Rains Hinder Aid in Flooded Brazil

Entire villages washed away in country's northeast

(NEWSER) - Dozens of people are dead and at least 600 are missing after heavy rains triggered floods and mudslides in northeastern Brazil. The floods have washed away entire villages in the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco, leaving around 100,000 people homeless, the BBC reports. "We are praying for the missing to be found alive," the governor of Alagoas said. "But we are very worried because bodies are starting to turn up on beaches and on riverbanks." More»

(AP) - Former boxing champion Arturo Gatti, whose epic trilogy with Micky Ward branded him one of the most exciting fighters of his generation, was found dead in a hotel room in the posh seaside resort of Porto de Galihnas today. Police investigator Edilson Alves says the body of the former junior welterweight champ was discovered in his room at the tourist resort, where Gatti had arrived yesterday with his Brazilian wife Amanda and 1-year-old son. More»

Submarine sent to probe ocean floor

(NEWSER) - Rescuers are hot on the track of signals picked up deep in the Atlantic that could be from one of Air France Flight 447's black boxes, Le Monde reported today, but a French official denied that the signals could be originating from the doomed plane's flight recorder. “The black boxes have not been detected,” the official tells the AP. While Le Monde says a submarine was sent to investigate, a source tells Reuters it wasn’t “the first time sounds had been heard.” More»

Air France tells families no one survived the crash

(NEWSER) - As Brazilian crews begin retrieving the first pieces of Air France flight 447, the airline has told families that nobody survived, the AP reports. A helicopter pulled a cargo pallet and two buoys from the Atlantic, 340 miles northeast of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha islands. As theories about the crash arrive fast and furious, searchers have not seen any sign of remains from the 228 people aboard. More»

Tsunami warning has been called off

(NEWSER) - Five deaths have been confirmed after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked Honduras and Guatemala early today. Four victims were children between 3 and 15, crushed under their collapsed home, Reuters reports. "There will be many more dead," said a Honduran official. Buildings in both Central American states suffered structural damage in the offshore quake. A tsunami warning issued after the temblor has been lifted. More»