Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • South Korea accused of ‘mass exporting’ children in overseas adoptions

    South Korea accused of ‘mass exporting’ children in overseas adoptions

    Tessa Wong, Hosu Lee and Jean Mackenzie BBC News News1 The commission’s chairperson Park Sun-young (left) comforted adoptee Yooree Kim (right) during an emotionally charged press conference South Korean governments committed numerous human rights violations over decades in a controversial programme that sent at least 170,000 children and babies abroad for adoption, a landmark inquiry…

  • Russia says sanctions must be lifted before Ukraine maritime ceasefire can start

    Russia says sanctions must be lifted before Ukraine maritime ceasefire can start

    SPUTNIK/KRE/EPA-EFE A Russian navy vessel in the Black Sea (file photo) Russia has said some Western sanctions must be lifted before it begins a maritime ceasefire with Ukraine. Within hours of the US announcing the two sides had agreed to halt strikes in the Black Sea in separate deals, the Kremlin said it would only…

  • Mike Waltz takes ‘full responsibility’ for Signal group chat leak

    Mike Waltz takes ‘full responsibility’ for Signal group chat leak

    Reuters Mike Waltz says he doesn’t know the journalist who was added to group chat US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for a group chat in which high-ranking officials planned military strikes in Yemen in the company of a journalist who was inadvertently added. “I take full responsibility. I built the group,”…

  • Historic Buddhist temple burns in wildfire

    Historic Buddhist temple burns in wildfire

    Wildfires have been ravaging South Korea leaving at least 18 dead, 19 injured and thousands evacuated. The “unprecedented” crisis remains critical, according to acting president Han Duck-soo, who said the fires are “rewriting the record books for the worst wildfires in our nation’s history”. Several heritage cultural sites, including the Unramsa temple, have been affected…

  • US drops bounties on key Taliban leaders

    US drops bounties on key Taliban leaders

    The US has removed millions of dollars in bounties from senior members of the Haqqani militant network in Afghanistan, including one on its leader Sirajuddin Haqqani who is also the Taliban government’s interior minister. It is a significant move given that the Haqqani network is accused of carrying out some of the most high-profile and…

  • UN fears civil war as barrel bombs dropped in Upper Nile

    UN fears civil war as barrel bombs dropped in Upper Nile

    Barrel bombs believed to contain a highly flammable liquid have been used in airstrikes in South Sudan as escalating violence pushes the world’s newest country to the brink of another civil war, the UN has said. The comments by Nicholas Haysom, head of the UN mission in South Sudan, follow recent fighting between the army…

  • Trump and intelligence chiefs play down Signal group chat leak

    Trump and intelligence chiefs play down Signal group chat leak

    Bernd Debusmann Jr at the White House & Brandon Drenon on Capitol Hill BBC News, Washington DC Watch: Key reactions to reports of a leaked group chat involving Trump officials US President Donald Trump and his intelligence chiefs have played down a security breach that saw a journalist invited into a Signal group chat where he reported seeing national security officials…

  • at least 18 dead in ‘worst’ fires in nation’s history

    at least 18 dead in ‘worst’ fires in nation’s history

    At least 18 people have been killed and 19 injured as South Korea’s wildfires continue to ravage the country’s southeast, according to the latest numbers from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The “unprecedented” crisis remains critical, according to acting president Han Duck-soo, who said the fires are “rewriting the record books for the…

  • Thousands turn out in Turkey for protests after more than 1,400 arrests

    Thousands turn out in Turkey for protests after more than 1,400 arrests

    Thomas Mackintosh BBC News Reuters Thousands of people in Turkey have turned out for a seventh night of protests which have so far seen more than 1,400 people detained, including students, journalists and lawyers. The nightly unrest began last Wednesday when the city’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu – who is seen as the President Recep Tayyip…

  • How the media trial of a Bollywood actress blew up in smoke

    How the media trial of a Bollywood actress blew up in smoke

    Getty Images Rhea Chakraborty says Bollywood roles dried up after the scandal Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty was called “a gold digger” and “a murderer”. She was slut-shamed and spent 27 days in prison after a hate-filled vicious media campaign in 2020 alleged she had been involved in the death of her actor boyfriend Sushant Singh…

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