
A federal judge charged former Argentine president Fernando de la Rua with five counts of manslaughter Tuesday in connection with bloody street riots in December 2001 when his administration collapsed plunging Argentina to its most serious economic meltdown in recent times.

All Argentine public opinion polls released over the weekend show the incumbent candidate First Lady Cristina Kirchner winning the presidential election next Sunday with no need for a run off although in the last few days opposition candidates advanced 8.3 percentage points in vote intention.

Insecurity is the growing, sustained concern among Argentines according to a public opinion poll published Sunday in Buenos Aires daily La Nacion. Poliarquia Consultants state that 39.3% of Argentine residents consider insecurity the country's main problem, which also represents a 12.1 percentage point advance over September's opinion poll.

Inflationary pressures are building in Argentina and there is room for further interest rate increases, a senior IMF official said Wednesday. The warning follows statements earlier in the week by outgoing IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato.

Argentina is collecting information and preparing presentations for seabed claims in the South Atlantic and Antarctica confirmed this week Foreign Affairs minister Jorge Taiana.
Argentina is forecasted to expand 5.5% in 2008, the strongest in the region behind Venezuela and Peru according to prospects from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund released Wednesday.

Norwegian flagged vessel Nordnorge opened this week in Buenos Aires the Argentine cruise season which will extend until April 2 next year and include at least 99 calls of major cruise vessels, according to the local Tourist Office.

With less than two weeks before Argentina's presidential election the positive image of President Nestor Kirchner is at its lowest since taking office in May 2003, which is not necessarily good news for the incumbent candidate and First Lady, Senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

A team of Argentine and Brazilian paleontologists announced the discovery of a new dinosaur species ? a giant, Patagonian plant-eater ? that lived 88 million years ago.

Argentina seems to be heading for a record crop of 100 million tons, five million more than the 2006/07 record, and with even higher prices, in money terms this could mean an overall additional four billion US dollars.