roundup of the best Black Friday deals under $100.

MOBILE DEALS OF THE WEEK

iPhone 17 Pro on Us With Any Condition Trade-in and Qualifying Plan
Google Pixel 10 Pro 128GB Unlocked Phone (Obsidian):

$749 (save $250)
Samsung Galaxy S25 FE 128GB Unlocked Phone (JetBlack):

$475 (save $175)
Google Pixel 9 128GB Unlocked Phone (Obsidian):

$499 (save $300)
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 256GB Unlocked AI Phone (Titanium Black):

$900 (save $400)

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

This is a record low price on a repair kit that rarely goes on sale. While we did see a modest discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go toolkit during Amazon Prime Day in July, it was not marked down for October Prime Day or other sales such as Memorial Day or Labor Day. As such, it’s fairly unlikely that we’ll see it go on sale again this season, so this might be your last chance to get the toolkit for only $40.

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