Don't Cry for Him, Argentina
Milei hits a wall, Mpox fades in Africa, Samoa’s new PM, a saint for the digital age.
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Last week, Giorgio Armani died. RIP. Also, I think this news means a lot to Kurdish people (I'm allowed to make this joke). Other than that, I'm reading Karen Hao's "Empire of AI", and it feels like I'm studying for an undergraduate degree (no shade).
Issue #440 feels like a breather. I take you to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, where mpox cases are declining so much that the WHO has lifted its international health emergency. Then to Argentina, where Congress just reminded President Milei that institutions still have teeth.
Elsewhere: why Paris’s new “Peshmerga Alley” is little more than symbolism, the new leaders of Samoa, Guyana, and Thailand, the first African crop grown in space, and the politics behind the Vatican’s new “millennial saint.”
Talk soon,
Sham
Mpox is no longer an international health emergency
Refresher:
Remember mpox? Yes, the viral infection that felt like flu but wasn’t really, and gave you pus-filled blisters. Usually nothing to worry about when you catch it, but mpox can also be more dangerous, for example for children and people with weak immune systems, and even more dangerous when you live somewhere, where health systems are weaker and access to vaccines and antivirals is limited. In August 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that mpox is an international health emergency (this is the highest level of a WHO alert). A new form had started spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to neighboring countries back then.
What happened
Last Friday, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that that’s not the case any longer. Cases are falling in Africa, which has been hit hardest. Scientists also know more now about how it spreads. But the WHO says it’s not over, just less urgent.
Why this matters: Likely thousands have died from mpox, but a specific death toll is not yet known. Most of these deaths have been in Africa, while the disease isn’t all too dangerous for people in Europe and North America.
Tell me more
Since January 2025, 34,386 cases and 138 deaths have been reported worldwide (likely undercounted). About 80% of those are in just four African countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Burundi. However, experts now report that there are fewer and fewer infections from the dangerous disease in these said “hot spots”. Yes, there are some mpox cases outside the continent, but they have been mostly travel-related and relatively contained. (In Europe, the risk is currently considered low.)
Why are case numbers trending down?
When WHO first declared the emergency in 2024, there were still big unknowns. We didn’t know how exactly the virus spread in communities, which groups were most vulnerable, and what led to large outbreaks. Since then, data has made clear that close physical contact is the main driver, and that certain living conditions (crowded housing, poor access to care) can make everything worse. Also, the very first Mpox-specific vaccine was approved in 2024. Some countries now have some supplies of vaccines and antiviral drugs, but it is quite limited. Plus, the catch is distribution. Like always, most doses are in richer countries, while the hardest-hit African states do not have nearly enough.
How many variants are circulating now?
Three. Clade Ia, clade Ib (a newer strain still dominant in Africa), and clade IIb (which was behind the 2022–2023 outbreaks in Europe and North America). Each variant has slightly different patterns of spread and severity.
What now?
Mpox is still a public health concern across the world, but the WHO’s like, ‘we’ve advised our Emergency Committee, they meet every three months to evaluate, and they said, we’re good to downgrade it for now.’ So, no to emergency, yes to keeping the urgency, Professor Dimie Ogoina from said committee told Reuters.
Argentina’s Congress just did something it hasn’t done in more than 20 years: it overturned a presidential veto
What happened
Last week was a bad week for President Javier Milei, and a very good one for people with disabilities in Argentina.
Why this matters: Argentina’s institutions work.
Tell me more
In July, Argentina’s lawmakers passed the Emergency Disability Law. Basically, they were saying, ‘our country’s disability policy is so bad, we must declare an emergency in this sector until 2027.’ Concretely, this means that the government must now treat this area as a top priority. The law guaranteed pensions for people with disabilities, give out payments that are inflation-checked, and removed a penalty rule, so people on disability benefits could still take low-paying formal jobs without losing their pension. President “Chainsaw” Milei then vetoed the law a month later, saying “the IMF won’t be happy with us (they have a US$20 billion deal with them), we can’t afford it, etc.” And then, both chambers of the country’s Congress (Cámara de Diputados and Senado) vetoed that veto. The disability law is now locked in.
Good to know: The last time Congress overturned a full presidential veto was in 2003 under President Eduardo Duhalde.
BTW: End of August, Argentine media leaked secret tapes of Diego Spagnuolo, head of the disability agency, allegedly talking bribes and hinting that Karina Milei (the president’s sister and chief of staff) was pocketing kickbacks (meaning secret cuts of public money funneled back to her in exchange for favors). Within hours, Spagnuolo was fired. Milei called the claims a “lie,” but the damage was done: it looked like corruption in the same ministry where he’d just cut benefits.
What now?
Two key elections are going to set the stage in the next weeks and months for this news story. First, the provincial elections in Buenos Aires Province yesterday (the province is the largest and most influential in the country; huge number of legislative seats), and second, the midterm congressional elections nationwide in October (these will decide the balance of power in both chambers of the Congress). President Javier Milei’s party currently has only a small minority in Congress. That means he can’t pass big laws or push through his austerity agenda without allies. If he gains seats in October, he can finally govern with less obstruction. If he doesn’t, Congress will keep blocking him, like they just did with the disability law.
what else happened
Bad
Nigeria: At least 63 people were killed and others were reported missing in attacks by Boko Haram jihadists in Darul Jamal, Borno State, Nigeria. (Reuters)
Ukraine: Drones and missiles hit Kyiv districts. At least four people died, including a baby. A government building was struck for the first time. (The Kyiv Independent)
Sudan: A huge landslide hit the Tarsin area in the Jebel Marra mountains in Sudan, on the border between Central and South Darfur. At first, local authorities thought the number of victims was smaller, but they now say more than 1,000 people have died. Many animals were also killed, and farms were destroyed. The Sudan Liberation Movement–North (led by Abdel Wahid El Nur), which controls the area, is giving out the information. (Radio Dabanga)
Afghanistan: The Nangarhar quake toll climbed above 2,200 dead. (AP)
Burkina Faso: The country passed a new law banning homosexual acts, just a year after first moving to criminalize homosexuality. (BBC)
Turkey: A migrant boat collided with a coast guard vessel off Ayvalık. Five dead, one missing. (Reuters)
Nepal: Government ordered a block on unregistered social platforms. (The Kathmandu Post)
Interesting...
Samoa: Samoa has just voted, and the ruling FAST party stayed in power, but without its famous leader, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, who broke away earlier this year to form her own party. Her new Samoa Uniting Party won only three seats. The new prime minister will be FAST’s Laauli Schmidt. (RNZ)
France / Kurdistan region of Iraq: Paris honored the Kurdish role in the war against ISIS with a new Peshmerga Alley. I didn’t put this in “Good” news, because Paris naming a street “Peshmerga Alley” fits a long tradition of symbolic gestures, but it’s also selective memory. The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Peshmerga forces were important allies in the anti-ISIS fight, especially in northern Iraq. But in Syria, it was the YPG and YPJ who carried much of the ground fighting, including the important battle of Kobane, while coordinating directly with US and coalition forces. France supported the Syrian Kurds diplomatically and militarily at certain points, but honoring them publicly is politically complicated, because Turkey equates the YPG with the PKK and lobbies hard against any recognition. By only mentioning the Peshmerga, Paris avoided that diplomatic headache, while still acknowledging “the Kurds” in the war on ISIS. (Rudaw English)
Thailand: Parliament elected Anutin Charnvirakul as PM, replacing Paetongtarn Shinawatra. (Khaosod English)
Japan: PM Shigeru Ishiba said he will resign. (Asahi Shimbun)
Guyana: President Irfaan Ali won a second term. (Stabroek News)
Jamaica: Jamaica just held a general election. The ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), led by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, won 34 seats in parliament. The opposition People’s National Party (PNP) won 29 seats. That means Holness stays on for a third term. Voter turnout was low, only 39.5% of eligible voters cast ballots. (Jamaica Information Service)
China / Pakistan: Pakistan just signed US$8.5 billion in investment deals with China during a Beijing visit. About 7 billion are non-binding MoUs. About 1.5 billion are binding joint ventures. The money targets farming, renewable power, electric vehicles, health, and steel. (The Hindu)
Good
Madagascar: The skull of a Malagasy king who was killed in 1897 by French troops during a colonial-era war and those of two other members of his court have been returned to Madagascar. It is believed the skull belongs to King Toera of the Sakalava community. French troops had taken the skull as a trophy. It is estimated that there are more than 20,000 human remains in the Museum of Natural History in Paris, brought to France from around the world supposedly for scientific reasons. (BBC Africa)
Science: Nigerian scientist and founder of Space in Africa, Dr. Temidayo Oniosun, made history in July as the first person to send an African crop to space. Dr. Oniosun sent some egusi seeds, a species of melon seeds indigenous to West Africa, to study the behaviour of the seeds in microgravity. (BBC Africa)
Greece / Sudan: Last week, four people from Sudan were acquitted of all smuggling charges by the court of Heraklion, Crete. (De:Criminalize)
recommendations
Read… about what the rush for nickel in Indonesia is doing to the region. We’ve learnt this somewhere else before: clean tech needs dirty inputs. The electric vehicle boom right now plugs into batteries built from a system that saves carbon at the tailpipe and burns it at the source. In short: We are cleaning our streets by dirtying up someone else’s coast. Peter Guest for New Lines Magazine wrote a longread on this (and the story is a finalist at this year’s Online Journalism Awards in the Investigative Journalism category). Read it here.
Listen to… what happens when the world’s biggest aid donor suddenly steps back. The Trump administration cut USAID funding earlier in 2025. This episode of The Lede podcast looks at what those cuts mean for Africa. And, there are two very different perspectives on this. One guest says, “Cuts are devastating for ordinary people and local aid staff”, and the other one, “Cuts could be liberating.” Listen to the podcast episode here.
Watch… two men talking about therapy. Very, very popular Egyptian actor Ahmed El Saadany (yes, the dad from “Lam Shamsiya”) sits down with Anas Bukhash to talk about anxiety, grief, fatherhood, early marriage, and growing up as the son of a famous actor. Watch the interview here.
music performance of the week
Sudan on Tiny Desk | Mustafa is a Sudanese Canadian artist, whose art you probably have heard in some Justin Bieber and The Weeknd songs (he was a songwriter for some of their songs). He also sings himself, mostly about his community. “I was born and raised in the largest housing project in North America,” he tells NPR Music’s Tiny Desk. For his Tiny Desk, he wears a jalabeya, brought along a Sudanese choir, oud, guitar, cello, and a mix of objects that celebrate his heritage.
on a funny note
The Catholics now have a “millennial saint”.
Here’s my political take: The Catholic Church is doing this on purpose to modernize its image.
The Vatican has a huge problem: fewer people attend the church, especially young ones, and it has a credibility crisis from its abuse scandals. This “millennial saint” situation is a welcome symbolical reset, seemingly proving that the Church can accept someone as a saint, who is not a monk, bishop, or mystic from centuries ago, but a teenager who wore sneakers, played PlayStation, and coded websites.