Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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After Navalny: Russian opposition is weaker than ever
Sarah Rainsford Eastern Europe correspondent Getty Images A year after Alexei Navalny’s suspicious death in a Russian prison, his supporters have been helping choose a headstone for his grave in Moscow. “It will be a place of hope and strength for all those who dream of the wonderful Russia of the future,” says the opposition…
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‘I believe in my guide runner more than myself’ says blind Indian athlete
BBC Rakshitha was the first blind Indian woman to compete in the 1500m in the Paralympics “When I was growing up, everyone in my village would say: ‘She is blind, she is a waste’,” says Rakshitha Raju. Now, aged 24, she is one of India’s top middle distance para athletes. “It makes me so proud,”…
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Pope’s health a ‘complex clinical situation’, Vatican says
Pope Francis is being treated for a “complex clinical situation” and will remain in hospital for as long as necessary, the Vatican has said. The 88-year-old was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday to undergo treatment and tests for bronchitis. In an update on Monday, the Vatican has said the pontiff has a “polymicrobial…
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Why Saudi Arabia is the venue of choice for Trump talks on Ukraine
The choice by the Trump administration of Saudi Arabia as the location for key talks on Ukraine underscores how far the Kingdom has come diplomatically from the near pariah state it became after the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The shadow that cast over the country and its de facto leader,…
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China condemns US after line on ‘Taiwan independence’ cut from site
The US State Department has dropped a statement from its website which stated that Washington does not support Taiwan’s independence – a move which has sparked anger in China. China said the revision “sends a wrong… signal to separatist forces advocating for Taiwan independence”, and asked the US to “correct its mistakes”. The department’s fact…
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What is the fighting in Goma about?
AFP The mineral-rich east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been dogged by conflict for more than 30 years, since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Numerous armed groups have competed with the central authorities for power and control of the potential fortune in this vast nation. The instability has sucked in neighbouring countries to devastating…
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Five takeaways from the Munich Security Conference
Frank Gardner Security Correspondent, BBC News UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with US Vice President JD Vance in Munich – but will not play a part in next week’s talks with Russia A series of US declarations rocked last week’s Munich Security Conference and caused discord among the European…
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Trump makes first Supreme Court appeal in test of his power to fire officials
Reuters Hampton Dellinger was fired in a one-sentence email this month President Donald Trump’s attempts to shrink the federal bureaucracy are heading to the Supreme Court, according to US media. He has filed an emergency appeal to the country’s highest court to rule on whether he can fire the leader of an independent whistleblowing agency.…
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At least nine dead in heavy rain
At least nine people have died over the weekend, as torrential downpours drenched parts of the south-eastern US, submerging roads and houses. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said eight people had died in his state and suggested at a news conference on Sunday that the total could go up. Hundreds of people stranded in flood waters,…
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The treasure trove of art worth billions ‘hidden’ in Tehran
Armen Nersessian BBC World Service Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images The collection includes Jackson Pollock’s Mural On Indian Red Ground It has been dubbed one of the world’s rarest treasure troves of art but few people outside its host country know about it. For decades, masterpieces by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol…
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