Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Getty Images Rare earths are notoriously difficult to extract and refine Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese has pledged to invest A$1.2bn (£580m) in a strategic reserve for critical minerals if he wins next month’s election, as trade tensions escalate. The announcement came after China imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements, essential to the…

A Dutch town hall has admitted that it “most likely” accidentally disposed of 46 artworks, including an Andy Warhol print of the former Dutch queen, during renovation works last year. Maashorst municipality said the works, including a 1980s silkscreen print of Queen Beatrix worth about €15,000 (£12,800), disappeared during work on a town hall last…

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump have met in Rome ahead of Pope Francis’ funeral. Officials from both parties confirmed the meeting had taken place, with the White House describing it as “very productive”. No further details on the discussion have been released. Trump and Zelensky are attending the service in Vatican…

Namibia’s new president has announced that university fees will be scrapped from 2026. President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the country’s first female president, made the announcement during her maiden state of the nation address on Thursday evening. Addressing lawmakers, Nandi-Ndaitwah said that students would pay “no registration [or] tuition fees” at all public universities and technical colleges.…

Lucy Gilder, Jake Horton and the Data Science team BBC Verify BBC Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) – set up to cut US government spending – claims to have saved, on average, more than $10bn a week since President Trump entered office. “We’re talking about almost $200bn and rising fast,” Trump told the…

Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse, has died by suicide aged 41, her family has said. Ms Giuffre was one of the most outspoken accusers of convicted sex offenders Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend. She alleged they trafficked her to the Duke of York when she was…

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed an agreement to respect each other’s sovereignty and come up with a draft peace deal by 2 May. The deal was signed by the two countries’ foreign ministers in Washington, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also present at Friday’s ceremony. Hundreds of thousands of…

Santiago Vanegas BBC News Mundo José Ignacio Bergoglio José Ignacio with his uncle, Jorge Mario To his family, Pope Francis was simply “Jorge Mario” – even during the 12 years that he was pontiff. “When Jorge decided to accept the papacy, he understood his life as he knew it would change forever, and so did…

Six police officers have been killed in Thailand after their plane crashed into the sea during a test flight for parachute training, police have said. The small plane was seen crashing into the water at around 08:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Friday in the Cha-am district, a coastal resort area some 130km (80 miles)…

BBC News correspondent Maryam Moshiri explains why the late Pope Francis won’t be buried in the Vatican, breaking a 100-year-old tradition. Instead, on Saturday he will be buried at one of Rome’s four major basilicas and one of the oldest in the city – the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Source link