Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

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…

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,…

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…

Nadine Yousif BBC News in Mayville, New York Sir Salman Rushdie on the stabbing attack The trial of a man who allegedly stabbed renowned British-Indian author Sir Salman Rushdie multiple times in 2022, leaving him blind in one eye, began on Monday in upstate New York. Hadi Matar, a 27-year-old man from New Jersey, is…

PA Media Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has resigned following pressure for him to step down ahead of a re-run of a presidential election that was controversially cancelled last year. The December vote was voided by Romania’s top court after allegations of Russian state meddling. The outgoing Iohannis, a pro-EU liberal, had said he would stay…

AFP Most of Gaza’s population has been displaced multiple times during the war President Donald Trump has said he is “committed to buying and owning” the Gaza Strip and relocating the two million Palestinians living there, despite global condemnation of the plan he unveiled last week. He told reporters that he might allow Middle East…

British pop star Ed Sheeran was stopped from busking in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru on Sunday, with police saying he didn’t have the necessary permissions. A video showing a local police officer unplugging Sheeran’s microphone on Bengaluru’s Church Street – a crowded shopping and entertainment area – has since gone viral. Officials told…

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti has claimed victory for his party in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, although partial results suggest he is short of a majority. Kurti’s ruling Vetevendosje party has about 41% of the votes with 88% counted. He gained 50% in 2021. He said he was confident he would be able to form a…

A nationwide blackout in Sri Lanka has been blamed on a monkey that intruded into a power station south of Colombo. Power is gradually being restored across the island nation of 22 million people, with medical facilities and water purification plants being given priority. “A monkey has come in contact with our grid transformer, causing…