Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A fight involving machetes at a Melbourne shopping centre has prompted an Australian state to fast-track the country’s first-ever ban on the weapon’s sale. The ban – to start in Victoria this Wednesday, instead of September – comes after two gangs attacked each other at Northland shopping centre in Preston on Sunday afternoon. A man,…

A college in Beijing has found itself at the centre of public fury after it allegedly asked a student to prove she was on her period to qualify for sick leave. A viral video, filmed inside what appears to be a clinic and posted to social media this month, shows a young woman asking an…

Two humanoid robots traded punches while fans watched on, in a competition held in Hangzhou, China, on Sunday. The fight was part of the China Media Group World Robot Competition and featured robots developed by Unitree Robotics. The event included both fighting demonstrations and matches, marking a world-first combat sports event featuring humanoid robots. Source…

North Korea has arrested a fourth official over the failed launch of a new warship that has enraged the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un. Ri Hyong-son, deputy director of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Munitions Industry Department, was “largely responsible for the serious accident” last week, state-run news agency KCNA said on Monday. The 5,000-ton destroyer…

Rushdi Abualouf Gaza correspondent EPA Rubble pictured in a separate area of central Gaza on Sunday At least 24 Palestinians have been killed in two separate Israeli air strikes overnight, including a strike on a school sheltering displaced families in central Gaza, according to medics and civil defence officials. The strike targeted Fahmi Al-Jargawi School…

US President Donald Trump has said he is “not happy” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, following Moscow’s largest aerial attack yet on Ukraine. In a rare rebuke, Trump said: “What the hell happened to him? He’s killing a lot of people.” He later called Putin “absolutely crazy”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said Washington’s…

AFP via Getty Images Ministers are facing calls to start processing Syrian asylum applications again, as new figures showed more than 7,000 people are still in limbo. The UK paused decisions on Syrian claims for asylum and permanent settlement in December, after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. But more than five months on, Syrians…

King Charles and Queen Camilla will arrive in Canada later, for a two-day visit seen as bringing a message of support for the country in the face of threats and taunts from US President Donald Trump. Prime Minister Mark Carney, who recently won a general election on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment, invited the royal…

BBC royal correspondent Daniela Relph assesses the significance and symbolism of King Charles’ trip to Canada where he will open the parliament in Ottawa – following in the footsteps of his mother Queen Elizabeth who carried out the same duty in 1957. It’s also an important trip for Canada’s new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, who…

Fergal Keane Special correspondent Warning: Upsetting content There is no excitement as the camera passes. The children barely glance. What can surprise a child who lives among the dead, the dying, the waiting to die? Hunger has worn them down. They wait in queues for scant rations or for none at all. They have grown…