Lucas Bazan Pontoni rifled through his pockets for the 45-cent lunch fee as he stood in line at a downtown soup kitchen. When he came up short, an acquaintance sprang for the government-subsidised meal.

The reaction was as ferocious as it was predictable but this is only the beginning.

Brazil has been numbed by the 7-1 humiliation to Germany in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday night.

Brazil coach Luis Felipe Scolari was less than impressed with taking only a point against Mexico as his side played out a frustrating goalless draw in Tuesday night’s World Cup Group A fixture at Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza.

About 100 people returning from a visit to Christ the Redeemer statue on top of Rio de Janeiro’s Corcovado mountain were stranded for close to two hours when the train they were riding broke down.

FIFA today insisted there were no plans to abandon the Confederations Cup in Brazil despite the protests that have affected the tournament.

A former Brazilian football star said to have orchestrated the murder of his ex-girlfriend went on trial in a case that includes claims that the young model was lured to a ranch where she was held hostage, killed and her body dismembered.

There have been 22 murders connected to upcoming municipal campaigns for mayor or city council in Brazil during the past 60 days, leading 410 towns to ask for help from elite federal police, according to a report from O Globo newspaper.

Forest fires have enshrouded Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, in smoke.

THE death toll from massive flooding and landslides in Brazil reached 514 yesterday as renewed rainfall threatened to complicate efforts by rescue teams to reach survivors trapped in isolated areas.

An elderly woman was declared dead - and woke up hours later inside a coffin at the undertakers.

Make no joke about it, Brazil’s presidential election is a serious affair, devoid of wry jabs, side-splitting Top 10 lists or lampooning of politicians.

A STAR goalkeeper in Brazil is accused of ordering the murder of his ex-lover whose body parts were then fed to the dogs.

The Brazilian subsidiary of car giant Toyota has agreed to recall an unspecified number of Corollas due to the risk of sudden acceleration, the Justice Ministry said today.

A television news helicopter today crashed near a busy road in Brazil's largest city, killing the pilot and seriously injuring a cameraman on board.

Firefighters using heavy machinery, shovels and bare hands dug for survivors today but only found bodies under a mountain of red earth and crushed lodgings - the worst of a spate of mudslides and floods which have killed at least 64 people in south-eastern Brazil.

A small army of rescuers clambered across a mountain of red earth and crushed homes today in a bid to find survivors of a massive mudslide which killed at least 26 people at an island resort in Brazil.

A BRAZILIAN bricklayer reportedly killed in a car crash shocked his mourning family by showing up alive at his funeral.

Luiz Felipe Scolari claims a number of Chelsea players did not respect him and his training methods during his ill-fated eight-month stint at Stamford Bridge.

Robinho has played down reports that he wants to move to Barcelona and insisted he is happy at Manchester City.

Searchers found two passengers’ bodies and a briefcase containing an Air France Flight 447 ticket in the Atlantic Ocean near where the jetliner is believed to have crashed, a Brazil military official said.

BRAZILIAN authorities yesterday recovered the bodies of 24 people who were killed when their small plane crashed in an Amazon jungle river.

At least 16 people were feared dead today after a light aircraft on its way to a Brazilian jungle city crashed into an Amazon river with at least 20 people on board.

AC Milan striker Ronaldo has hinted that he wants to return to his homeland and play for Flamengo next year.

An 18-foot-long minke whale that ran aground on a sandbar in the Amazon jungle got dislodged and disappeared in the Tapajos River, some 1,000 miles from the ocean, Brazilian media reported today.

Legendary Brazilian striker Romario has announced he is to bring an end to his illustrious career, according to the newspaper O Globo.

Petroleo Brasileiro, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, is set build a heavy-oil refinery and petrochemical complex near Rio de Janeiro.

A prison guard held hostage by inmates at a Rio de Janeiro detention centre was fatally shot as he tried to escape, according to a media report today.

Brazilian top model Gisele Bundchen is to donate the $150,000 (€138,200) she will earn in a show in Sao Paulo Fashion Week to a new Brazilian government campaign to fight hunger.

Brazil - overwhelmed by what seems like terminal ecstasy - is planning an epic homecoming for the heroes due back from the Far East tomorrow with the country’s fifth World Cup.