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Fierce critic of his country's dictatorship and dirty war against the left ...

s newly created Malvinas secretary has told the Guardian. In his first interview with the international media since taking the post on Monday, Daniel Filmus also warned that companies involved in exploration of the disputed areas will be disqualified from potentially more lucrative work in Vaca Muerta (the giant shale oil deposit in Argentina's Patagonia region) and offshore areas. "We will go to the...

Emergency services attend a beach in Buenos Aires, where lightning killed three people and injured a further 15 ...

More than 20 others injured as sudden electrical storm hits coastal township of Villa Gesell, authorities say ...

Creation of new post comes amid escalation of nationalistic rhetoric in both London and Buenos Aires over disputed islands The Argentinian president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, has opened a fresh bureaucratic front on the Falklands issue by creating a new government post of Malvinas secretary. The first holder of the position, Daniel Filmus, immediately accused Britain of double standards and...

s 'shameful' attempt to deter oil exploration in its waters Argentina has stepped up a diplomatic offensive over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands with its foreign minister taking a direct swipe at David Cameron. Héctor Timerman accused the prime minister of "forgetting the peace message … that Christmas should inspire" by stressing in his festive message the UK's commitment to defend the disputed...

s 22,841ft mount Aconcagua A nine-year-old boy from southern California has become the youngest person in history to reach the summit of Argentina's Aconcagua mountain, which at 22,841 feet (6,962 metres) is the tallest peak in the western and southern hemispheres. Tyler Armstrong of Yorba Linda reached the summit on Christmas Eve with his father Kevin and a Tibetan sherpa, Lhawang Dhondup, who has...

Girl, seven, had part of her finger bitten off in incident at popular beach in Argentina A shoal of biting fish injured more than 70 bathers who were cooling off at a popular beach during a holiday heatwave in Argentina, a medical official said on Thursday. A seven-year-old girl had her finger partially amputated and dozens more were bitten on their extremities by the fish, a relative of the piranha,...

Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series ...

s oil wealth – had powered the resurgence of the Latin American left in the 21st century. With Chávez gone, the crowds returned again and again during the following weeks either to support or condemn his successor, Nicolás Maduro, who was always going to find it difficult to fill the huge political space left by his predecessor. As some clashes turned violent, there were a handful of deaths. But despite...

Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series ...

s brutal dictatorship but his close friend Esther Careaga wasn't so lucky. We reveal the story of an extraordinary friendship He was in his late teens and still some years away from entering the Jesuit Order. She was in her mid-30s, a revolutionary and a feminist far ahead of her time. They met around 1953 or 1954 in the most unlikely of places – a laboratory where she worked as a pharmaceutical biochemist...

s governor to become her cabinet chief, to publicly shoulder the responsibility. Initially he blamed one of her political rivals, Cordoba's governor, Jose de la Sota, for failing to contain the trouble. But as the officer died in Capitanich...

s 23 provinces, and most business shut down in many cities before the December holidays, when Argentina's simmering conflicts have a history of exploding in the summer heat. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, said the crimes were premeditated acts by groups that wanted to generate chaos on the eve of the 30th anniversary of Argentina's return to democracy. "In...

s second largest city. The violence in Córdoba began on Tuesday night and has continued on Wednesday morning, with storefronts being shattered, mobs stealing merchandise, robbers attacking people in the streets and vigilantes arming themselves to protect their homes. Supermarkets and a mobile television van recording the violence were attacked on Wednesday, even as officers and provincial authorities...

s attempts to promote and authorise hydrocarbon exploration off the islands. The Falklands have been at the centre of a sovereignty dispute between Britain and Argentina for almost 200 years, with the two countries going to war in 1982. David Cameron, also in dispute with Spain over Gibraltar, has publicly rejected Argentina...

s success. For example, despite their common historical and cultural roots, North and South Korea are very different societies. The former has a considerably lower standard of living, owing to its communist government and centrally planned economy, which contrast sharply with South Korea's democratic government and mixed capitalist economy. Germany's experience after the second world war provides another...

World No2 Novak Djokovic visits a school in Buenos Aires to give tennis lessons to the schoolchildren ...

s roots in the US was always part of the plan, says Icann...

s top 10 most polluted places due to jewellery and other chemical processing Parts of Argentina, Indonesia and Nigeria are among the top 10 most polluted places on the planet, according to a report by US and European environmental groups. In these extraordinarily toxic places lifespans are short and disease runs rampant among millions of people who live and work there, often to provide the products...