Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Dominique Pelicot has been found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging his ex-wife, Gisèle, raping her and inviting dozens of men to also abuse her over nearly a decade, along with other charges. Pelicot had admitted the charges against him. He was on trial with 50 other men, the majority of…

Reuters A woman who was with her boyfriend at the Christmas market in Magdeburg has told local media she had her boyfriend in her arms when the car used in the attack came speeding towards them. “He was hit and pulled away from my side. It was terrible,” 32-year-old Nadine told the Bild newspaper. Footage…

BBC The once formidable Myanmar military is cracking from within – riddled with spies secretly working for the pro-democracy rebels, the BBC has found. The military only has full control of less than a quarter of Myanmar’s territory, a BBC World Service investigation reveals. The junta still controls the major cities and remains “extremely dangerous”…

Getty Images The US and Ukraine say North Korean troops are fighting Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region What Haneul remembers most about his time in the North Korean military is the gnawing, continuous hunger. He lost 10kg in his first month of service, due to a diet of cracked corn and mouldy cabbage. Three…

Getty Images A man accused of murdering four women and a nine-year-old boy by driving a car into them at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg has been remanded in custody. The 50-year-old was brought before Magdeburg district court on Saturday evening following the incident on Friday when a black BMW car…

A funny thing happened on the way to a bipartisan agreement to fund US government operations and avoid a partial shutdown this week. Conservatives in Congress – encouraged by tech multi-billionaire Elon Musk – balked. Republicans tried to regroup on Thursday afternoon, offering a new, slimmed-down package to fund the government. That vote failed, as…

AFP Kenyan business student Nelson Amenya has been hailed as a hero by those campaigning for greater transparency in the deals his government makes with private firms. Recent Kenyan history is littered with stories of huge contracts that have resulted from corruption – and despite laws that are supposed to prevent this from happening, there…

Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of US President-elect Donald Trump, has withdrawn her name from consideration for a seat in the Senate. She stepped down this month as co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), fuelling speculation that she might replace outgoing Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, whom Trump has nominated for secretary of state. But…

Gisèle Pelicot: ‘I never regretted decision to make trial public’ French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to Gisèle Pelicot for the strength she showed in the mass rape trial of her husband and 50 other men. Describing her as a trailblazer for women, he said her “dignity and courage moved and inspired France and…

Germany is in mourning after a car ploughed into crowds at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, leaving five people dead and more 200 injured. As the BBC’s Europe correspondent Bethany Bell reports, this is not the first time Germany has dealt with a Christmas market vehicle attack. While the government has promised…