Lionel Messi is flying high with Inter Miami and now he’s after a spot in the Leagues Cup semifinals. Against FC Dallas, the team co-owned by David Beckham hit its first rough patch since Messi’s arrival. Like all Leagues Cup matches, the clash will be shown by streaming service Apple TV, which has recently experienced a massive surge in subscribers. MLS Season Pass subscribers on Apple TV have doubled since Messi joined Inter Miami,” team co-owner Jorge Mas tweeted Thursday. Inter Miami and Charlotte FC will face off for a spot in Leagues Cup semifinals this Friday, August 11, at the DRV PNK Stadium in Florida.

Argentines and the US dollar have a very special relationship and have come to know what to expect from each other. Within this scenario that Argentines are so used to, however, a lingering question remains: why exactly does this happen? “The ‘blue’ or parallel exchange rate is a true reflection of the market’s uncertainty regarding the economy,” Juan Ignacio Paolicchi, chief economist at Empiria Consultores, told the Herald. Informal exchange houses — cuevas, Spanish for caves— and street “blue” dollar sellers — arbolitos, Spanish for “little trees” — are a persistent part of Buenos Aires City’s landscape. This anxiety can also be seen in the rise of the implied interest rates for August and September future dollar contracts.

Amazon rainforest nations emerged from a summit this week with a stronger hand to play at upcoming United Nations climate talks, despite the meeting’s lackluster final agreement, according to environmental groups. “So (developed nations) now need to pay their part to restore a part of what they destroyed.”Lula will take that message on the road this year at the G20, United Nations General Assembly and U.N. COP28 climate summit. Lula in particular left the summit as a stronger voice for this bloc, Astrini said. Stronger voiceRainforest nations have a stronger unified voice after the meeting, at least on paper, said Luis Roman, a representative of nonprofit WWF Peru. They also called for rich nations to meet a pledge to provide $200 billion per year in biodiversity conservation funding by 2030.

This Sunday, Argentines will head to the ballot boxes to choose each coalition’s candidates for this year’s presidential elections in primary elections known as the PASO. Primaries: The presidential candidate of each coalition is being chosen. The Fernández-Fernández ticket came out 16 percentage points ahead of the Macri-Pichetto ticket — so it was clear who was likely to win the presidential elections. To learn more about who’s running, see: Argentina 2023 elections: these are the candidatesWhy do Argentina’s primaries work this way? For example people may vote strategically or change their minds before the presidential vote.

An 11-year-old girl has died after thieves on a motorbike stole her belongings as she walked to school in the southern Buenos Aires suburb of Lanús. Morena Domínguez, 11, was approaching the gates of her school in the Villa Diamante neighborhood when thieves passing on a motorcycle hit her and grabbed her backpack shortly before 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. “She was like my sister,” her friend Priscila told the press through tears at the school gate. “More was my son’s playmate,” said the mother of a pupil at the school. “Today, he watched as they performed CPR on her, that’s extremely painful […] It could be your own child.”–With information from Télam

On Sunday, millions of Argentinians will head to the polls to vote in their primary elections, better known as PASO. This means that a veda electoral (electoral ban) will be in effect for a period of 36 hours, until voting stations close at 6 p.m. that evening. These restrictions may seem moralistic to the uninitiated, but the veda isn’t limited to wine and spirits. This weekend, all sporting events, theatrical productions, and open-air shows will be suspended, along with any other public gatherings unrelated to the elections. News outlets cannot publish or disseminate electoral polls and projections about the results of the elections before their completion.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday hopes to forge a united front among rainforest nations when they engage in international climate negotiations, building on an accord a day earlier at a summit of Amazon nations. The leftist leader aims to bring a similar message to this year’s United Nations climate summit, known as COP28, backed by a strengthened coalition. The first day of the Amazon Summit resulted in a broad agreement for the region to cooperate on areas like combating organized crime and scientific research. At last year’s climate summit, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia agreed to form an alliance to pressure rich countries to pay for conservation. Norway and Germany, major contributors to Amazon conservation in Brazil, will participate as well as France, technically a rainforest nation because of its overseas territory of French Guiana.

The INDEC will publish July’s monthly inflation on August 15, which analysts forecast will be higher than June’s. For instance, raises in meat prices is one that stands out. This can be seen in the first week of August and will have an impact on monthly inflation. It’s still difficult to make a projection, but the increase in meat prices will be a key factor in August inflation”, Montano explained. Based on what they observed in the first week of the month, consulting firm Eco Go also projects a higher food inflation for August.

Today, Gaetano is celebrated as St. Cajetan of Thiene and, in Argentina, as San Cayetano — the patron saint of gamblers, workers, and the unemployed. Every August 7, thousands of believers make the pilgrimage to Santuario de San Cayetano (Sanctuary of San Cayetano) in the Liniers neighborhood of Buenos Aires to pay their respects. San Cayetano is believed to provide bread and work, so it follows that he may be in high demand this year. Tú eres toda mi esperanza, eres el consuelo mío, en Ti creo, en Ti confío. The thousands of annual visitors to the Sanctuary of San Cayetano are a testament to his efforts on behalf of the downtrodden.

With the primary elections six days away, Argentina’s informal dollar exchange rate — popularly known as the “blue dollar” — rose by AR$22 on Monday and reached a record nominal value of AR$596. “That creates tension in the exchange rate and deepens the dollarization process.”Meanwhile, the official dollar exchange rate, which also increased, is currently AR$295 per unit. Other factors aside from the upcoming elections include inflation, protracted negotiations with the IMF, and record-low international reserves. The national year-on-year inflation rate reached a record high of 115.6%. “It’s possible that it had an effect because it’s usually a predictor of how high national inflation will be,” said Quintana.

Prices are soaring for those hoping to catch a glimpse of Lionel Messi playing with Inter Miami in the United States. In just three games, Messi has scored five goals — enough to make him the fastest player in league history to do so. After winning the Clásico del Sol against Florida rivals Orlando City, Inter Miami secured a place in the Leagues Cup round of 16. Ticket prices that ranged from US$675 in the general area up to US$5,850 are now starting at as much as US$9,000 in the Leagues Cup official resale site. Despite losing to Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup, Atlanta United saw its revenue go up.

Buenos Aires city mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and former security minister Patricia Bullrich will expect the primary election results that’ll determine who will be the presidential candidate for Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) in the same headquarters. The decision comes after months of escalating tensions between the two PRO members set to face off August 13. Although they share a common government program, during the campaign Bullrich has presented herself as a hardliner, while Larreta says he believes in dialogue. Two weeks ago, Larreta strongly criticized Bullrich after she proposed “shielding” the Central Bank with another loan from the International Monetary Fund. “Let’s take a look at the history of Argentina, how did that government end after the loan was signed?

State company Y-TEC, the tech arm of YPF, will open the first lithium battery cell factory in September, in La Plata, the capital of Buenos Aires province. Battery factoriesThe lithium batteries’ cell manufacturing plant in Berisso, La Plata, will open in September, an event top government officials are expected to attend. The plant will generate 15 megawatts per year, which means it will produce lithium batteries capable of powering 2500 households. Lithium batteries would thus be a way to store energy until it’s ready for distribution. Chile has lithium, but not an automotive industry, while Brazil has a [car] industry but hasn’t exploited its lithium yet.

China has also been helping countries to develop in a few ways, including:Providing financial assistance: China has provided billions of dollars in financial assistance to developing countries, in the form of loans, grants, and debt relief. This has been used to support projects including infrastructure development, education, and healthcare. Infrastructure investment: China has invested heavily in infrastructure projects in developing countries, such as roads, railways, and ports. Transferring technology: China has transferred technology to developing countries, helping them improve their manufacturing and production capabilities. Today, China is looking for markets with the huge growth potential that comes from lifting the majority out of poverty and bringing them into the marketplace as consumers.

Amazon countries meeting next week for a summit on cooperation to save the rainforest aim to set up a scientific body like the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to share research, Brazil’s environment minister said. “The idea is to have a scientific panel for the Amazon with scientists from different countries, along the lines of the IPCC,” Marina Silva said in an interview on Thursday. The panel would help produce sustainable development policies for the countries of the region while remaining independent of governments, and monitor the impact of climate change on the Amazon rainforest and ecosystem, she said. Lula has overhauled Brazil’s environment policies since taking office in January, succeeding far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who relaxed protection of the environment and encouraged development of the Amazon, where deforestation soared. Preliminary government figures showed on Thursday that deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon fell in July to its lowest level since 2017, boosting Lula’s credibility on environmental policy ahead of the summit.