Argentina

Former leader accused of using a broker married to his personal secretary to secure government insurance policies.

Argentina’s former President, Alberto Fernandez, has been ordered to stand trial for alleged corruption related to insurance policies taken out by the government for the public sector during his 2019-2023 term.

Fernandez will be prosecuted for “negotiations incompatible with the exercise of public office”, according to Judge Sebastian Casanello’s ruling published in Argentinian media on Thursday, and confirmed by the former leader’s lawyer, Mariana Barbitta.

The 66-year-old stands accused of fraudulent administration over his government’s use of brokers – one of whom allegedly had ties to his office – to contract insurance policies that could have been negotiated directly.

The judge noted in his order that in December 2021, in the middle of his presidency, Fernandez issued a decree that forced the entire public sector to contract exclusively with Nacion Seguros SA, an insurance company then led by Alberto Pagliano, a friend of Fernandez.

It resulted in a boon and tremendous growth for the company.

The main broker of the deal was allegedly the husband of Fernandez’s personal secretary.

The court ordered a freeze on about $10m of Fernandez’s assets as the case proceeds, according to Thursday’s ruling.

Some 33 other people are also named in the case. Fernandez did not immediately comment on the case.

Fernandez did not seek re-election after serving a single term, handing the keys of the presidential palace to self-described “anarcho-capitalist” President Javier Milei in December 2023.

The corruption allegations emerged when a court ordered an examination of his secretary’s phone while investigating assault claims made against Fernandez by his ex-partner Fabiola Yanez.

Yanez filed a complaint accusing Fernandez of having beaten her during their relationship, which ended after he left office.

He faces a separate trial on charges of domestic abuse.

Fernandez’s leftist Peronist movement, which dominated Argentinian politics for most of the country’s post-war history, has been dogged by allegations of corruption.

Ex-President Cristina Kirchner, another senior Peronist, is serving a six-year sentence under house arrest after being convicted of fraud involving public works contracts awarded during her two terms.

Henry Slade is out of the tour of Argentina and the United States with a hand injury, leaving England with inexperienced midfield options as they attempt to seal a series win over the Pumas.

Slade played the full 80 minutes in the 35-12 first-Test win over Argentina in La Plata on Saturday but will miss the rematch in San Juan this weekend.

Seb Atkinson made his first Test appearance in La Plata while Max Ojomoh, Luke Northmore and Oscar Beard – the other specialist centres in the 36-player squad – are still uncapped.

Fraser Dingwall and Ollie Lawrence, who emerged as England’s first-choice midfield during the Six Nations, are both injured while the versatile Elliot Daly has returned from the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia with a fractured arm.

Slade, who won his 73rd England cap against Argentina, was also a back-up option at fly-half, with uncapped Charlie Atkinson the only direct cover for the experienced George Ford.

Co-captains Ford and Jamie George and flanker Sam Underhill – with 102, 100 and 41 caps respectively – are now the only players with more than 40 caps in the squad.

England, whose tour will conclude with a one-off Test against the United States on 19 July, have no plans to summon a replacement for Slade.

Steve Borthwick’s side produced one of their best performances of the head coach’s reign in La Plata, surviving the sin-binning of Alex Coles and Seb Atkinson to lead 3-0 at half-time, before accelerating away to victory via four second-half tries.

The win takes England above their opponents to fifth in the world ranking.

The Pumas, who rested some of their France-based players for the first Test, have brought in Bordeaux-Begles second row Guido Petti for the second game.

The 30-year-old, who scored a try in their Top 14 final loss against Toulouse on 28 June, will join up with Harlequins next season.

England: Steward; Roebuck, Slade, S Atkinson, Muir; Ford, Spencer; Baxter, George, Heyes, Ewels, Coles, B Curry, Underhill, Willis.

Replacements: Dan, Rodd, Opoku-Fordjour, Cunningham-South, Pepper, Dombrandt, Van Poortvliet, Murley.

Argentina: Elizalde; Isgro, Cinti, Piccardo, Cordero, Carreras, Bertranou; Vicas, Montoya, Delgado, Paulos, Rubiolo, Matera, Gonzalez, Isa.

Replacements: Bernasconi, Gallo, Marchetti, Grondona, Moro, Cruz, Roger, Moroni.

Referee: Angus Gardner (Aus)

Assitant referees: Luc Ramos (Fra) and Gianluca Gnecchi (Ita)

TMO: Olly Hodges (Ire)

British and Irish Lions: Marcus Smith; Tommy Freeman, Sione Tuipulotu, Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham, Maro Itoje (capt), Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl.

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Pierre Schoeman, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Cummings, Henry Pollock, Tomos Williams, Elliot Daly, Mack Hansen.

Argentina: Santiago Carreras; Rodrigo Isgro, Lucio Cinti, Justo Piccardo, Ignacio Mendy; Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Garcia; Mayco Vivas, Julian Montoya (capt), Joel Sclavi, Franco Molina, Pedro Rubiolo, Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo

Replacements: Bautista Bernasconi, Boris Wenger, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Santiago Grondona, Joaquin Moro, Simon Benitez Cruz, Matias Moroni, Santiago Cordero

Sin-bin: Vivas 45

Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)

Assistant referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) and Andrea Piardi (Italy)

TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

Yellow card – Mayco Vivas (Argentina)

Penalty try – British & Irish Lions

Few things are as inevitable as the ball hitting the back of the net when Lionel Messi sizes up the target before executing a free-kick from 20 yards.

Messi reminded world football – if we even needed a reminder – that he is still capable of delivering special moments during Inter Miami’s 2-1 win over Porto at the Fifa Club World Cup.

The 37-year-old’s free-kick was vintage, trademark, and there was nothing goalkeeper Claudio Ramos could do to save it.

This is, of course, a man who scored an eye-watering 73 goals in 60 appearances across all competitions during the 2011-12 season for Barcelona.

Standing centrally and on the edge of the D, the goal was at Messi’s mercy, but he elected for the more difficult of the two options – going both over the wall and to the goalkeeper’s side.

With that strike his 68th goal from direct free-kicks, Messi certainly has no shortage of experience and doesn’t lack in anything when it comes to confidence.

Only Juninho Pernambucano (77), who spent most of his career with Lyon and Pele (70) have scored more direct free-kicks than Messi.

“Touched by God, isn’t he? Incredible. What a player,” former Portugal defender Jose Fonte said on Dazn.

“If you get a chance to go see this guy live – you go and see him. This is what he does,” ex-Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given added on Dazn.

“It’s nearly like a penalty for him – he is so precise. He is a genius.

“You call him maestro, magician, the words run out.”

Messi’s strike followed another stunning finish from team-mate Telasco Segovia and completed a comeback victory to put Inter Miami firmly in the running for a spot in the last 16 at the Club World Cup.

It is the first time the MLS franchise have won a game at the competition and means a draw in their final Group A game against Brazilian outfit Palmeiras, who sit top, would send both teams through.

Protesters have denounced the leader’s incarceration and ban from public office as an act of political retribution.

A federal court in Argentina has granted former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner house arrest to serve her six-year sentence for corruption charges.

On Tuesday, the court decided that the 72-year-old Fernandez’s age and visibility as a political figure made house arrest a reasonable option for her confinement.

Just three years ago, in 2022, the popular left-wing leader faced an assassination attempt, wherein an assailant aimed a pistol at her head. The court cited such dangers in its decision, saying Fernandez’s safety “would become complex in a situation of prison confinement in coexistence with any type of prison population”.

It is not uncommon for courts in Argentina to permit house arrest for individuals of advanced age as well.

The former president’s house arrest must begin immediately, the court ruled. It also explained that she would be subject to electronic monitoring. She will serve out her sentence at her apartment in Buenos Aires that she shares with her daughter and granddaughter.

Fernandez, the court said, “must remain at the registered address, an obligation that she may not break except in exceptional situations”.  Any future visitors to the apartment — outside of household staff, healthcare workers and other approved individuals — will have to be vetted by the court.

The former president’s incarceration comes after Argentina’s Supreme Court last week upheld her conviction and barred her from running for public office ever again.

She was found guilty in 2022 of using public works projects, including roadways, to give beneficial contracts to a close associate of her family, Lazaro Baez. Prosecutors said the contracts awarded to Baez had rates 20 percent higher than normal — a sum that could translate to millions of dollars.

Other scandals have dogged her political career, including accusations of bribery and money laundering. Some of those cases continue to be weighed by Argentina’s judicial system.

But Fernandez has dismissed the allegations against her as political attacks. She had been preparing to launch a bid in this year’s legislative elections, until the ban on her candidacy.

Fernandez served as Argentina’s president from 2007 to 2015, after succeeding her husband, the late Nestor Kirchner.

In 2019, four years after she left the Casa Rosada — the “Pink House” of the presidency — Fernandez returned to the executive branch as vice president to Alberto Fernandez, another left-wing politician.

Both Fernandez and Alberto Fernandez — who share no familial relation — faced sharp criticism for their management of Argentina’s economy, including their heavy reliance on government spending and their devaluation of the country’s peso through the printing of excess currency.

But particularly among working-class Argentinians, Fernandez continues to enjoy substantial popularity, particularly for her investments in social programmes to alleviate poverty.

Since 2024, Fernandez has led the Justicialist Party, the main pillar of opposition against the government of current President Javier Milei, a libertarian. He took office in 2023, succeeding Alberto Fernandez.

Faced with Fernandez’s incarceration, supporters of the former president took to the streets in Buenos Aires to protest over the past week, calling her lifetime ban from public office an act of political retribution.