Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

France’s political crisis is worse than normal political crises. Normally when a democratic country passes through turbulence, there is some prospect of the turbulence coming to an end. Not today in Paris. If anything, the downfall of Michel Barnier – toppled in parliament by a no-confidence motion – threatens to set a pattern for what…

EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Police have offered a $10,000 (£7,800) reward for information leading to the suspect. New York City police officers are using facial recognition technology and a discarded cell phone to identify the man who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson Wednesday morning. Thompson, 50, was fatally shot in the back just before 07:00…

Getty Images Drug-resistant infections are most prevalent in critical care units Antibiotics are hailed as medical saviours. But they are increasingly facing a crafty adversary: bacteria that mutate and adapt and outwit the very drugs designed to defeat them and cure the infections they cause. These antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” directly caused 1.14 million deaths worldwide in…

Getty The price of Bitcoin has for the first time broken past the $100,000 mark, hitting a new record high. The value of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency has been boosted by hopes US President-elect Donald Trump will adopt crypto-friendly policies. The milestone was reached hours after Trump said he would nominate former Securities and Exchange…

AFP Namibia’s governing party, Swapo, has retained its hold on power after more than 30 years, however its grip has been loosened – the latest African country where incumbents have had a difficult time this year. According to official results, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the Swapo candidate, won the presidential election with 57% of the vote, becoming…

Vilma Larsson Vilma Larsson, a stay-at-home-girlfriend, gets spending money from her boyfriend Sweden has a global reputation for championing gender equality, so why are young women embracing a social media trend that celebrates quitting work? Vilma Larsson, 25, previously had jobs in a grocery store, a care home and a factory. But she quit work…

Authorities in Romania have revealed details of what appears to be a major attempt to interfere in the country’s presidential elections using the social media platform TikTok, and with a series of cyber-attacks. Romania’s domestic intelligence service says there are signs the effort was “co-ordinated by a state-sponsored actor”. Calin Georgescu, a far-right Nato-sceptic who…

The French government has collapsed after Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted in a no-confidence vote. MPs voted overwhelmingly in support of the motion against him – just three months after he was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron. Opposition parties had tabled the motion after the former Brexit negotiator controversially used special powers to force…

Reuters French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has lost a no-confidence vote France’s government has toppled, after opposition parties in the French parliament backed a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who used special powers to force through a social security budget on Monday. That the country is in turmoil – political and economic…

Police in the Canadian city of Vancouver say “a number of people” have been stabbed and the suspect has been shot by officers. It is unclear how many people were stabbed or their condition. Witnesses told Canadian media outlets that the incident took place at a convenience store near Vancouver’s central library. Police have not…