Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A natural disaster has been declared in New South Wales, Australia, as widespread flooding has prompted nearly 50,000 people to evacuate. Footage captured in the Mid North Coast shows cattle displaced on beaches and trapped residents being airlifted from their homes to safety. One man has died and three are missing, with authorities expressing ‘grave…

Watch: ‘Turn the lights down’ – how the Trump-Ramaphosa meeting took an unexpected turn Donald Trump has proved to be the political Rottweiler of right-wing Afrikaner groups, taking their fight to South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa. They were quick to celebrate the US president’s ambush of Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, with the Solidarity Movement…

Canadian Prime Minister Markey Carney has said that “high level” talks are taking place with the US about joining its proposed “Golden Dome” missile defence system, aimed at countering futuristic threats. US President Donald Trump unveiled the plan for the new missile defence system on Tuesday, announcing an initial total cost of $25bn (£18.7bn). He…

AFP Médecins Sans Frontières says at least 20 medical facilities across Gaza have been damaged, or forced partially or completely out of service, in the past week Intensified Israeli ground operations and new evacuation orders are stretching Gaza’s health system beyond breaking point, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. Dr Tedros…

Naomi Scherbel-Ball BBC News, reporting from Jerusalem Watch: Crowds chant during Gaza anti-Hamas protests Palestinians have taken to the streets in southern Gaza for a third day to protest against Hamas. Hundreds of demonstrators were seen in videos posted on social media calling for an end to the war and for the removal of the…

As Israel’s war in Gaza enters a new, violent phase, a growing number of voices within the country are speaking out against it – and how it’s being fought. Yair Golan, a left-wing politician and former deputy commander of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), sparked outrage on Monday when he said: “Israel is on the…

A federal judge has said the deportation of eight men to South Sudan “unquestionably” violated his order that migrants must be allowed to challenge their removal to third countries. Judge Brian Murphy’s finding on Wednesday was the latest turn in a fast-evolving dispute. One day earlier, he ordered US authorities to keep custody of the…

Watch moment Trump confronts South Africa’s president with video US President Donald Trump has confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House with a video that the US president said supports his claim that white farmers are being “persecuted” in the country. The footage shown during a news conference with the South African…

US President Donald Trump confronted his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, over widely discredited claims of a white genocide in South Africa, during an Oval Office meeting on Wednesday. Mr Trump said that white farmers are “fleeing South Africa”, playing footage to the room showing people chanting “kill the Boer, kill the farmer”. Responding, Mr…

A number of countries have condemned the Israeli military’s actions after troops fired warning shots in the vicinity of a diplomatic delegation on a visit to the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military accused the group of straying from an approved route and said warning shots were fired into the air “to distance them away”.…