Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Reuters President Yoon Suk Yeol shocked the world with his attempt to impose martial law The news is moving so quickly in South Korea, the papers can no longer keep up. President Yoon Suk Yeol’s shock attempt to impose martial law last Tuesday night was so short-lived it failed to make the front page. By…

BBC Diary of a CEO host Steven Bartlett is amplifying harmful health misinformation on his number-one ranked podcast, a BBC investigation has found. Recent claims from guests – including that cancer can be treated by following a keto diet, rather than proven treatments – were allowed by the Dragons’ Den star with little or no…

A former Syrian government official has been charged with torture in the United States, authorities said on Thursday. Samir Ousman Alsheikh, who oversaw the Damascus Central Prison from 2005 and 2008, was charged by a federal grand jury with several counts of torture and conspiracy to commit torture. US authorities said the allegations against Alsheikh…

Getty Images While Trump visited the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Islamist fighters in Syria toppled Assad’s regime When Donald Trump sat with world leaders in Paris last weekend to marvel at the restored Notre Dame cathedral, armed Islamist fighters in Syria were in jeeps on the road to Damascus finalising the fall…

AFP Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju shocked the world of chess on Thursday when he became the youngest world champion at the age of just 18. The Chennai-born prodigy defeated defending champion, China’s Ding Liren, in a dramatic match staged in Singapore which he had entered as the challenger. It marked the peak to date of…

Bolivia has extradited its former anti-drugs director to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking charges. Maximiliano Dávila, also known as “Macho”, is accused of facilitating cocaine smuggling to the US during his time as the head of Bolivia’s anti-narcotics agency. His extradition, which took place on Thursday, was approved by Bolivia’s Supreme Court…

Arakan Army The insurgent Arakan Army posted video of their capture of the barracks The end, when it came for the BGP5 barracks, was loud and brutal. First, a crackly speaker calling out for their surrender; then, a thunderous barrage of artillery, rockets and rifle fire that tore chunks out of the buildings in which…

YouTuber Yung Filly is facing new charges of reckless driving, according to reports in Australia, where he is accused of raping a woman. The 29-year-old, whose real name is Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos, is accused by police of driving past a speed camera at 158km/h (98mph) on a Perth highway last month. It is alleged…

Medically-assisted dying – also known as voluntary euthanasia – accounted for 4.7% of deaths in Canada in 2023, new government data shows. The country’s fifth annual report since euthanasia was legalised in 2016 showed around 15,300 people underwent assisted dying last year after being successful in their applications. The median age of this group was…

BBC In Aleppo’s city centre, the huge billboard in the main square with a picture of President Bashar al-Assad, which used to be a feature in any Syrian town and village, was set on fire, then removed. The red, white and black national flags that decorated the lampposts were also taken away and replaced with…