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Hundreds of thousands of Argentines have rallied in Buenos Aires to mark one month since the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman.

The protest was called by federal prosecutors and attended by Alberto Nisman’s family and opposition politicians.

They defied torrential rain to demand justice for Alberto Nisman, who had been investigating the government.

Prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead in his apartment on 18 January.

It is still not clear whether he killed himself or was murdered.

Alberto Nisman was investigating Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, the 1994 bombing of the Amia Jewish centre.Alberto Nisman rally Buenos Aires

The silent march was called by prosecutors demanding a full investigation.

Alberto Nisman’s ex-wife, federal judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, and their two daughters joined the demonstration, which lasted nearly two hours.

Similar protests took place across the country.

Argentines living in Spain, France, Israel and other countries also gathered to demand justice for Alberto Nisman.

Officials have denounced the march as a political move to weaken the government.

Alberto Nisman was found with a bullet wound to the head and a gun was lying next to him.

Days earlier, he had published a 300-page report in which he accused President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman of covering up Iran’s alleged role in the bombing.

His body was found just hours before he was due to appear before a congressional committee to present more details of his allegations.

News of Alberto Nisman’s death and its timing led to speculation among some Argentines that the government may have played a role in it.

The government has strongly denied both allegations.

In an open letter published on her website, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner suggested rogue intelligence agents had fed Alberto Nisman false information in order to destabilize her government.

She also said she was convinced Alberto Nisman’s death was not suicide.

Days later, the president announced she planned to dissolve Argentina’s intelligence service, SI.

Critics said the move was aimed at diverting attention away from Alberto Nisman’s death.

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Three people have been killed and more than 20 injured following a lightning strike on Villa Gesell beach, Argentina.

Reports from Villa Gesell, south-east of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, say the victims had been sheltering from a storm on the beach when the lightning struck.

Eyewitnesses spoke of a “terrible noise” and said some people were thrown in the air by the powerful bolt.

Lightning strike killed three people on Villa Gesell beach in Argentina

Lightning strike killed three people on Villa Gesell beach in Argentina

Many of the injured have suffered burns, two of them seriously.

“Most are out of danger, but there are two adult women in intensive care,” said Juan Chamorro, the head of a local hospital.

Those who died were aged 17, 19 and 21.

The beach town of Villa Gesell is located about 200 miles from Buenos Aires.

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A commuter train in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has crashed at the end of the line, leaving at least 35 people injured.

The train failed to stop as it arrived at Once station, crashing through the buffers and ending up wedged between the floor and ceiling of the platform.

The accident happened at the same station where 51 people were killed in a similar crash last year.

The cause of the accident remains unclear.

At least 35 people were injured Saturday morning when a train crashed in a Buenos Aires neighborhood

At least 35 people were injured Saturday morning when a train crashed in a Buenos Aires neighborhood

Saturday’s crash happened shortly after 07:00 local time.

The line from Moreno 25 miles west of Buenos Aires to Once station, operated by the Sarmiento train company, is normally a busy commuter line during the week, and its trains are usually packed with passengers.

Security Secretary Sergio Berni said some of those injured on Saturday had been waiting on the platform and were hurt by flying glass as the train’s windows shattered.

Jorge Ramirez, a chef who got on the train nine stations before the end of the line, told the AP news agency the accident was “a tragedy”.

“I saw people hurt, shouting, others thrown on the floor. The people in the first wagon ended up piled on top of each other,” he said.

After the 2012 crash, the authorities revoked a local company’s right to operate trains on the line and pledged to make new investments in safety.

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Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Argentine Bishop Fernando Bargallo after the publication of pictures showing him embracing a woman on a Mexican beach.

Bishop Fernando Bargallo, 57, was photographed in the sea, hugging a woman in a bikini.

The bishop initially said she was a childhood friend, but later admitted to having had “amorous ties” with her.

Bishop Fernando Bargallo was in charge of the diocese of Merlo-Moreno, in the province of Buenos Aires.

The scandal broke last week, when an Argentine television station broadcast pictures of Monsignor Fernando Bargallo on holiday at a beach resort in Mexico in the company of a woman.

Bishop Fernando Bargallo initially said the woman was a childhood friend, but later admitted to having had "amorous ties" with her

Bishop Fernando Bargallo initially said the woman was a childhood friend, but later admitted to having had "amorous ties" with her

In one of the pictures, he is seen half-submerged in the water, embracing a woman in a bikini.

Shortly after the pictures were published, Monsignor Fernando Bargallo gave a public statement saying that the woman was a childhood friend, whom he had known all of his life.

He said the situation in which he had been photographed was “imprudent, as it could lead people to jump to the wrong conclusion”.

Fernando Bargallo asked his flock to forgive him for “the ambiguity of the pictures” and urged them to view the photos “in the context of a long friendship”.

But later that same week, Monsignor Fernando Bargallo convened the priests of his diocese and told them he had had “amorous ties” with the woman and would resign.

The Vatican said he would be replaced by Monsignor Alcides Jorge Pedro Casaretto.

 

Argentine officials confirms 49 people have been killed and at least 600 injured in the worst train crash in the country in the last 40 years.

The train hit the end of the platform at Once station in the capital Buenos Aires during the morning rush hour.

“We assume that there was some fault in the brakes,” Transportation Secretary JP Schiavi said.

Dozens of people were trapped for hours in the wreckage but all have now been successfully taken to safety.

“The train was full and the impact was tremendous,” a passenger identified as Ezequiel told local television.

Medics at the scene were overwhelmed by the casualties, he added.

“People started to break windows and get out however they could,” another eyewitness told Reuters.

“Then I saw the engine destroyed and the train driver trapped amongst the steel. There were a lot of people hurt, a lot of kids, elderly,” the eyewitness added.

Police outside Once station had to “keep back the curious and concerned as paramedics treated the injured”, eyewitness Tom said.

 

Argentine officials confirms 49 people have been killed and at least 600 injured in the worst train crash in the country in the last 40 years

Argentine officials confirms 49 people have been killed and at least 600 injured in the worst train crash in the country in the last 40 years

 

The train had hit the barrier at about 12mph (20km/h), destroying the front of the engine and crunching the carriages behind it, JP Schiavi said.

One of the carriages was driven nearly 6m (20 ft) into the next, he added.

Survivors told local media that many people had been injured in a jumble of metal and glass.

Emergency medical system director Alberto Crescenti said that some passengers who survived had to have limbs amputated. Many suffered from arrested breathing and trauma to the thorax region.

Many are in a critical condition in the city’s hospitals and there are concerns that the death toll could rise.

Five similar accidents have occurred in and around the city in recent months.

Many parts of Argentina’s rail network are antiquated and in need of repair and this incident will increase concern about lack of investment in the system.

“This is the responsibility of a company that is known for insufficient maintenance and… improvisation,” Edgardo Reinoso of the train workers’ union told Reuters.

“Lack of controls” on the part of state agencies was also to blame, Edgardo Reinoso added.

In September 2011, 11 people died when a commuter train in Buenos Aires hit a bus crossing the tracks and then hit a second train coming into a station.

This latest accident is Argentina’s worst train crash since February 1970, when a train smashed into another at full speed in suburban Buenos Aires, killing 200 people.

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Around 100 left-wing activists have protested by burning Union flags outside the British embassy in Buenos Aires on Friday to demand Argentina break off diplomatic relations with the UK over the Falkland Islands dispute.

Tension has been increasing ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War in April.

Argentina is demanding talks on its claim to sovereignty over the territory, which it calls Las Malvinas.

But the UK has reaffirmed that the Falklands will remain British for as long as its inhabitants want.

Around 100 left-wing activists have protested by burning Union flags outside the British embassy in Buenos Aires on Friday to demand Argentina break off diplomatic relations with the UK over the Falkland Islands dispute

Around 100 left-wing activists have protested by burning Union flags outside the British embassy in Buenos Aires on Friday to demand Argentina break off diplomatic relations with the UK over the Falkland Islands dispute

The protest in Buenos Aires was organized by the Socialist Workers’ Movement (MST).

Activists carried banners reading “Government break off relations now,” and “English out of the Malvinas”.

“It is unacceptable that they send reinforcements and that the little prince (William) should come on manoeuvres,” said protest leader Wilma Ripoll of the MST.

Willma Ripoll added that her group was planning further protests before Prince William – who is the second in line to the British throne – arrives in the Falklands next month for a tour of duty as a helicopter rescue pilot.

The protest comes amid an escalating war of words between London and Buenos Aires over the Falklands.

Argentine leaders were particularly angered by comments made by the British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday, when he said Argentina’s demand for sovereignty was “like colonialism” because it ignored the islanders’ right to self-determination.

He also said he had reviewed the Falklands’ military defenses and was prepared to send reinforcements if necessary.

Tension over the remote South Atlantic archipelago has been growing since 2010, when British companies began drilling for oil in waters off the Falklands.

Argentina has been rallying support for its claim from other Latin American nations, and President Cristina Fernandez has accused Britain of “arrogance” and “taking Argentine resources”.

Britain has held the islands since the 1830s, but Argentina insists it has a prior claim and in 1982 launched an invasion.

A British task force recaptured the islands in a short but bloody war in which 649 Argentine and 255 British servicemen were killed.

The US has called for dialogue between London and Buenos Aires to resolve the dispute.

“We recognize de facto UK administration of the islands, but take no position regarding sovereignty,” the State Department said.

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