Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • BBC returns to Gaza baby left hungry by Israeli blockade

    BBC returns to Gaza baby left hungry by Israeli blockade

    Fergal Keane Special correspondent Warning: Upsetting content There is no excitement as the camera passes. The children barely glance. What can surprise a child who lives among the dead, the dying, the waiting to die? Hunger has worn them down. They wait in queues for scant rations or for none at all. They have grown…

  • EU wants to move ‘swiftly’ on US trade deal, chief says

    EU wants to move ‘swiftly’ on US trade deal, chief says

    The EU’s chief has said she is ready to move “swiftly” to agree a trade deal with the United States, and has held a “good call” with US President Donald Trump following his threat of 50% tariffs on the bloc. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said she spoke with Trump on…

  • Iran summons French envoy in diplomatic row over ‘insulting’ Cannes remarks

    Iran summons French envoy in diplomatic row over ‘insulting’ Cannes remarks

    Iran summoned France’s envoy in Tehran to protest against “insulting” remarks made by the French foreign minister after an Iranian filmmaker won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Iranian director Jafar Panahi won the prestigious Palme d’Or for his film It Was Just an Accident on Saturday, a political drama inspired by his…

  • Americans remember George Floyd on fifth anniversary of his death

    Americans remember George Floyd on fifth anniversary of his death

    Reuters Family members of George Floyd gathered this weekend as friends and community members paid their respects at a memorial site for Floyd Americans across the country are remembering George Floyd five years after he was killed by police, with special gatherings in the city where he grew up and the one where he died.…

  • Father of nine children killed by Israeli strike in Gaza still in critical condition

    Father of nine children killed by Israeli strike in Gaza still in critical condition

    Getty Images Dr Alaa al-Najjar (2nd L) at her husband’s bedside in Nasser hospital The husband of a Palestinian doctor in Gaza whose children were killed in an Israeli strike on Friday remains in critical condition, according to the hospital treating him. Hamdi al-Najjar’s “life remains in danger”, Dr Milena Angelova-Chee, a Bulgarian doctor working…

  • Bodies of five skiers found near Switzerland’s Zermatt resort

    Bodies of five skiers found near Switzerland’s Zermatt resort

    The bodies of five skiers have been found by rescuers near Switzerland’s luxury Zermatt resort. They were recovered a day after emergency services were alerted by a group of climbers ascending the Rimpfischhorn – a 4,199-metre peak in the Valais Alps – to several pairs of skis left unattended near the summit. Aerial and ground…

  • Second suspected sabotage in France as power cut hits Nice

    Second suspected sabotage in France as power cut hits Nice

    A second power outage in two days his hit the French Riviera region after a fire at a substation in Nice overnight, which authorities said was caused by a malicious act. At least 45,000 homes were affected after the blaze broke out at around 02:00 local time (01:00 BST) on Sunday, a day after nearby…

  • Andriy Portnov’s murder leaves unanswered questions and little sympathy

    Andriy Portnov’s murder leaves unanswered questions and little sympathy

    James Waterhouse BBC Ukraine correspondent Europa Press via Getty Images Andriy Portnov’s murder in a Madrid suburb has shocked Ukrainians, but it has not exactly triggered an outpouring of grief. The controversial former official had just dropped his children off at the American School when he was shot several times in the car park. The…

  • Young US men joining ‘masculine’ Russian churches

    Young US men joining ‘masculine’ Russian churches

    BBC Father Moses McPherson’s congregation has tripled in size in 18 months, and he has a big following online “A lot of people ask me: ‘Father Moses, how can I increase my manliness to absurd levels?’” In a YouTube video, a priest is championing a form of virile, unapologetic masculinity. Skinny jeans, crossing your legs,…

  • Victims in French Le Scouarnec child abuse trial shocked at public indifference

    Victims in French Le Scouarnec child abuse trial shocked at public indifference

    Andrew Harding BBC Paris correspondent Getty Images Protesters outside the court in Vannes have turned out to show their support for Le Scouarnec’s victims It was supposed to be a defining, catalytic moment for French society. Horrific, but unmissable. Unignorable. The seaside town of Vannes, in southern Brittany, had carefully prepared a special venue and…

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