Roberto A. Ferdman

Global temperatures are rising at an alarming rate; already, nine of warmest years in recorded history have been logged since the turn of the century, and 2010 was the warmest to date. Now, a new NASA-led study carried out over a 50-year period raises more alarm bells: Higher temperatures are causing tropical forests to absorb less and less of the atmosphere-eroding carbon dioxide the world produces.

Last year, Brazil posted its worst trade performance in a decade—a $19.43 billion trade surplus, down from a nearly $30 billion surplus the previous year. But this year is looking far worse; the country has eliminated its surplus completely and gone into deficit. In January, Brazil posted an over $4 billion deficit, its largest monthly deficit in history. And at present, its half-year deficit of $3 billion is its worst in almost 20 years.

Argentina’s trade balance for June—the net difference between its exports and imports for the month—just jumped 27% from a year earlier to $1.16 billion, according to its national statistics bureau (INEC). That’s welcome news for a country struggling to gather foreign cash to start paying off its myriad foreign debts.

Heart disease, cancer and diabetes, continue to plague the world, but another cause of death is quickly creeping its way up the list. According to new data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), for the first time ever car accidents have breached the top ten list for causes of death worldwide.

Life isn’t easy in Brazil these days—just ask Brazilians. The country’s consumer confidence index, which measures how optimistic people are about the economy and state of their own financial situation, just dropped to its lowest reading in three years.

Pope Francis was on the ground in Brazil just a few hours today before the first bomb plot was unearthed. AFP reports that a makeshift explosive device was found in the bathroom of the parking garage at the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, which the pope is scheduled to visit on Wednesday.

The numbers: Disappointing. Revenues rose 2.4% to $7.08 billion. McDonald’s profits increased 3.7% to $1.4 billion. But both came in below analyst expectations. Global same sale stores, however rose 1%—although same store sales in Europe and the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region fell .1% and .3%, respectively. McDonald’s shares were down nearly 3% in premarket trading, and tumbled another nearly 2% in early morning trading.

You’ve heard the joke: What’s the one problem with Paris? Parisians. In attempt to counter that stereotype, the city’s tourism board and the Paris Chamber of Commerce have issued a helpful guide to cabbies and other locals on how to welcome foreign guests. (One tip, for example: the British like to be called by their first name.)

The capture of Mexican drug lord Miguel Angel Treviño Morales earlier this week has brought Mexico’s crime scene into the limelight, but its criminal justice system is perhaps what most deserves scrutiny.

After what looked liked a cool down in Argentina’s black market for US dollars, the exchange rate is heating up again. And fast.

Hosting the Olympic games is a dream most cities will never realize. But reaching the round of three, as Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid have in their bids to host the 2020 Olympics, is an honor in itself.

The numbers: Mixed. Mammoth toymaker Mattel posted a quarterly profit of $78.3 million, or $0.21 per share, well below analyst expectations of $0.31 per share. Revenue edged up 1% from a year earlier to $1.17 billion. Mattel’s quarter was mired by asset impairment charges; the company has yet to specify the amount of the charges, but they are presumably substantial given the disappointing net income numbers.

Spain’s illicit economy—all that is unaccounted for because it’s illegal or unreported—is worth an unseemly 20% of the country’s GDP, according to a new report by Spain’s Foundation for Financial Studies (FEF). That’s higher than every other country in the European Union except Italy, with 21%.

One of the world’s biggest wine companies can’t seem to get US demand right, and it’s costing them millions of dollars and thousands of gallons of wine.

While Brazil’s once-richest man fumbles away tens of millions of dollars a day, his successor to the title is amassing a fortune.

Say what you will about China’s space ambitions—they are real, they are exciting, and they have come a long way.

The good news is Venezuela’s monthly inflation rate slowed from a record high in May to 4.7% in June. The bad news is that bumps its annualized rate (the expected year-over-year rate) up to an astronomical 39.6%, just short of the much feared hyperinflation levels.

The numbers: Weak. Total revenues rose 9% to $2.57 billion in Family Dollar Stores’s third quarter, but profit at the dollar discount store fell 2.9% to $120.9 million due to dwindling profit margins. The company’s profit forecast for the fourth quarter is grim, consistent with overall negative expectations. But analysts expected an even worse showing, and shares rose 2.5% in pre-market trading.

In the Mexican beer business, cash is the surest way for beer companies to win a vendor’s heart. The country’s lucrative beer market is the world’s fifth largest by volume, and yet only two companies, AB InBev’s Modelo and Heineken NV’s Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, sell 98% of the country’s beer (55% and 43%, respectively). But companies like Britain’s SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer by sales, are hoping a looming antitrust decision might help them get a leg up in the country.

One of the (many) oddities of the relationship between North Korea and South Korea is the Kaesong industrial zone jointly operated by the two countries—and, until recently, its continued operation even amid escalating hostilities between the two nations.

China just cut the ribbon on the world’s new largest building.

The World Meteorological Organization just released its Global Climate Report (pdf), which wastes no time in announcing a stark truth. The report’s first sentence: “The first decade of the 21st century was the warmest decade recorded since modern measurements began around 1850.”

Argentina has a history of inventing strange financial instruments to boost its problematic currency.

According to a new report released by the United Nations, the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions will reach a projected 6.8 billion by the end of 2013. That means that in only 6 months, there will be nearly as many mobile phone subscriptions as there are people in the world (at present the global population is just over 7 billion).