The Week Unwrapped: Butt lifts, ransoms and Argentina's right turn

Is cosmetic-surgery tourism out of control? Why did cyber criminals target the British Library? And what can Argentina expect from its new president?

Argentina
Javier Milei, Argentina's new president, lifts a chainsaw during a political rally in September
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Abdulwahab Tahhan, Harriet Marsden and Suchandrika Chakrabarti

In this week's episode, we discuss:

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Butt lifts

UK health officials are to meet with counterparts in Turkey after the death of a British woman during so-called Brazilian butt lift surgery at a private hospital in Istanbul. Since January 2019, at least 24 Brits have died as a result of medical tourism trips to Turkey, according to the Foreign Office. Are patients being adequately informed of the risks? And is cosmetic-surgery tourism out of control?

Ransoms

The British Library fell victim to a cyberattack in October, resulting in a substantial theft of employee data from the world's largest library. Notorious ransomware group Rhysida has claimed responsibility, posting pictures of what appears to be the stolen data on the dark web and promising to auction it off to the highest bidder by Monday morning, with a starting price of 20 Bitcoin – equivalent to nearly £600,000. But who is Rhysida? Should government-funded bodies pay a "ransom" to cybercriminals to keep their systems secure? And how safe are any British institutions?

Argentina's right turn

Former TV pundit and far-right libertarian Javier Milei – nicknamed "the madman" by his followers – has stunned political experts by becoming the new president of Argentina.  What does his election mean for Argentina's future? And what can the country expect from its new president?