News stories by Marcela Valente, page 3

BUENOS AIRES, May 12 (IPS) - Argentina is one of the countries in Latin America with the highest levels of vaccination coverage. But experts are concerned about the growing campaign by vaccine critics against immunisation.

BUENOS AIRES, May 06 (IPS) - Despite the enormous distance between the two countries, Argentina has become an increasingly frequent destination for migrants from the Dominican Republic, especially women, who are vulnerable to falling prey to sexual exploitation networks.

BUENOS AIRES, Apr 30 (IPS) - The enthusiasm of the government and oil and gas companies over Argentina's unconventional fuel potential has come up against fierce opposition from communities living near the country's shale gas reserves and environmental organisations.

BUENOS AIRES, Apr 26 (IPS) - Comprehensive judicial reforms pushed by the government of Argentina on the argument that they will democratise the justice system are moving ahead in Congress in the midst of staunch resistance by the opposition, heated debate, and threats of future lawsuits challenging them as unconstitutional.

BUENOS AIRES, Apr 16 (IPS) - Gated residential communities on the Paraná Delta have sprawled out of control in recent years, and are plugging up the local ecosystem and preventing the natural runoff of water that cushions the impact of floods in a vast area near the Argentine capital.

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 27 (IPS) - The fate of countries with major debt problems is at stake in federal courts in New York, which are to decide in April whether or not they accept Argentina's proposal to the bondholders who rejected two restructurings of sovereign debt.

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 22 (IPS) - The new pope's choice of the name Francis, to honour the Catholic Church's patron saint of animals and the environment, has awakened the hopes of ecologists and others who are concerned about rampant consumerism and the deterioration of the planet.

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 16 (IPS) - Argentine archbishop Jorge Bergoglio was selected as pope at a time when the Roman Catholic Church in this South American country is facing a rebellion by priests and laypersons who reject the role of the church leadership during the 1976-1983 dictatorship and the lack of reparations for past omissions and complicities.

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 14 (IPS) - The selection of a Latin American pope, who is known for his austere lifestyle and his work with the poor, has created a stir among Catholics in the region, who are confident that Pope Francis will help bolster the Vatican's tarnished reputation.

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 13 (IPS) - In search of a more transparent and agile justice system that is less authoritarian and bureaucratic, judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers and legal experts in Argentina are pressing for reforms to modernise the judicial branch and make it more democratic.