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Political situation in Argentina
Analysis: Weakened Milei must appease voters ahead of midterm elections

As Argentina approaches midterm elections, President Javier Milei is weaker and lonelier than ever. This is what several Argentine analysts write after yesterday's mass protests on the streets of Buenos Aires.

The protests against Milei's veto of pension and healthcare budget increases had an effect: Congress overrode the president and voted last night to increase the appropriations he wanted to stop.

This is just the latest setback that Carlos Pagni lists in the right-wing newspaper La Nación.

"For Milei's party, which has few elected officials and lacks connections to the union or other institutions, faith in improvement is crucial," Pagni writes.

Since July, trust in the government has decreased by 14 percent, while reduced international trust is adding to the country's economic problems.

Allied politicians are beginning to demand results to show their voters, or at least more power. In the left-wing newspaper Anfibia, Cecilia Abdo Ferez writes that voters are no longer satisfied with rhetoric, but want solutions to their everyday problems. Milei's harsh tone, which some have seen as groundbreaking cheek, is starting to wear thin.

Mar Centerara says in her analysis in the Spanish El País podcast:

- People no longer want to be insulted, get angry or laugh at nothing. They want the money to last until the end of the month.

The political situation in Japan
Takaichi wants to become Japan's first female leader

Sanae Takaichi confirms that she is running in the election to become party leader of the Japanese governing party LDP, writes Bloomberg. She thus has a chance to become the first female prime minister in Japan's history.

- What Japan needs now is a strong policy that can handle the crises the country is facing, she told reporters on Thursday.

Takaichi, the 2022-2024 Minister of Economic Security, is described as a conservative and hardline politician and a critic of the central bank's interest rate hikes. She is seen as one of the favorites along with Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.

The election will be held on October 4, with votes from both members of parliament and party members across the country. 

Sagrada Familia "hopefully" finished in ten years

The eternal building that is the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona can "hopefully" be finished in ten years, said the project's chairman Esteve Camps on Thursday, Reuters reports.

- We cannot say whether it will take ten, eleven or twelve years, but we believe that under normal circumstances, without obstacles, it is likely that we can be finished in ten years.

In 2026, the goal is to complete the church's tallest tower, 172.5 meters high, just in time for the centenary of the death of architect Antoni Gaudí on June 10, reports AFP. Pope Leo XIV has been invited to lead a solemn mass on the day.

“We hope to get an answer this month,” says Esteve Camps.