Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Trump announces 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports
President Donald Trump has ordered a 25% import tax on all steel and aluminium entering the US in a major expansion of existing trade barriers. The tariffs, which will increase the costs of importing the metals into the US, come despite warnings of retaliation from some political leaders in Canada – America’s biggest supplier of…
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Some Ghanaians join the fight against the military
Ed Butler BBC World Service Reporting fromTamale, Ghana AFP Burkina Faso’s military is struggling to defeat jihadists who have taken control of much territory Three Ghanaians have told the BBC of their involvement in the fighting between Islamist insurgents and the military in neighbouring Burkina Faso, describing scenes of sometimes indiscriminate violence and bloody battles.…
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Lawyer in Saudi trans student’s suicide note had embassy links
Katy Ling BBC Eye Investigations X Eden Knight took her own life in 2023 after returning to Saudi Arabia with lawyer Bader Alomair When a prominent Saudi trans woman posted her suicide note on X, her friends and followers were devastated. The note, viewed by millions, said a lawyer in the US – where she…
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US justice department tells prosecutors to drop Eric Adams case
The US justice department has told prosecutors to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. In a memo seen by the BBC’s US news partner CBS, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, instructed federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to end the…
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Aftershocks hit Santorini and surrounding islands
Santorini has been hit by a powerful, shallow 5.3 magnitude earthquake, which is the strongest to strike the Greek island during recent seismic activity in the area. The tremors were felt in Athens on Monday evening and measured a focal depth of 17km (10.6 miles). Residents of the neighbouring island Amorgos remain on high alert…
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Ecuador election ends in a ‘tie’ prompting run-off in April
Ione Wells South America correspondent Reuters Daniel Noboa and Luisa González will face off in the second round in April Ecuador’s presidential election will go to a second round after a closely contested first-round result failed to produce an outright winner. The electoral authorities called it a “technical tie” after the incumbent centre-right candidate, Daniel…
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Macron’s deepfakes raise questions over AI use
French President Emmanuel Macron has used AI-generated deepfake videos to publicise the start of the AI Action Summit taking place in Paris. In a video posted on his social media accounts, Macron reacts to a montage of deepfaked videos of himself in popular films and TV series by saying “nicely done”. Videos of Macron inserted…
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Saudi PhD student freed after being jailed over posts, activists say
A Saudi PhD student at the University of Leeds has been released from prison in Saudi Arabia after her sentence over critical social media activity was reduced, activists have said. Salma al-Shehab, a 36-year-old mother of two, was arrested in 2021 while on holiday in the Gulf kingdom. She was later jailed by a terrorism…
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Pink flamingos ‘seized from smugglers’ in Tunisia
Ten endangered flamingos have been saved after smugglers were caught trying to traffic them out of Tunisia, according to the country’s customs body. Photos of the birds crammed into crates with their wings, legs and torsos bound up were posted by the force online. The flamingos were rescued close to the Algerian border on Sunday,…
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South Africa mourns pioneering female nuclear scientist
South Africa’s first black female nuclear scientist, Senamile Masango, a trailblazer who set out to inspire young women, has died aged 37, the government has confirmed. Ms Masango, dubbed “the queen of science” by some in South Africa, passed away on Sunday. The cause of her death is unknown. Headstrong and ambitious, she “was a…
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