Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff begins her second term Thursday, aiming to get economic growth back on track, and to rebuild government credibility after a major kickbacks scandal.

Thousands of supporters -- and pockets of detractors -- were due to gather and watch the 67-year-old left-wing former urban guerrilla arrive to receive the seals of office at a ceremony in Brasilia slated for 3:00 pm (1700 GMT).

Pope Francis has recorded a video message at the Vatican offering New Years greetings to two million revelers, including around 800,000 tourists, preparing to party on Rio's famed Copacabana beach.

The message, which will be broadcast as the city also celebrates 450 years of existence, "will be presented just before the traditional midnight fireworks display," a Rio city hall spokesman said, confirming that it had been received Monday.

Inmates at a prison in southern Brazil on Monday took seven prison staff hostage during the latest in a series of mutinies at penitentiaries in recent months, Brazilian media reported.

Officials, quoting state justice officials, said one of those detained was released Monday evening with minor injuries after the seven were taken hostage during disturbances which began mid-afternoon at Maringa prison in the southern state of Parana, some 600 kilometers (370 miles) west of Sao Paulo.

Brazilian megalopolis Sao Paulo saw violent storms and heavy rains Wednesday, causing flooding and traffic chaos as authorities announced a state of alert in some parts of the city.

The east of Brazil's richest and largest city, home to some 20 million people, was worst hit as roads became streams carrying vehicles along after the heavy dump, which followed months of the worst drought in decades. 

Brazil's truth commission investigating the 1964-1985 military dictatorship Wednesday urged an end to amnesty for torturers, and listed the number of those killed or disappeared during the regime at 434.

The panel made its recommendation in a final report to President Dilma Rousseff, herself a victim of torture during the her country's brutal dictatorship.

Around 5,000 demonstrators marched Saturday through downtown Sao Paulo against government corruption and the recent re-election of President Dilma Rousseff.

The march, widely championed by opposition supporters, is the fifth of its kind in the weeks following Rousseff's October 26 re-election to a second four-year term.

Vice President Joe Biden will lead a U.S. delegation to Brazil for the inauguration of President Dilma Rousseff on January 1, the White House said Friday.

Rousseff, who was re-elected for a second term in October, met Biden earlier this year when he visited for the World Cup.

Brazilian police said Wednesday they had arrested a suspected serial killer who attacked victims with an axe before decapitating them, allegedly taking his inspiration from watching gruesome Islamic state videos.

"We already have a tally of seven victims, six of them fatalities. The first murder took place Saturday. We are going to investigate whether there may be further victims," said police commissioner Marcos Batalha from Mogi das Cruzes in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo.

He cast his rod happily here for 30 years -- but where a river once teemed with fish, Brazilian fisherman Ernane da Silva these days stares out over a valley of weeds and bone dry, sun-parched land.

The southeastern state of Sao Paulo is suffering its worst drought in 80 years with scores of towns sounding the alarm, blaming increasing deforestation, unseasonably high temperatures and creeping urbanization.

Angry demonstrators took to Sao Paulo's streets Saturday to push for the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff, with some charging that she should be impeached.

An estimated 2,500 people marched through the country's sprawling industrial and financial hub, frustrated with her re-election to a new term amid critics' concerns about her government's alleged role in potentially allowing or enabling corruption.