Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Five people have died in shootings in northern France, including near a migrant camp, and a 22-year-old man has turned himself in to police, according to French media. Four people – two security guards and two migrants – were fatally shot on the Loon-Plage stretch of coastline near Dunkirk, unnamed security sources told outlets in…

Getty Images Isak Andic pictured with Kate Moss at a 2011 Mango collection launch in Paris Isak Andic, the billionaire founder of high street fashion chain Mango, died in an accident on Saturday while exploring caves near Barcelona. Spanish media reported the 71-year-old fell down a ravine to his death while hiking in caves that…

ABC News has agreed to pay $15m (£12m) to US President-elect Donald Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit after its star anchor falsely said he had been found “liable for rape”. George Stephanopoulos made the statements repeatedly during an interview on 10 March this year while challenging a congresswoman about her support for Trump. A…

Reuters The US has made “direct contact” with the HTS rebels who now control Syria after toppling the Assad regime, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. It is the first acknowledgement of direct American contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the US currently still designates as a terrorist organisation. Blinken was speaking in Jordan…

Lizzy Steel / BBC “If it’s a choice between being lovingly wrapped, or boxed up, it’s a no-brainer for me”, Rachel says “I don’t want my last act on this planet to be a polluting act, if I can help that,” Rachel Hawthorn explains. She is getting ready to make her own burial shroud because…

AFP Gisèle Pelicot no longer owns any family photos with her husband It was November 2011, and Gisèle Pelicot was sleeping too much. She spent most of her weekends in a slumber. She was annoyed, because during the week she worked hard as a supply chain manager, and her time off was precious. Yet she…

An ancient relic said by some to have been placed on the head of Jesus Christ at his crucifixion has returned to Notre-Dame, five years after it was saved from a fire that devastated the cathedral in Paris. The Crown of Thorns – comprising a circle of rushes encased in a crystal and gold tube…

Large crowds of protesters have gathered outside the Georgian parliament to object to the appointment of a new president. The BBC’s Rayhan Demytrie saw demonstrators kicking a ball after Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former Manchester City football player turned ultra-conservative politician, was elected as Georgia’s next president. Protests were sparked by the ruling Georgian Dream party’s…

France’s Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte has been struck by the worst cyclone to hit the islands in nearly a century. At least two people were reportedly killed when Cyclone Chido made landfall on Saturday, causing wind gusts of more than 225km/h (140mph), and it is feared more may have died. One local official told…

A map shown during the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup has been criticised by Ukraine as an “unacceptable error” after it appeared to exclude Crimea as part of the country. The graphic – showing countries that cannot be drawn to play each other for geopolitical reasons – highlighted Ukraine but did not include…