Rio de Janeiro - The number of people killed in accidents linked to heavy rains in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina rose to 72 Tuesday, while several of the 30 towns affected by the disaster were starting to experience looting and sharp rises in food prices.

According to the latest report by Civil Defence authorities, close to 54,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes and 137,000 homes had no power.

According to state authorities, four cities had declared a state of catastrophe and eight municipalities had been cut off from the outside world.

Civil Defence officials warned that the number of dead could continue to rise, since several people remained missing in the wake of collapses of buildings and mudslides.

Rio de Janeiro - The number of people killed in accidents linked to heavy rains in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina rose to 65 Tuesday, while close to 50,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes and more than 20,000 were left homeless.

According to state authorities, four cities had declared a state of catastrophe and eight municipalities had been cut off from the outside world.

Civil Defence officials warned that the number of dead could continue to rise, since several people remained missing in the wake of collapses of buildings and mudslides.

The Army was taking part in rescue efforts, with four planes, 17 trucks and 12 boats that helping evacuate isolated people.

Rio de Janeiro  - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev started Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro a two-day official visit to Brazil that includes a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

According to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, Lula and Medvedev were set to discuss current bilateral projects during their meeting Wednesday.

They planned to analyse "the expansion of reciprocal investment, including Russia's interest in taking part in infrastructure projects in Brazil in the areas of railways, hydroelectric plants, nuclear energy and gas and oil pipelines."

London, Nov 21 : A Brazilian surfer has broken his own record for catching a wave on the world’s longest surfboard.

Rico de Souza rode the 30ft board for ten seconds before being plummeting into the water at a beach in Rio de Janeiro.

New Delhi, Nov 19 : With the aim of enhancing co-operation between India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) in the field of small industries, the third tri-nation summit for small business development began here today.

Inaugurating the Summit the Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Shri Mahabir Prasad raised hope that the summit will help the small industries of IBSA countries to meet global challenges.

The Minister said that in order to achieve this objective, it is essential to have synergy between the complimentary strengths of MSMEs of these three countries. This synergy will not only improve the competitiveness of small enterprises but will also enable them to enhance their participation in global market.

Buenos Aires/Rio de Janeiro - Brazil are in far from their best form, and a divorce is evident between fans in the football- crazy South American country and the low-performance side led by coach Carlos Dunga.

However, the same team won the 2007 Copa America to earn the chance to defend their title at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa.

Brazil have long failed to display the kind of fantasy game that made their football famous and turned "jogo bonito" into a global trademark.