Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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US confirms direct talks with Hamas over Gaza hostages
The US is holding talks with Hamas over the hostages held in Gaza, the White House has confirmed. Washington has until now avoided direct engagement with Hamas, and there is a longstanding US policy against having direct contact with groups it lists as terrorist organisations. The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at…
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Dozens feared dead in Sudan after attack on Abu Shouk market
Dozens of people in the Sudanese state of North Darfur are feared dead following heavy shelling on a camp for displaced people. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked a crowded market at Abu Shouk, a camp on the outskirts of the city of el-Fasher, for roughly two hours on Tuesday evening, a local official…
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Canada foreign minister takes Trump 51st state line ‘very seriously’
Trump’s Canada 51st state plan ‘is not a joke’, says foreign minister Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly has told the BBC she takes US President Donald Trump’s remarks on making Canada the 51st state of his country “very seriously”. “This is not a joke anymore,” Joly told Newsnight. “There’s a reason why Canadians, when they…
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Nine things about the country Donald Trump says ‘nobody has ever heard of’
Basillioh Rukanga BBC News AFP The Basotho people are well known for their traditional blankets US President Donald Trump has said that “nobody has ever heard of” the African country of Lesotho – a comment that has “shocked” its government. It is a small country in southern Africa that almost entirely consists of mountains and…
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Zelensky’s conciliatory letter to Trump suggests he’s run out of road
Whether Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to patch up relations with his US counterpart Donald Trump is wise depends on who you ask in Ukraine. “A very bad decision,” remarked blogger and army serviceman Yuriy Kasyanov, who thinks the US “won’t help Ukraine with anything” after this mineral deal is signed. “The president behaved with…
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China says it is ready for ‘any type of war’ with US
Laura Bicker BBC News, Beijing Reuters President Xi Jinping’s China faces the prospect of a trade war with Donald Trump’s US China has warned the US that it is ready to fight “any type” of war after hitting back against President Donald Trump’s mounting trade tariffs. The world’s top two economies have edged closer to…
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US and Israel reject Arab alternative to Trump’s Gaza reconstruction plan
Reuters The UN says more than 90% of homes in Gaza are destroyed or damaged The US and Israel have rejected an Arab plan for the post-war reconstruction of the Gaza Strip that would allow the 2.1 million Palestinians living there to stay in place. The proposal, endorsed by Arab leaders at a summit in…
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Germany’s Merz promises to do ‘whatever it takes’ on defence
Paul Kirby Europe digital editor RALF HIRSCHBERGER/AFP Friedrich Merz hopes to form a new government by late April Friedrich Merz, who’s expected to become Germany’s next chancellor, has announced a political deal to raise hundreds of billions of euros in extra spending on defence and infrastructure. “In view of the threats to our freedom and…
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Gaza food prices spike and shortages loom after Israel halts aid
Reuters Palestinian children in Gaza gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen Food prices in Gaza have spiked and aid food parcels could soon run out after Israel blocked the entry of humanitarian aid, the UN’s humanitarian agency said. OCHA’s partners reported that flour and vegetable prices more than doubled in some cases,…
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Children evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment
The first 29 of an estimated 2,000 children in need of medical treatment have arrived in Jordan from Gaza. Among the evacuees are war wounded and children suffering from diseases like cancer and rare blood conditions. Among them is six-month-old Niveen Abu Daqqa, who has a heart condition, and her mother Enas – she left…
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