Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Israel receives two bodies Hamas says are dead hostages
Israel has received two bodies that Hamas says are two more deceased hostages who had been held in Gaza. The Israeli military said two coffins were handed over to troops in the Palestinian territory by the Red Cross, which had earlier received them from Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the coffins – which…
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Giant pumpkins hit the water for rowing race in Oregon
The gourd, the bad, and the ugly set sail in Oregon at the state’s annual pumpkin regatta in Tualatin. Hosted since 2004, the rowing race sees competitors dress up as characters from Elvis or a hot dog, to Guy Fieri and a UPS delivery man, and take to the water in a pumpkin they have…
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs says he plans to appeal sentence and conviction
He also issued Combs a $500,000 (£374,000) fine and five years of probation. Combs had asked for a 14-month sentence that would have seen him released soon after the trial ended due to time spent in jail while awaiting trial, but prosecutors sought more than 11 years. At his sentencing hearing in September, Combs told…
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Chernihiv in total blackout after ‘massive’ Russian assault
Reuters Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, leading to frequent blackouts The Ukrainian city of Chernihiv is in total blackout following what the authorities describe as a “massive” assault by Russian missiles and drones, with hundreds of thousands of people affected. Across the wider Chernihiv region, four people are reported to have…
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Plans for Trump-Putin meeting shelved days after Budapest talks proposed
There are “no plans” for US President Donald Trump to meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin “in the immediate future”, a White House official has stated. Last Thursday Trump said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine. A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State…
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Israel’s ‘yellow line’ in Gaza gives Netanyahu room for manoeuvre
Under Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, the “yellow line” – which Israel withdrew to earlier this month – is the first of three stages of Israeli military withdrawal. It leaves it in control of about 53% of the Gaza Strip. One Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, referred to it as “effectively the new border” in…
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Europe’s leaders back Trump call for frontline freeze but Russia says no
European leaders have joined Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in insisting that any talks on ending the war in Ukraine should start with freezing the current front line, and warned that Russia is not serious about peace. In a statement signed by 11 leaders including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, they said they “strongly support” US President…
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A historic moment with caveats
Shaimaa KhalilJapan correspondent Reuters Sanae Takaichi has made it to the top in a male-dominated country For many young girls in Japan today, the image of Sanae Takaichi taking the helm of power as the country’s first ever female leader is powerful and formative. It means a patriarchal society and a political system that has…
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A ‘big moment’ for France as Sarkozy jailed
Nicolas Sarkozy has become the first French ex-president to go to jail, as he starts a five-year sentence for conspiring to fund his election campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Sarkozy, who was president from 2007-2012, has appealed against his jail term at La Santé prison, where he will occupy a small…
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Slovak PM Fico’s attacker sentenced to 21 years in prison
A man who shot and seriously injured the Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico in an attack last year has been sentenced to 21 years in prison after being found guilty of terrorism. Juraj Cintula, a 72-year-old pensioner, fired five shots at the prime minister in May 2024 when he was on a visit to Handlova,…
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