- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- South Korean opposition postpones decision to impeach acting president
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
Brazil farmer who lost everything to floods recalls water's fury
It was 6:00 in the morning when Brazilian farmer Vernei Kunz heard the roar of water as the Forqueta river overflowed its banks and swept away most of his 5,000 pigs.
Kunz, 60, has been farming for the past 42 years in the town of Travesseiro, one of hundreds devastated by weeks of cataclysmic flooding that killed more than 160 people in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.
"The sows and piglets were all in the sheds," he told AFP of the morning of May 2.
"We opened the doors to let them out. We managed to grab some that were swimming in the water. We pulled them out and brought them to the road, where they were safe."
Kunz and his workers managed to save about 700 pigs, he said. The slaughterhouse he works with collected them and is sending them to other farms in the region.
"The rest drowned," said Kunz, pointing to piles of rubble that used to be concrete-and-metal sheds.
A foul smell fills the air, a pungent reminder of the pigs still buried beneath the mud three weeks later.
- 'Burn it all' -
The river, about 500 meters (yards) from Kunz's property, swelled as torrential rains pounded the region in late April.
It finally burst its banks with a vengeance, sweeping up virtually everything in its path, including the bridge into Travesseiro.
Today, only the two ends of the nearly 20-meter-high bridge remain, suspended in the air.
Kunz laid off his 12 employees the same day with severance pay, he said.
Without any insurance coverage, he estimates his losses at between 10 million and 15 million reais ($2 million to $3 million).
Overall, the agricultural sector -- the engine of the region's economy -- lost around $430 million, according to the National Confederation of Municipalities.
The pig farmers' association for Rio Grande do Sul, one of Brazil's biggest producers and exporters of pork, said the devastation affected between 25 and 28 percent of production.
"I had been through big floods before in 2010, but nothing like this," said Kunz.
"That time, we could rebuild. This time, the water destroyed everything."
Experts say the intensity of the floods was linked to climate change.
"You can't go against nature," said Kunz, still wearing galoshes.
His property, which spans several thousand square meters, is littered with twisted metal, aluminum sheets, pieces of walls and tree trunks.
"I'll have to burn it all. What else can I do?" he said.
His son, Eduardo, 34, explains that the farm was a modern operation, including using artificial insemination to breed animals with the best characteristics.
"We had very expensive machines. It would be difficult to get that back," he said.
Eduardo, his wife and their two-year-old son share a small house with his parents on higher ground up the road, where the water did not reach this time.
- Restarting from scratch -
The family plans to stay in Travesseiro, a quiet farming town of 2,000 people.
Mayor Gilmar Southier estimates 80 percent of the local population were affected by the floods.
He said the priority is to rebuild the bridge, the key link between the town and the region's main cities.
Kunz, for his part, plans to start over. But instead of pigs, he wants to farm corn and soybeans.
"If I lose everything again, it will cost less to start over next time."
He expects his first harvest in August 2026. Until then, he said, he will have to find loans to get back on his feet.
D.Sawyer--AMWN