Buenos Aires

BUENOS AIRES - Imagine the scenario: You have just spent the day shopping, and shiny plastic bags are littered at your feet as you chew the last forkful of the most succulent rib-eye steak you have ever tasted. The sommelier pours the last bit of a fruity Malbec into your glass, and you glance around, soaking up the minimalist room's bits of European-design eye candy. You order coffee and a caramel-filled crepe before confronting the check. And then you smile. Because, just as you have been doing with every receipt all day, you mentally take the total and divide it by three, to account for the phenomenal...

BUENOS AIRES - A mother in Argentina says she fell to her knees in shock after finding her baby alive in a coffin in the morgue nearly 12 hours after the girl had been declared dead. Analia Bouter named her newborn Luz Milagros, or "Miracle Light. " The tiny girl, born three months premature, was in critical but improving condition Wednesday in Hospital Perrando in Resistencia, the same facility where staff pronounced her stillborn on April 3. The case became public Tuesday when Rafael Sabatinelli, the deputy health minister in the northern province of Chaco, announced in a news conference...

How to get there The lowest round-trip airfare between Boston and Buenos Aires available at press time started at $781 on American Airlines. Up-to-date information on milongas, classes, and shows can be found at www.tangodata.com.ar . Also pick up the "Tango Map" by Caseron Porteno, available at most clubs. What to do Club Espanol B. de Irigoyen 172, second floor011 54 11 4823-8941An older crowd flocks to matinees at this gorgeous upscale venue. Milonga: Thursday, 4-11 p.m. La Confiteria Ideal Suipacha 384 (downtown)

NEW YORK - Mauricio Lasansky, an Argentina-born master printmaker who was equally well known for a series of drawings depicting the horrors of Nazism, died April 2 at his home in Iowa City. He was 97. The death was confirmed by his son Phillip. At his death, Mr. Lasansky was emeritus professor of art and art history at the University of Iowa, where he established its program in printmaking, long regarded as one of the country's finest, after joining the faculty in 1945. Although Mr. Lasansky was considered a wizard of printmaking technology, "The Nazi Drawings,"...

No. 2 Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat Potito Starace of Italy 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), at Copa Claro clay-court event on Tuesday. Gilles Simon of France defeated Rui Machado of Portugal 6-3, 7-5, and No. 5 Juan Monaco of Argentina advanced when Filippo Volandri of Italy retired in the second set with an injury. Monaco was leading 6-1, 3-1. Seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain defeated Eric Prodon of France 6-4, 6-1. Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina was upset by Albert Ramos of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. In other matches, Benoit Paire of France defeated Javier Marti of Spain 2-6, 7-6 (0)

THE FOREIGNERS By Maxine Swann Riverhead, 258 pp., $25.95 Staying in a foreign country for a prolonged period can induce a slightly disorienting blend of excitement and terror. The change of locale, customs, and often language can be both liberating and isolating. In her new novel "The Foreigners," Maxine Swann likens newcomers to invasive plants. "Once in a foreign environment, some species simply shrivel and die… . The seed can't get a grip in the ground. Others, however, due to the lack of the delicate balance of natural controls, suddenly grow...

BUENOS AIRES — I am about to make a dinner reservation, except that I don’t know where I’ll be eating. I’ve been told that once I book a table the location will be revealed. What is certain: I will be eating at one of the “puertas cerradas,’’ or closed-door restaurants, that are the rage here. These quirky, underground “anti-restaurants’’ are where many chefs serve their best dishes. “The closed-door restaurant concept, essentially an unofficial restaurant in a chef’s home, has existed for centuries in Buenos Aires,’’ says Paul Irvine of Dehouche,...

BUENOS AIRES — A brick from the Cavern Club, a check for 11 pounds signed by Ringo Starr, an “authentic’’ Beatles wig. These and thousands of other objects related to the Fab Four are luring Beatles fans to a new museum in Buenos Aires. The museum is the product of the particular obsession of Rodolfo Vazquez, a 53-year-old accountant who became a fan at the age of 10 when he got the “Rubber Soul’’ album. “With the song ‘In My Life’ I fell in love with the Beatles,’’ he told the Associated Press.

BUENOS AIRES - Runners flanked by rows of security carried the Olympic torch past thousands of jubilant Argentines yesterday as China supporters in red windbreakers tried to reverse weeks of bad publicity for the host of the Summer Games. People showered the parade route with confetti in a joyous celebration that sharply contrasted with the flame's chaotic last stops in Europe and the United States. No violence was reported from small groups of fenced-off demonstrators protesting China's human rights record, who exchanged jeers with pro-China...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station today, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds of morning commuters as passenger cars crumpled behind the engine. It was Argentina's worst train accident in decades. Federal Police Commissioner Nestor Rodriguez says the dead include 48 adults and one child. At least 550 people were injured, and emergency workers were slowly extracting dozens of people who were trapped inside the first car, said Alberto Crescenti, the city's emergency...

Juan Martin del Potro put Argentina into its third straight Davis Cup semifinal with a three-set victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic on Sunday. Del Potro won 6-1, 6-2, 6-1, to give Argentina an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five quarterfinal. Juan Monaco defeated Antonio Veic 6-1, 6-1 to wrap up the 4-1 victory. Argentina will face the Czech Republic in Buenos Aires in the semifinal on Sept. 14-16. Argentina lost last year's final against Spain and has been in the Davis Cup finals four times without winning.

Argentina's vice president said Thursday that he's a victim of a misguided judicial investigation and slanted news coverage after authorities raided an apartment he owns. A judge has been overseeing an investigation into whether Vice President Amado Boudou used his influence while he was economy minister in 2010 to help the printing company Ciccone Calcografica get out of bankruptcy and favor it with government contracts.Boudou told reporters that he is innocent and took "no action to favor Ciccone.

BUENOS AIRES - Eduardo Luis Duhalde - Argentina's human rights secretary, who was a prominent voice in denouncing abuses during the country's military dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s - has died. He was 72. The office of President Cristina Fernandez said that Mr. Duhalde died Tuesday in Buenos Aires. He had undergone surgery in February for an aortic aneurysm, and in recent days had suffered complications. He had been the country's human rights secretary since 2003, when he was appointed by Fernandez's husband, the late President Nestor Kirchner.

Argentine human rights secretary Eduardo Luis Duhalde, who was a prominent voice in denouncing abuses during the country's military dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s, has died. He was 72. President Cristina Fernandez's office said that Duhalde died on Tuesday in Buenos Aires. He had undergone surgery in February for an aortic aneurysm, and in recent days had suffered complications. Duhalde had been the country's human rights secretary since 2003, when he was appointed by Fernandez's husband, the late President Nestor Kirchner.

Defending champion Nicolas Almagro will meet fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the Copa Claro final. No. 2 seed Almagro defeated Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 on Saturday, and No. 1 Ferrer cruised past local favorite David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-1, 6-4. Almagro won the Brazil Open last weekend for his 11th ATP title — all on clay — and will go for No. 12 on Sunday. Almagro and Wawrinka remained on serve in the final set until Almagro broke in the last game.

BUENOS AIRES - Argentines desperately searched hospitals yesterday in hopes that loved ones survived a train crash that killed 50 people and sent hundreds to emergency rooms. A stunned government declared two days of mourning, with flags flying at half staff. A federal judge was leading an investigation of what caused the rush-hour commuter train to slam into a barrier at the end of the track at a downtown station, crumpling cars around 1,500 riders on Wednesday. Passengers said the train's motorman struggled repeatedly with the brakes during the journey, overrunning platforms and...

Defending champion Nicolas Almagro will meet fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the Copa Claro final. No. 2 seed Almagro defeated Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 on Saturday, and No. 1 Ferrer cruised past local favorite David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-1, 6-4. Almagro won the Brazil Open last weekend for his 11th ATP title — all on clay — and will go for No. 12 on Sunday. Almagro and Wawrinka remained on serve in the final set until Almagro broke in the last game.

Seeded players Gilles Simon of France and Fernando Verdasco of Spain were knocked out in the second round of the Copa Claro on Thursday. Carlos Berlocq of Argentina beat the third-seeded Simon 6-2, 6-1, and Igor Andreev of Russia downed No. 7 seed Verdasco 7-6 (3), 6-3 at the clay-court tournament. Argentina's David Nalbandian defeated No. 5 Monaco 6-3, 6-1. One more seeded player was scheduled to be in action later Thursday with No. 2 Nicolas Almagro of Spain up against Federico Delbonis, another Argentine.

Seeded players Gilles Simon of France and Fernando Verdasco of Spain were knocked out in the second round of the Copa Claro on Thursday. Carlos Berlocq of Argentina beat the third-seeded Simon 6-2, 6-1, and Igor Andreev of Russia downed No. 7 seed Verdasco 7-6 (3), 6-3 at the clay-court tournament. Argentina's David Nalbandian defeated No. 5 Monaco 6-3, 6-1. One more seeded player was scheduled to be in action later Thursday with No. 2 Nicolas Almagro of Spain up against Federico Delbonis, another Argentine.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station today, injuring at least 340 morning commuters, Argentina's transportation secretary said. ‘‘There are people still trapped, people alive, and there may have been fatalities. We don't know if there are dead people" in the wreckage, J.P. Schiavi told reporters at the station. The commuter train came in too fast and hit the barrier at the end of the platform at about 12 mph (20 kph)