Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Before Hamas’s 7 October attack, around 650 lorries a day brought aid into Gaza. But now, more than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups have warned of mass starvation in Gaza. Israel has insisted there are no restrictions on aid deliveries and that there is “no starvation”. However, it has announced in recent…

Becky Morton Political reporter PM: UK will recognise Palestinian state unless conditions met The UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza”, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The PM said Israel must also meet other conditions, including agreeing to a ceasefire, committing to…

A new law in Brazil could cause “significant environmental harm and human rights violations”, and represents a “rollback for decades” of protections in Brazil, including for the Amazon, a UN expert has told BBC News. Plans to speed up approvals for development projects were criticised by Astrid Puentes Riaño, a UN special rapporteur, as the…

This is the moment a Spanish fighter jet was forced to perform an evasive manoeuvre during an air show in Gijon. Video footage shows the Spanish F-18 fighter flying at a low altitude, when it suddenly turns upside down – avoiding a flock of birds and hurtling towards the sea, before flying away. In a…

Four people have been killed in a shooting in the centre of New York City, after a lone shooter entered a high-rise building in Midtown Manhattan around 1830 ET on Monday. Among those killed was New York City police officer Didarul Islam, who was working security at the building at the time of the attack.…

The “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” in the Gaza Strip, UN-backed global food security experts warn. An alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) says there is mounting evidence that widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths among the 2.1 million Palestinians there. “Latest…

US singer Ciara has become one of the first public figures to be granted citizenship of Benin, under a new law offering nationality to the descendants of slaves. In an Instagram post the Grammy award-winner said she was “honoured”, adding “thank you Benin for opening your arms and your heart to me”. The citizenship scheme…

EPA Pope Leo XIV has told the Vatican’s first Mass for Catholic social media influencers that human dignity needs to be protected online as the world faces the “challenge” of artificial intelligence (AI). “Nothing that comes from man and his creativity should be used to undermine the dignity of others,” the Pope said in St…

CBS A gunman who killed four people when he stormed a skyscraper in the heart of New York on Monday evening left a note that appeared to blame the National Football League (NFL) for a brain injury, the city’s Mayor Eric Adams says. The attacker, 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, shot himself dead after…

Chris Riess and Amy Hill Joan Anderson, who coined the name for the hula hoop and played an unsung role in its rise, has died age 101. The former model was visiting her native Australia from her home in the US when she spotted groups of people swivelling wooden hoops around their waists. She was…