Buenos Aires - The ongoing global financial crisis has reached the Argentine car industry, with Renault's local branch on Friday suspending 1,000 workers for 10 days.

After sales fell in October, for the first in five years, the press spokesman for the Argentine Mechanics' Union SMATA, Leonardo Almada, noted that the move is set to affect "practically the whole" Renault plant in the central city of Cordoba.

Workers were to obtain 70 per cent of their regular salaries during the suspension.

Buenos Aires - Diego Simeone resigned Friday as coach of Argentine football club River Plate, hours after the team's elimination from the Copa Sudamericana in the quarterfinals, at the hands of Mexican side Chivas.

"Simeone asked us for a meeting and informed us that he stopped being (River Plate's) coach as from the game on Sunday," River Plate football department top official Roberto Cuina confirmed.

Buenos Aires - Half-an-hour's train ride from Buenos Aires lies the suburb of Jose Leon Suarez, with its dirt streets and homes made of wooden planks and scraps of metal.

The path passes by a river containing more rubbish than water. Here and there, the garbage piles up and the stench of burning plastic pollutes the air.

This path leads to the Vicente Catalano Centre for mothers and families.

Gottfried Stein, a correspondent for Germany's ARD radio based in South America, and his wife, Renate, opened the facility in 2007. They obtained funds from the Stuttgart-based International Network of Centres for Mothers and Families, in whose executive committee Renate sits.

Buenos Aires - The triumph of Democratic can

Buenos Aires - Former Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona, officially appointed to coach Argentina Tuesday, said the new position was "a dream come true".

"For me it is an honour and a dream come true to be the coach of the Argentine national team, at the side of Carlos Bilardo. I will give my everything so that things go well for us," Maradona said in a press conference.

Rio de Janeiro - Brazil coach Carlos Dunga on Monday played down his rivalry with Diego Maradona, after the new Argentina coach had criticized Dunga last week.

"I hope things go well for him," Dunga said.

After his controversial appointment last week as coach, Maradona recalled his playing days, when he had led Argentina on the pitch to the 1986 World Cup and Dunga had captained Brazil to the 1994 World Cup.