World briefs 4/2/06

Iran quake rescue ends; victims fear new temblor

TEHRAN, Iran -- Italy and Russia sent planeloads of tents, blankets and other supplies Saturday to help 21,000 Iranian families left homeless by three strong earthquakes that hit in quick succession. Some 21,000 families were homeless in 330 villages that were damaged or flattened by the quakes, said the provincial head of the Unexpected Disaster Committee, Ali Barani. Rescuers pulled the bodies of 70 dead and around 1,200 survivors from the rubble of houses in the region. "Rescue operations are over," provincial governor Mohammad Reza Mohseni told state-run television Saturday.

Plane crash near Rio de Janeiro kills 19 people

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Emergency workers on Saturday recovered the flight-data recorder and the bodies of 19 people who died when their plane exploded on impact in a crash outside Rio de Janeiro. The plane was carrying 17 passengers and two crew, crashed Friday night in a remote area near Saquarema, some 60 miles east of Rio.

-- From wire reports