Plane crash kills 22 in Argentina

All 22 people aboard a commuter plane were killed when it crashed in southern Argentina, the airline said Thursday.

The Sol Lineas Aereas plane was headed to the city of Comodoro Rivadavia from Neuquen on Wednesday night when the pilot issued a distress call, said airline spokesman David Avellanda.

Shortly after, the plane went off the radar, he said. It had on board 18 adult passengers, a child and three crew members.

Authorities later found the wreckage of the plane in Rio Negro province. There were no signs of survivors, the airline's website said.

"Last night, when the emergency happened, we put in place a search and rescue operation in the area, which at the time was experiencing very bad weather conditions," said a spokesman for the country's National Civil Aviation Administration, according to the state-run Telam news agency.

Once the wreckage was found, federal investigators were called to the scene to determine the cause of the crash, he said.

On Thursday, the company suspended some flights from the Falklands and rerouted those planes to mainland Argentina, where they would be used to transport the family members of the victims, the company said.

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http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/05/19/argentina.plane.crash/

Argentina woman survives 23-storey hotel fall

The aftermath of the fall was captured by a passer-by with a mobile phone

A young woman has survived after falling from the 23rd floor of a hotel in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.

Her fall was broken by a taxi, whose driver got out moments before the impact crushed the roof and shattered the windscreen.

Eyewitness said the woman had climbed over a safety barrier and leapt from a restaurant at the top of the Hotel Crown Plaza Panamericano.

She was taken to intensive care for treatment for multiple injuries.

The woman, who has not been named, is reported to be an Argentine in her 20s.

The taxi driver, named by local media as Miguel, said he got out of his vehicle just before the impact after noticing a policeman looking up.

"I got out of the car a second before. If I had not got out, I would have been killed," he told Radio 10.

"I was only 10 metres from the impact. It made a terrible noise," he added.

The Hotel Crown Plaza Panamericano overlooks the Obelisk, one of the best known landmarks in Buenos Aires.


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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12270609

Argentina Joins Brazil in Recognizing Palestinian State

Argentina's government has announced that it recognizes the Palestinian territories as an independent state within their pre-1967 borders, following a similar move days earlier by neighboring Brazil.

The Argentine foreign ministry said Monday that President Cristina Fernandez had informed her Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, of the decision in a letter.

The ministry said the recognition is in response to a request made by Mr. Abbas during a visit to Argentina last year. It comes three days after Brazil's recognition, also in response to a similar request.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said Monday that he expects Uruguay and Paraguay to recognize Palestinian statehood in the next few days, followed by Bolivia and Ecuador.

Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said more than 100 countries have recognized Palestine as a state within the borders it had before Israel seized control of the West Bank in 1967.

Israel's foreign ministry called Argentina's announcement "regrettable," and said it would not change the situation between Israel and the Palestinians.

U.S. lawmakers last week had condemned Brazil's recognition as "severely misguided" and "regrettable."

The announcements by the South American countries come as Middle East peace talks remain suspended. The Palestinians withdrew from direct negotiations when Israel in September refused to extend a temporary freeze on new settlement construction in the West Bank.

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http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Argentina-Joins-Brazil-in-Recognizing-Palestinian-State-111418479.html