Buenos Aires - A French motorcyclist competing in the Dakar Rally has been found dead during the race in Argentina, it was reported Wednesday.

La Nacion newspaper quoted rally organizers as saying the body of 49-year-old Pascal Terry was found about 15 metres from the route used during Sunday's second stage.

The Yamaha rider had gone missing during the stage between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madryn in the province of Chubut.

Police are investigating the death, the report said.

Buenos Aires  - The order to release of 12 torture suspects from Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship unleashed a storm of condemnation from President Cristina Kirchner as well as human rights organizations in Argentina Thursday.

Justice officials said that 12 of the charged former military figures must be released from investigatory detention because a deadline had expired beyond which suspects could not be held without a legal judgement.

The Attorney General said it would appeal the decision.

Buenos Aires  - Argentina's Senate Wednesday voted 42 to 21 to approve the nationalization of the financially troubled airline Aerolineas Argentinas and its regional subsidiary Austral, taking another step in a project that has been under discussion for months.

The vote follows similar approval by the lower Chamber of Deputies on December 3.

Both airlines are owned by the Spanish travel conglomerate Grupo Marsans, which has already signalled its intention to fight the takeover in court.

At issue was not the return of the airlines to national ownership, which was basically approved in September, but rather the price to be paid.

Buenos Aires  - Fossils of a 5-metre-long short-armed flesh- eating dinosaur previously unknown to scientists have been found in Argentina, the scientist who headed the excavation said Wednesday in Buenos Aires.

The body of the estimated 370-kilogram creature may have also been covered with feathers and could provide an important link to understanding how dinosaurs developed the capability of flight, said Fernando Novas, the paleontologist who lead the dig in the southernmost province of Patagonia.

Buenos Aires - Argentine officials sprang a Davis Cup surprise with their selection on Wednesday of unknown Modesto Vazquez as new captain for the 2008 finalists.

The 59-year-old replaces Alberto Mancini, who stepped down after his side lost to Spain in the final only weeks ago.

"We have chosen two professionals with a lot of experience and long careers in tennis," said Enrique Morea, president of the Argentine federation.

Vazquez is working as federation development director, but played ties for his South American nation in 1968 and 1970.

Buenos Aires  - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner announced Monday a short- and medium-term public works plan worth more than 32.2 billion dollars, aimed at generating employment and economic activity at a time of global economic crisis.

The plan's execution is to be decentralized, and provincial and town governments will be in charge of its implementation. It will include the building of new homes, hospitals, schools, roads, railroads and gas and power distribution networks.