BBC News with Nick Kelly.
The Indian government says more than 550 people are known to have been killed in flooding and landslides caused by heavy monsoon rain in the far north of India. The worst affected area is around the holy town of Kedarnath in Uttarakhand state where thousands of Hindu pilgrims are visiting local shrines. The BBC’s Nitin Srivastava flew over some of the affected areas by helicopter.
The extent of damage is enormous looking at villages which have been wiped off the map and the road network which has been completely destroyed. We had the opportunity to visit two of these sites today in an air force chopper. And the damage is frightening, because areas which were swarming with people less than a week back are devoid of any inhabitation and it’s only the stranded survivors whom you get to meet who have not had food, water and the basic communities nor medical aid for the last more than four days.
The Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has held an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the worst unrest Brazil has seen in two decades. After the two-hour meeting, her secretary Bruno Vanhoni told the BBC she will probably address the nation in the coming days. On Thursday, more than a million people demonstrated nationwide over issues including corruption, poor public services and the huge cost of hosting sporting events such as next year’s World Cup. Our correspondent Julia Carneiro says some people are now worried that the protests are getting out of hand.