Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Norway has paused its controversial project to open up its seabed for commercial-scale deep-sea mining. Oslo had planned to let companies apply to mine 280,000 sq km (108,000 sq miles) of its waters for precious metals – an area bigger than the size of the UK. The move was blocked after the country’s Socialist Left…

Joe Biden had repeatedly denied that he was going to pardon his son Hunter for his gun and tax evasion convictions or commute what was shaping up to be a substantive prison sentence. On the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving – at a moment when the American public’s attention was decidedly elsewhere – he announced he…

Lyse Doucet / BBC No one lives in the ghostly outskirts of El Geneina anymore. But its empty buildings still stand to tell their shocking stories, loudly and clearly. Charred homes and shops are peppered with bullet holes. Doors are wrecked. Metal shutters are smashed. Rusting Sudanese army tanks dot the streets. You can still…

Dozens of people have died in a crush following clashes at a football match in Guinea’s second-largest city, N’zérékoré, local media report. Prime Minister Mamadou Oury Bah said a stampede at the event led to a number of victims on Sunday and called for calm. One doctor, who did not want to be named, told…

Reuters Kizza Besigye says he should not be tried in a military tribunal as he is a civilian The mysterious detention of Uganda’s opposition leader Kizza Besigye while on a visit to Kenya nearly two weeks ago has sparked widespread condemnation and fears of a clandestine exchange of intelligence between the two neighbours. Besigye’s allies…

The boss of car making giant Stellantis – which owns brands including Chrysler, Vauxhall, Jeep, Fiat and Peugeot – has stepped down with immediate effect. Carlos Tavares’ abrupt exit comes two months after Stellantis issued a profit warning. Last week, the firm also announced plans to close its Vauxhall van making factory in Luton, putting…

US President Joe Biden has issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who was facing sentencing for two criminal cases. In a statement, the president said his son had been “singled out”, and called his cases “a miscarriage of justice.” “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the…

Two men have died as torrential rains and gale-force winds cause flooding and damage across Greece. More than 30cm of rain was reported to have fallen on the island of Rhodes – one of the first areas to be impacted by Storm Bora – since Saturday. The deaths occurred on the island of Lemnos where…

Protesters have been out in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, for a fourth night after the country’s bid to join the European Union was put on hold by the ruling party, Georgian Dream. Fireworks were shot towards riot police on the steps of parliament and a water cannon was fired at demonstrators. The country’s pro-Western president,…

Getty Images The reignited war in Syria is the latest fallout from the turmoil that has gripped the Middle East since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October last year. The attacks, and Israel’s response, upended the status quo. Events in Syria in the last few days are more proof that the war gripping…