Xinhua world news summary at 0900 GMT, May 12

SAO PAULO -- The death toll from the storms and floods in south Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state has climbed to 136, with 125 people still missing and 756 more injured, the state's civil defense agency said Saturday.

Since the rains began on April 29, the state has so far recorded 339,925 people displaced, 71,398 in shelters and more than 2 million affected in 444 of the 497 municipalities. (Brazil-Floods-Death