Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

CBS A gunman who killed four people when he stormed a skyscraper in the heart of New York on Monday evening left a note that appeared to blame the National Football League (NFL) for a brain injury, the city’s Mayor Eric Adams says. The attacker, 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, shot himself dead after…

Chris Riess and Amy Hill Joan Anderson, who coined the name for the hula hoop and played an unsung role in its rise, has died age 101. The former model was visiting her native Australia from her home in the US when she spotted groups of people swivelling wooden hoops around their waists. She was…

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu hailed the women’s national football team for their victory at the recent Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) at a grand celebratory reception where he promised them gifts and cash rewards. Hosting them at Aso Rock, the presidential residence, on Monday, Tinubu announced each player would get $100,000 (£75,000) plus a…

At least 30 people have died in Beijing as northern China experiences days of heavy rain and flooding. The BBC’s Stephen McDonell is in Miyun, northeast of Beijing, where authorities have mobilised the People’s Armed Police to assist in the mountain areas affected by the severe weather. China’s leader Xi Jinping has called for an…

EPA Parts of the capital, Luanda, came to a standstill on Monday Police in Angola say four people have been killed and 500 have been arrested after demonstrations in the capital, Luanda. What began as a three-day strike by taxi drivers against rising petrol prices has escalated into one of the most widespread and disruptive…

Álvaro Uribe has become the first former Colombian president to be convicted of a crime. A court in Bogotá found the 73-year-old, who was president from 2002 to 2010, guilty of witness-tampering and a fraud charge. He was convicted of attempting to bribe witnesses in a separate investigation into allegations that he had ties to…

At least 30 people have died in Beijing and more than 80,000 were evacuated to safety, Chinese authorities said, as heavy rains and floods ravage roads and houses in northern China. Eight other people died after a landslide on Monday in Chengde city, about three hours northeast of Beijing. China is dealing with a summer…

Rescue workers were deployed to help dozens of residents of a Beijing nursing home in chest-high water. At least 30 people have been killed in floods that have inundated large parts of northeastern China. More than 80,000 people have been relocated from their homes after more than 543.4mm (21.4 inches) of rain fell in areas…

A Russian airstrike on a prison in a frontline region in southeastern Ukraine has killed 17 people and wounded 42 others, according to Ukrainian officials. The overnight attack in Zaporizhzhia also damaged surrounding homes, regional leader Ivan Fedorov said. Russian forces launched eight strikes using high-explosive aerial glide bombs, he added. The Ukrainian president’s chief…

Parents in China are being offered 3,600 yuan (£375; $500) a year for each of their children under the age of three in the government’s first nationwide subsidy aimed at boosting birth rates. The country’s birth rate has been falling, even after the ruling Communist Party abolished its controversial one-child policy almost a decade ago.…