Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Watch moments from the Menendez brothers trial in 1993
Erik and Lyle Menendez, who have spent more than 30 years in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents, are making their case for parole this week. The brothers will appear separately before the state parole board in California. In 1996, the pair was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole…
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Sony raises PlayStation 5 prices in US as tariff fears persist
Sony is PlayStation 5 gaming consoles in the US will jump by around $50 (£37.16) from Thursday as the Japanese technology giant grapples with rising costs and a slowing video game market. Like many global businesses, the firm faces a “challenging economic environment”, Isabelle Tomatis, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s vice president of global marketing said in…
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Saving China’s finless porpoise from the brink of extinction
Stephen McDonell China correspondent Watch: Endangered porpoises at the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, China Chinese scientists are in a battle to save one of the last large animal species living in the Yangtze River – and a complete ban on fishing in the region is helping them. At the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan,…
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A fierce war of words keeps the two countries on edge
Jonathan Head South East Asia correspondent in Bangkok Getty Images A fragile ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia has held even as they trade fresh accusations every day The guns along the forested Thai-Cambodian border have been silent for three weeks now. But a fierce war of words is still being waged by both countries, as…
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Texas house votes to approve Republican redistricting maps
BBC Texas legislators have approved new congressional maps meant to give Republicans an edge in next year’s elections for the US House of Representatives. After a two-week standoff, where Democrats fled the state to stall the vote and rally supporters against the redistricting plans, Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives passed the new voting…
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Israel approves controversial E1 settlement plans in West Bank
Reuters Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the plans for 3,400 homes in the E1 area last week Israel has given final approval for a controversial settlement project that would effectively cut off the occupied West Bank from East Jerusalem and divide the territory in two. Construction in the E1 area has been frozen for…
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Tulsi Gabbard revokes security clearances for 37 US intelligence officials
President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former US officials, accusing them of politicising intelligence for partisan or personal gain. In a memo posted on social media, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard directed several national security agency heads to immediately strip the officials of their clearances, stating the…
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Israeli military says first stages of assault on Gaza City have begun
The Israeli military says it has begun the “preliminary actions” of a planned ground offensive to capture and occupy all of Gaza City and already has a hold on its outskirts. A military spokesman said troops were already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabalia areas to lay the groundwork for the offensive, which Defence Minister…
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Oregon firefighters race to save one of the world’s tallest trees
Firefighters in Oregon are racing to save the Doerner Fir – one of the world’s tallest and oldest trees – from a fire that has been burning since Saturday. The giant fir, more than 325ft (99m) tall and estimated to be over 450 years old, has already lost about 50ft to the blaze, which may…
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Denmark scraps book tax to combat “reading crisis”
The Danish government has announced it will abolish a 25% sales tax on books, in an effort to combat a “reading crisis”. The tax is is one of the highest in the world. Culture Minister Jacob Engel-Schmidt says he hopes scrapping it will lead to more books flying off the shelves. The measure is expected…
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