News stories by Marcela Valente, page 29

A new collection of children’s books in Argentina shows women in jobs and professions that are traditionally held by men, challenging sexist preconceptions.

More than half of all children in Argentina are at risk of illness because of lack of access to clean, running water, while a large proportion are also threatened by polluting industries and the use of pesticides in agriculture, according to a study by the ombudsman’s office.

Glyphosate, the herbicide used on soybeans in Argentina, causes malformations in amphibian embryos, say scientists here who revealed the findings of a study that has not yet been published.

Accelerated warming in the Antarctic Peninsula has caused the loss of over 85 percent of the ice shelves surrounding the northern half of the peninsula in the last 20 years, experts say.

'He’s the favourite. I always have to let him play,' complains a boy with a mentally disabled brother. 'Will she have to come live with me?' is a common worry among siblings of the disabled.

While a dispute between Argentina and Uruguay over a pulp mill simmers on, a new environmental conflict over a border river is taking shape, this time involving a hydroelectric dam between Argentina and Brazil.

Former president Nestor Kirchner, while having no official government post, calls and receives ministers and governors, confidently choosing staff and distributing funds for public works projects.

Severe drought, which is many parts of Argentina is considered the worst in 100 years, has hit the country’s most agriculturally productive region and is expected to cause a sharp decline in grain and meat output.

On the brink of a split in the global Anglican Communion that no one is eager to enlarge on, the Province of the Southern Cone of South America has become a temporary refuge for conservative bishops from the United States who refuse to countenance the liberal positions taken by the Church in their country.

An Argentine court order to release on bail nearly 20 officers accused of committing human rights abuses during the 1976-1983 dictatorship shows the slow-moving justice system’s limitations in dealing with cases against those prosecuted for crimes against humanity, say activists.