Minister 'resigns' as riots engulf Argentina
Argentina's finance minister has resigned amid widespread rioting that has claimed the lives of five people and injured 100.
Some reports say Argentinian president Fernando De la Rua's entire Cabinet has also offered to step down.
De la Rua is expected to decide later today whether to accept finance Minister Domingo Cavallo's resignation.
Reports of Cavallo's resignation came hours after De la Rua declared a state of emergency.
Throughout a day of frenzied violence, riot police sent looters fleeing amid a fusillade of rubber bullets and tear gas in the poor neighbourhoods ringing the capital.
The unrest marked a troubling new chapter in the financial crisis that has tormented Argentina for more than four years.
Meanwhile, thousands of angry Argentines have gathered outside the Casa Rosada government house in downtown Buenos Aires in an outburst against the government's handling of the economy.
Thousands more stood on their balconies or hung out their windows, clanking pots and pans.
Hours earlier, De la Rua defended his emergency decree in a nationally televised address, saying it was needed to quell unrest that convulsed much of the capital, Buenos Aires, and many of Argentina's largest cities.
