News stories by Marcela Valente, page 22

Under the banner that gender inequality is one of the main drivers of the spread of AIDS, women from around the world are uniting to demand a stop to the epidemic among all females -- whether adults or girls.

Argentina is officially the first Latin American country to allow same-sex couples to marry, with the passage of a law Thursday that also permits gay couples to adopt children and to use assisted fertilisation to conceive a baby, rights that were hitherto restricted to heterosexual couples.

In contrast to what has happened in most countries that have switched from analogue to digital television, in Argentina the technological leap has begun with the poorest households.

Argentina was the first country in the world to adopt a national gender quota law to boost women's political participation. But nearly 20 years later, the legislation that inspired the rest of Latin America continues to run into resistance in one province.

In Santiago del Estero, one of the Argentine provinces hit hardest by deforestation and desertification, an oasis of native tree species is being created to restore the soil and entice back farmers who were forced to leave their land.

A mutual inspection system, like the one Argentina and Brazil have developed for the nuclear industry, could contribute to solving the conflict between Argentina and Uruguay over pulp mills on border rivers.

Tired of being sidelined in the job market because he was over 40, an Argentine computer specialist created a labour exchange for people his age and older, which in just a few months grew to nearly 6,000 people.

No one admits to providing them with support, but hundreds of Argentine football hooligans known as 'barras bravas' flew to South Africa for the World Cup and are threatening to cause disturbances if the football clubs do not get them tickets to the games.

A new school to train football referees to work amateur-level tournaments in Argentina aims at providing skills and a legitimate source of income for young people from poor homes.

'Violence against women is not only domestic, it also happens in the streets. Not having the right to feel safe in a city square or at a bus stop without someone bothering us, that's also violence.'