Briefly

BRAZIL

Downpour death toll mounts steadily

Torrential rains in northeastern Brazil have left at least 79 people dead and dozens missing, civil defense officials said on Sunday, as rescuers capitalized on a lull in downpours to search for survivors. The disaster is the latest in a recent series of deadly landslides and floods triggered by extreme weather in Brazil. The number of dead mounted steadily over the weekend, including dozens in landslides, as heavy rains caused rivers to overflow and torrents of mud swept away everything in their path. The latest statement from the civil defense did not offer an update on the number of people missing, though the agency had earlier reported 56 people still unaccounted for and nearly 4,000 who had lost their homes.

JAPAN

Consumers face hefty price hikes

Food and drink manufacturers in Japan are passing on costs to consumers under the pressure of costlier raw materials, with thousands of products subject to an average of a 12 percent price hike, local media said on Monday. According to credit research firm Teikoku Databank, of 105 major food and drink manufacturers polled in May, around 60 percent of them have raised or plan to raise their prices this year. The survey also revealed that some companies have tried to make "stealth price hikes", which means keeping the prices the same for a particular food or beverage item but surreptitiously reducing its quantity or volume.

IRAN

Building collapse victims mourned

Hundreds of people gathered in southwestern Iran to pay their respect to dozens who died in a building collapse, local media said on Monday, as two more bodies were discovered. The 10-story Metropol building, located on a busy street in Abadan, was under construction when parts of it imploded on May 23, in one of Iran's deadliest such disasters in years. Two more bodies were discovered under the rubble on Monday morning, taking the confirmed death toll to 31. Sunday had been declared a day of national mourning by the government.

Xinhua - Agencies