Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Nadine YousifSenior Canada reporter and Bernd Debusmann JrReporting from the White House Getty Images Carney’s visit to Washington on Tuesday is his second since May and has been billed a “working visit” focused on issues like trade and security Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to Washington for his second visit this year –…

The committee which organised Syria’s first parliamentary elections since the fall of Bashar al-Assad has acknowledged “significant shortcomings”, after results showed only 13% of the seats contested were won by female and minority candidates. Observers said six women and 10 members of religious and ethnic minorities were among the 119 people elected to the new…

Tom BennettJerusalem, Alice CuddyTel Aviv, Yolande KnellRe’im and Rushdi AbualoufGaza correspondent AFP via Getty Images Some paid their respects at the site of the Nova Music Festival, where more than 370 people were killed and dozens more taken back to Gaza as hostages Israelis have gathered across the country to mark two years since the…

Anthony ZurcherNorth America correspondent Watch: Key moments from Pam Bondi’s tense Senate hearing Pam Bondi’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee was expected to be a contentious, partisan affair. It lived up to that billing. It was the attorney general’s first appearance at a congressional oversight hearing – and it was a timely one. Two…

A newly-elected mayor in western Germany has been stabbed and left critically injured near her home, police say. Iris Stalzer, 57, is a member of the centre-left Social Democratic party (SPD) and became the mayor of Herdecke in the North-Rhine Westphalia state in September. Local police say a major operation is under way in the…

Stephen McDonellChina correspondent Reuters A total of 580 hikers who were trapped by severe weather near Mount Everest have been guided to safety in Tibet, according to Chinese state media. The trekkers arrived in the small township of Qudang and surrounding areas, along with 300 local guides, yak handlers and other support staff, CCTV reported…

Two Austrian women, who were switched at birth at a hospital in the southern city of Graz have finally met each other 35 years later. Doris Grünwald and Jessica Baumgartner were born at the LKH-Uniklinikum in Graz in October 1990, according to Austrian reports. Both were premature. Shortly after they were born, the two babies…

Paul KirbyEurope digital editor and Laura Gozzi Reuters After eight years in office, Emmanuel Macron’s position as president is coming under increasing pressure as France’s political crisis escalates. Macron once called himself maître des horloges – master of the clocks – but his command of timing is not what it was. For the third time…

Jeremy Bowen International editor, Jerusalem Anadolu via Getty Images Israel’s devastating military response to the 7 October attacks has destroyed most of Gaza After two years of war, there is a chance of a deal that will end the killing and destruction in Gaza and return the Israeli hostages, living and dead, to their families.…

Emmanuel Macron should name a prime minister to push through a budget and then call early presidential elections to solve France’s political crisis, his first prime minister has said. Édouard Philippe’s comments come after France’s third prime minister in a year, Sébastien Lecornu, resigned on Monday after his bid to form a government fell apart.…