Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A Kenyan court has sentenced four men to one year in prison or pay a fine of $7,700 (£5,800) for trying to smuggle thousands of live ants out of the country. The four suspects – two Belgians, a Vietnamese and a Kenyan – were arrested last month with 5,000 ants at a guest house in…

Sudan has cut diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after repeatedly accusing the Gulf nation of backing the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country’s civil war. The announcement came as the RSF were blamed for attacks on the usually safe city of Port Sudan, which started on Sunday and have continued…

EPA An Indian paramilitary soldier keeps watch from behind a fence in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir Mohammed Waheed was fast asleep at his home in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the early hours of Wednesday morning when a huge blast shook his home. “Before we could even process what was happening, more missiles struck,…

Reuters A city view of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administrated Kashmir Two weeks after a deadly militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, India has launched a series of strikes on sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The Indian defence ministry said the strikes – named “Operation Sindoor” – were part of a “commitment” to hold those…

Israel’s military says it has hit Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the group’s missile launch at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport the previous day. The IDF said it attacked sites that it claimed served as a “central supply source for the Houthis” in the Hudaydah Port, as well as the Bajil cement factory east…

As the sun set over Lake Turkana, a mother sobbed and threw flowers into the greenish-blue water to remember her teenage daughter who had drowned trying to reach Kenya via a new route being used by people smugglers. Senait Mebrehtu, a Pentecostal Christian Eritrean who had sought asylum in Kenya three years ago, made the…

Laura Gozzi BBC News Reporting fromVatican City VATICAN MEDIA / HANDOUT Voting desks for 133 cardinals have been set up inside the Sistine Chapel ahead of the conclave. On Wednesday evening, under the domed ceiling of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, 133 cardinals will vote to elect the Catholic Church’s 267th pope. The day will begin at…

The day Germany’s new leader entered office will now forever be remembered for a very public failure. Friedrich Merz’s initial, shock defeat – in his bid to become chancellor – sparked hours of chaotic uncertainty. A man who’d been working to project strength and purpose instead became mired in political intrigue and division. Merz may…

Aleem Maqbool Religion editor BBC The Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse has 128 rooms. From 7 May, it will be filled with cardinals participating in the conclave to elect the next Pope. But one room in the guesthouse is still sealed with a red ribbon, as it has been since its occupant died there on Easter…

Air traffic controllers at Newark Liberty International Airport briefly lost communications with planes under their control, “unable to see, hear, or talk to them” last week, officials say. The 28 April incident led to multiple employees going on trauma leave, contributing to hundreds of delayed flights. More than 150 flights were cancelled on Monday alone,…