Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

People protesting against the South Korean president’s declaration of martial law “cannot seem to believe” what’s happened, according to a BBC reporter outside the parliament building in Seoul. Standing among the chanting crowd, the BBC’s Jake Kwon said the overwhelming mood at the protest is one of “incredulity” that martial law could be declared in…

Tourists in Italy will no longer be able to access short-term rentals using key boxes after the country’s police chief said owners must verify the identity of guests in person. The move has been brought in as a security measure and follows a similar step being taken in Florence. The increasing popularity of short-term rentals…

BBC Mandy Damari wants the UK to do more to ensure aid supplies go to the hostages while negotiations continue for their release The mother of the only British-Israeli hostage being held by Hamas has described her increasing fears for her daughter’s life after more than 400 days in captivity. Emily Damari, 28, was taken…

Reuters Police stand guard at the gate of the National Assembly after South Korea’s president declared martial law Under mounting political pressure, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday night declared martial law in the democratic country for the first time in nearly 50 years. His late-night pronouncement, made on national TV at 23:00 local…

Getty Images Lebanese people have been returning to their homes following the ceasefire agreement The latest exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah is testing the limits of last week’s already fragile ceasefire deal. Hours after Hezbollah fired two mortar shells at an Israeli military outpost on Monday, Israel carried out its largest series of…

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, from the governing South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo), looks set to become Namibia’s first female president with more than 90% of the votes from last week’s disputed election now counted. The electoral commission said she had won more than 58%, with her closest rival Panduleni Itula getting just over 25% of the…

Women training as midwives and nurses in Afghanistan have told the BBC they were ordered not to return to classes in the morning – effectively closing off their last route to further education in the country. Five separate institutions across Afghanistan have also confirmed to the BBC that the Taliban had instructed them to close…

A man wanted over one of Australia’s most infamous cold cases, dubbed the Easey Street murders, has arrived in Melbourne after being extradited from Italy. Suzanne Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28, were stabbed to death in their Melbourne house in 1977, in a case which has gripped the nation ever since. Police said suspect…

US President-elect Donald Trump has issued an apparent warning to Hamas, threatening “all hell to pay” if hostages held by the Palestinian group in Gaza are not released by the time he returns to the White House on 20 January. Dozens of people who were snatched during the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel…

Abdulkafi, an English teacher from Aleppo, saw his father for the first time in years on Monday, days after rebels launched a major offensive and took control of the northern Syrian city from government forces. “He is 85, an old man. He never dreamed he would see me again before he died,” said Abdulkafi, who…