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Small planes collide over Fla. Everglades

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Two small planes collided over the Everglades in southern Florida Saturday, killing everyone on board.

Recovery crews in airboats and helicopters raced sunset to look for the planes, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. Searchers did not expect to find anyone alive, although they were unsure how many people were in the two planes.

"The planes are underwater," said Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Capt. Don DeLucia. "There (is) no chance of survivors."

The mid-air collision occurred on the edge of the northern Everglades on the line between Broward and Palm Beach counties. Witnesses said both planes may have been six-seater PA-32 Pipers.

Paulo Giovani Vieira told the newspaper he heard an explosion at about 3 p.m. as he fished in the saw-grass marsh.

"And when I looked at the explosion, I saw a plane falling," he said.

DeLucia said pilots like to practice over the Everglades.

Oprah Winfrey campaigns for Barack Obama

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Oprah Winfrey hit the campaign trail in Iowa for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, telling a rally Saturday he "has a new vision."

Winfrey, one of the most powerful people in the entertainment industry, drew thousands of people to the Des Moines event, part of a three-state tour with the candidate, CNN reported.

"These are dangerous times, you can feel it," she said in Des Moines. "We need a leader who shows us how to hope again in America as a force for peace,"

Winfrey was expected to draw 8,500 people at another rally in Cedar Rapids. She and Obama are to visit New Hampshire and South Carolina Sunday.

While the contest for the Democratic nomination remains in flux, polls show Obama gaining in the three states, especially in New Hampshire where rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has seen her lead narrow to single digits, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Winfrey has an overwhelmingly female fan base, and it remains to be seen if she can influence a presidential election, Democratic pollster Mark Mellman said Friday. But she has shown her power by putting scores of books on best-seller lists, including Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina."

Australian fireworks plant rocked by blast

LITHGOW, Australia, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A fireworks plant in the Australian state of New South Wales was rocked by a major explosion, prompting an evacuation of the surrounding area.

Authorities in Wallerawang ordered the evacuation of 10 homes after the Saturday night blast at the Howard & Sons fireworks factory, the Melbourne Sun Herald reported in its Sunday edition.

Witnesses said the explosion not only shook the ground, but knocked out the windows of several nearby homes.

"It was like a bomb went off, the whole house shook and windows shattered at neighboring properties," resident Angela Knight said. "We were all fine, just a little shaken and so far I haven't heard of any injuries."

Officials with the company, which recently celebrated its 85th anniversary, told the newspaper they were unable to determine what caused the blast because no workers have been on-site since before it occurred.

Brazil: Deforestation in Amazon declining

SAO PAULO, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The Brazilian government says deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has declined for the third straight year.

While Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva applauded his nation's efforts to limit deforestation, he said more could have been done to enhance those efforts, the BBC reported Saturday.

Nonetheless, government figures showed that between August 2006 and July 2007, deforestation in the Amazon declined by 20 percent overall.

Yet those estimates, based on satellite images, still revealed a portion of the rainforest equal to the size of Jamaica had been lost.

Brazil's success in limiting deforestation also was questioned by the environmental group Greenpeace, which said more recent satellite photos have shown deforestation is on the rise in the Amazon.

The BBC said some analysts have explained that the declines may have been caused by a temporary decline in the market costs of related products and have warned additional deforestation could occur in the near future.