In one corner of the ring stands Javier Milei, 52, self-described former tantric sex coach, outsider anarcho-capitalist and frontrunner in Argentina’s upcoming presidential elections; in the other, his compatriot Pope Francis, 86, world champion of the poor, repeatedly derided by Argentina’s likely next president as “a fucking communist” and “the representative of the evil one on Earth” for promoting the doctrine of “social justice” to aid the underprivileged.

Milei, a political unknown until 2020, has pledged to wage a “cultural battle” to transform Argentina into a libertarian paradise where capitalist efficiency replaces social assistance, taxes are reduced to a minimum and cash-strapped individuals are allowed to sell their body organs on the open market.

Erasing the Existence of 1,500 PeopleBritain’s Ongoing Colonial Crime in the Indian Ocean

By Jörg Schindler in London

She had to leave, the British man told her. Now. The ship was leaving in just a few hours – and she had no choice, he said. It’s a scene she still clearly remembers. How she frantically crammed clothes and a few belongings into a wooden chest, including a tool called a larappe that she had used for years to scrape out thousands of coconuts. And she remembers standing on the deck of the Nordvaer late that afternoon with friends, relatives and neighbors, some holding jars full of white sand in their hands. Then, they set off to the west, towards the setting sun. It was May 25, 1973.

It was the last time she ever laid eyes on her homeland.

Friends at any price: China seeks allies, arms markets in West Africa as French influence wanes

China’s expansion into the West African arms market is a shift in strategy for a country that has typically focussed its weapons sales on other African regions. But Beijing is not just competing for a share of a new market: amid waning French influence in West Africa, China is looking to make new allies and build influence.

China’s largest weapons producer, Norinco – the seventh-largest military equipment supplier globally – has opened a new sales office in Senegal, according to a South China Morning Post report published August 21.The company already has offices in Nigeria, Angola and South Africa.

Beijing also plans to set up offices in Mali and the Ivory Coast – where it already sells arms – with a physical presence for maintenance, repair and overhauls of vehicles and military equipment, specialist news site Military Africa reported on August 1.

The arrival of the weapons giant on Senegalese soil has also been reported in Chinese media, where it has been heralded as an advance for Chinese influence in West Africa and a challenge to the existing influence of Russia and France.

Greece: Evros fire ‘cannot be contained’ — regional official

Hundreds of firefighters are battling the blaze at the edge of Greece’s Dadia national park. The European Commission described it as the largest single fire in the history of the EU.

A wildfire raging near the northeastern Greek region of Evros is unlikely to be brought under control, deputy governor Dimitris Petrovich told national broadcaster ERT on Sunday.

The fire near the city of Alexandroupolis has been raging for nine days.

The European Commission called the blaze, which threatens Greece’s Dadia national park, the largest single fire in the history of the EU.\

Zimbabwe’s President Mnangagwa wins second term, opposition rejects result

Elections commission says Mnangagwa won 52.6 percent of the vote compared with 44 percent for challenger Nelson Chamisa.

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has won a second and final term in office in an outcome rejected by the opposition and questioned by observers.

Mnangagwa, who took over from longtime leader Robert Mugabe after a 2017 army coup, was widely expected to secure re-election despite the country’s continuing economic crisis, with analysts saying the contest was heavily skewed in favour of the ZANU-PF party, which has ruled the country since independence and the end of white minority rule in 1980.