Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Air strikes have been reported in two cities in Yemen. Witnesses and governing Houthi rebels said an airport and military base were targeted in the capital Sanaa, while a power station in the western port city of Hudaydah was also hit, the AFP news agency reported. Houthi TV blamed the strikes on Israel, which has…

The Russian government has cautioned against promoting “hypotheses” about the cause of the crash of a Russia-bound passenger plane that killed 38 people in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Footage of the wrecked fuselage appeared to indicate shrapnel damage and some aviation experts suggested the Azerbaijani Airlines plane may have been been hit by air defence systems…

A Palestinian TV channel says five of its journalists have been killed in an Israeli strike in the central Gaza Strip. They were in a Quds Today van parked outside al-Awda hospital, where the wife of one of the journalists was about to give birth, in the central Nuseirat refugee camp. The channel posted a…

Ko Wen-je, once a rising star in Taiwanese politics and a presidential contender, was indicted Thursday on corruption charges. The 65-year-old is accused of accepting half a million dollars in bribes involving a real estate dealing during his term as mayor of Taipei, as well as misreporting campaign finances during his run for president in…

South Korea’s opposition lawmakers have filed a motion to impeach the country’s prime minister and acting leader Han Duck-soo, less than two weeks after parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol. This comes after Han refused to appoint constitutional court judges nominated by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP). “Han has revealed himself to…

BBC Just as we pulled out from the harbour, our boat lurched and suddenly the jetty next to where we had boarded collapsed into the sea Boxing Day, 2004. When the earthquake struck at 06:30 (01:00 GMT), I was on a ferry, headed towards Havelock – an island in the Indian archipelago of Andaman and…

BBC Frédéric Brochet is one of the wine makers now working on alcohol-free bottles In the vineyards of Bordeaux, the unspeakable has become the drinkable. Wine without alcohol has arrived. The heresy of yesterday is now – thanks to science and economic crisis – the opportunity of today. Wine estates which would have torched their…

Syria’s new rebel-led authorities say 14 interior ministry personnel have been killed and 10 injured in an “ambush” by forces loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad in the west of the country. They say the fighting took place near the Mediterranean port of Tartous on Tuesday. Reports say the security forces were ambushed as they…

Thuthuka Zondi / BBC A biodiversity hotspot in a remote part of South Africa has become the hub of an illegal trade in protected plant species, with organised crime groups capitalising on overseas demand. “They’ve not just stolen our land or our plants, they’ve stolen our heritage as well,” a livestock farmer angrily tells the…

Twenty big cats – including a Bengal tiger and four cougars – have died of bird flu over the past several weeks at an animal sanctuary in the state of Washington. “This tragedy has deeply affected our team, and we are all grieving the loss of these incredible animals,” the Wild Felid Advocacy Center of…