Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Aerial footage shows devastation after blast at explosives manufacturer in Tennessee Eighteen people are missing after a blast at a military explosives manufacturing facility in Tennessee on Friday. Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said one person initially believed to be on site had been located at home. Four or five people were taken to a…

Watch: Video from Veracruz state shows widespread devastation At least 27 people have died and others are missing, according to authorities, after floods in Mexico triggered landslides and swept away homes, vehicles and bridges. Heavy rainfall on Thursday and Friday caused rivers to burst their banks. Hidalgo in east Mexico was one of the worst…

First Lady Melania Trump says Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to her letter of concern about the child victims of the Russia-Ukraine war. She made the announcement on Friday, saying that after an “open channel of communication” with Putin, Ukranian children displaced in the war had been reunited with families. The First Lady’s “peace letter”…

Paul Njie BBC Africa, Yaoundé AFP/Getty Images The world’s oldest head of state – 92-year-old Paul Biya – has promised Cameroon’s electorate “the best is still to come” as he seeks his eighth consecutive presidential term on Sunday. The nonagenarian has already been in power since 1982 – another seven-year mandate could see him rule…

Kayla Epstein and Nardine Saad Getty Images Donald Trump’s budget chief Russell Vought The Trump administration has begun laying off thousands of federal workers in an effort to pressure Democrats amid the ongoing government shutdown. “The RIFs have begun,” White House Office of Management Director Russell Vought announced in a post on X on Friday…

Bernd Debusmann Jrat the White House Reuters All smiles – Stubb and Trump There was no small talk required to break the ice between these two leaders who have become unlikely friends. Instead, it was real ice breakers – 9,000-tonne hulking ships – that sealed a deal between Donald Trump and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb,…

The Atacama desert in Chile sits long and lean, sandwiched between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The desert’s extreme aridity makes it one of the clearest places on Earth to view the night sky and is famous for being home to the largest radio telescope in the world. But the usually barren landscape…

Stuart Lau and Danny AeberhardBBC World Service Europe editor Bloomberg via Getty Images A Danish warship off Nuuk, Greenland (April 2025) Denmark has announced $4.2bn (£3.2bn) of extra defence spending to boost security in Greenland and the Arctic and North Atlantic regions. It will also spend $4.5bn buying 16 more F-35 fighter jets from the…

Anahita SachdevBBC News, Delhi Saffronart VS Gaitonde’s Untitled fetched $40.2m at a recent record-breaking auction in Delhi A radiant golden canvas layered with subtle textures and faint shapes, exuding both energy and tranquillity. This untitled 1971 painting by Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde headlined a record-breaking recent Saffronart auction in Delhi, which fetched $40.2m (£29.9m) – the…

Kayla Epsteinin New York City and Leire VentasBBC News Mundo Getty Images Monica Moreta Galarza was thrown to the ground when her husband was arrested outside immigration court in New York City Monica Moreta Galarza felt relieved after her husband’s routine immigration hearing at New York City’s 26 Federal Plaza. A judge had ordered Rubén…