Free Republic

Pictures and videos show the intensely coloured water flowing into an estuary, the Rio de la Plata, which borders an ecological reserve. Local media reports suggest the colour may have been caused by the dumping of textile dye, or by chemical waste from a nearby depot. The Environment Ministry said in a statement that water samples had been taken from the Sarandí canal to determine the cause of the colour change. By

Commodore Henry Harwood's Force G, consisting of the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, and the light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles engage the German panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee off the coast of Uruguay. In the two hour running gun fight, Exeter is heavily damaged, Ajax and Achilles are also damaged. Graf Spee's fuel oil purification plant and evaporators are knocked out, as is the crews galley facility. Spee heads for the harbor in neutral Montevideo. Repairs will take two weeks, but by rules of the Hague convention she can remain in port for 72 hours before being interned by the...