Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Sarah Rainsford, Paul Kirby & Olimpia Zagnat In Bucharest and London Andrei Pungovschi/Getty Images Nicusor Dan had to wait until late into the night before he could be certain of victory The liberal, pro-EU mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, has fought off a strong challenge from a Romanian right-wing nationalist to win the presidency after…

Austria’s new Eurovision Song Contest winner JJ returned home on Sunday 18 May to a warm welcome at Vienna’s Schwechat Airport after his victory in Basel. Fans, family, and media gathered and cheered as JJ smiled and posed for selfies. The 24-year-old, who is a counter tenor, took the title at the competition with the…

Adam Easton BBC Warsaw correspondent Reuters Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski was narrowly ahead of his conservative rival according to a poll released when voting ended Warsaw’s liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski won a narrow victory in Poland’s presidential election, according to an exit poll, but a second-round run-off with conservative historian Karol Nawrocki will be required…

Former US president Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, a statement from his office said on Sunday. Biden, 82, was diagnosed on Friday after he saw a doctor last week for urinary symptoms. The cancer is characterised by a Gleason score of 9 with metastasis to the bone, his office said, meaning it…

Authorities in New York are investigating the site where a Mexican sailing ship struck the Brooklyn Bridge for clues about how the fatal collision occurred. Two people on board were killed and at least 19 others were injured when the Mexican Navy training ship crashed into the bridge on Saturday night. Police said early investigations…

Danai Nesta Kupemba BBC News Reuters Residents survey the damage to their homes after a Russian drone strike on Saturday night on suburbs outside of Kyiv Ukraine says Russia has launched its biggest drone attack since the full-scale invasion began, targeting several regions including Kyiv, where one woman died. Russia had launched 273 drones by…

Pope Leo XIV has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following his inauguration Mass. Posting on Telegram after the meeting, Zelensky thanked the new Catholic leader for his “support for Ukraine” and “clear voice in defence of a just and lasting peace”. Addressing thousands in St Peter’s Square, the Pope used his inaugural mass to…

Leading Kenyan lawyer and the country’s former Justice Minister Martha Karua says she has been detained in Tanzania after flying in for the court appearance of opposition leader Tundu Lissu. Karua said in a social media post that she had been detained at the main international airport and was awaiting deportation, along with two colleagues…

Stephen McDonell China correspondent EPA Australian Matthew Radalj was held for five years in a Beijing detention centre, similar to the one pictured above in 2012 Sharing a dirty cell with a dozen others, constant sleep deprivation, cells with lights on 24-hours a day; poor hygiene and forced labour. These are some of what prisoners…

All three public hospitals in north Gaza have been put “out of service”, the Hamas-run health ministry has said, as Israel continues its offensive to seize areas of the territory. The ministry said on Sunday Israeli forces had besieged the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, “with heavy fire… preventing the arrival of patients, medical staff,…