Buenos Aires  - The Argentine cruise ship Ciudad de Ushuaia, with 122 people on board, called for help Thursday after getting stuck in the ice, suffering a fuel leak and letting in a "minimal" amount of water, the Argentine Navy said in Buenos Aires.

The ship's 89 passengers and a crew of 33 were "in perfect health," Admiral Daniel Alberto Martin told the news television channel C5N.

The problem happened some 300 kilometres south-west of Argentina's Antarctic base, Comodoro Marambio.

The Argentine Navy had sent a ship and an airplane to assist the troubled boat, while a cruise ship that was nearby was approaching it with a view to rescuing passengers.

Buenos Aires  - In a move to confront the growing threat of recession, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Tuesday announced a 21.5-billion-dollar (71-billion-peso) programme to create jobs in the construction industry.

The aim is to expand the number of jobs in the sector from 362,000 to 770,000, Kirchner said at the annual meeting of the building industry in Buenos Aires.

Details of the programme are to be unveiled on December 15.

Mar del Plata, Argentina  - Fighting Feliciano Lopez kept Spain in the chase for the Davis Cup title, overwhelming fatigued Argentine Juan Del Potro 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6
(7-4), 6-3 on Friday to pull the visitors to 1-1 in the final.

Lopez, substituted into singles by captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario, proved his worth as he stunned Del Potro, who has been feeling the effects of a long season where he won four titles back to back over the summer.

Mar del Plata, Argentina  - David Nalbandian kick-started what the hosts were hoping would be a dream weekend for Argentine as he produced a resounding 6-3,
6-2, 6-3 opening defeat of David Ferrer to open the Davis Cup final on Friday.

Spain's Ferrer had no answer for the South American playing in front of a fervent home crowd as Argentina bid for a first Davis Cup title after losing in two previous finals.

"I played a great match and we got the first point of the weekend," said Nalbandian after the victory lasting a shade under two hours. "I hope it can continue like this.

"It was a quick match played at a high level. I'm ready to play doubles tomorrow if the captain needs me."

Cairo  - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner arrived in Cairo Wednesday as part of a tour of the region that has included Algeria and Tunisia.

Mar del Plata, Argentina - Both teams are hoping that the weekend Davis Cup final between host Argentina and a Spain missing Rafael Nadal will not erupt in violence or bad behavior from the partisan South American crowd.

Sparks have already flown at the indoor hard court venue when a short circuit caused a minor electrical fire as Juan Del Potro and Argentine teammate Jose Acasuso were training.

While the hitting session was stopped for a few minutes which the flames were brought under control it might take more than a few extinguishers to calm passions when the weekend tie begins with singles on Friday.