Massive Earthquake in Hati

Haitian President Rene Preval has said thousands of people are feared dead following a huge quake which has devastated the country's capital. He said the head of the UN mission in Haiti was among the dead. UN officials say more than 100 UN staff are missing. The 7.0-magnitude quake, Haiti's worst in two centuries, struck south of Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday. Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said he believed more than 100,000 people had died.
The Red Cross says up to three million people are affected. The capital's Catholic archbishop, Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, is also among those killed.Describing the scene in the capital as "unimaginable", Mr Preval said: "Parliament has collapsed. Government buildings have collapsed. Schools have collapsed with people still trapped or dead inside. Hospitals have collapsed.
Mr Preval later confirmed that Hedi Annabi, the Tunisian head of the UN stabilisation mission in Haiti (Minustah), had died after the UN HQ building was destroyed. The main prison in Port-au-Prince has also collapsed, with a UN humanitarian spokeswoman saying there had been reports of escaped inmates.

A number of nations, including the US, UK and Venezuela, are gearing up to send aid. Speaking in Washington, US President Barack Obama vowed "unwavering support" for Haiti after what he called a "cruel and incomprehensible" disaster. He said he had ordered "a swift, co-ordinated and aggressive effort to save lives" and that the first US rescue teams would arrive later on Wednesday. A US Navy aircraft carrier, USS Vincennes, is expected to reach Haiti in a couple of days and a number of smaller vessels are already in the area, US defence officials said.
Rajiv Shah, of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said US teams were on their way to Haiti with specialised rescue equipment and that some efforts were already under way on the ground.
The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude. The first tremor had hit at 1653 local time (2153 GMT) on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said. Phone lines to the country failed shortly afterwards.

UN officials said at least five people had died when the UN's five-storey headquarters in Port-au-Prince collapsed and that up to 200 staff were missing, feared to be under the rubble.
"Between 115 and 200 expatriate UN personnel are unaccounted for," Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told AFP.
Stressing a major international relief effort would be needed, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the UN would immediately release $10m (£6.15m) from its emergency response fund. He said aerial reconnaissance showed Port-au-Prince had been "devastated" by the quake, although other areas were largely unaffected. The airport in Port-au-Prince and a UN logistical base are operational, the UN said, allowing aid to start arriving soon. The Brazilian army said 11 of its peacekeepers had been killed and a large number were missing.China has indicated in reports in state media that eight of its peacekeepers are dead, with another 10 unaccounted for, while the Jordanian army is reported as saying three of its peacekeepers have been killed.

"Objects were falling from shelves, there was debris crashing all around. I clung on to the babies and shielded them as best I could."Susan WestwoodNurse, Port-au-Prince orphanage.
A spokesman for medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) said it was able only to offer basic care to the "massive influx" of survivors seeking help because all its buildings had been destroyed.
"Unfortunately what we are seeing is a large number of patients in critical condition," he said.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has suffered a number of recent disasters, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds.
With communications destroyed by the earthquake, it is not yet possible to confirm the extent of the destruction, although there were reports on Wednesday of many bodies piled in the streets.
People in the capital were lifting sheets on bodies to try to identify loved ones.
Damage has also been reported in the towns of Jacmel and Carrefour, near Port-au-Prince.
Guido Cornale, a representative of the UN children's agency Unicef, in Jacmel, said it estimated more than one-in-five buildings had been destroyed.

The Red Cross is dispatching a relief team from Geneva and the UN's World Food Programme is flying in two planes with emergency food aid. The Inter-American Development Bank said it was immediately approving a $200,000 grant for emergency aid. The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it would co-ordinate with other international agencies to offer help as swiftly as possible. The World Bank also said it was mobilising a team to assess the damage and plan recovery. It said its offices in Port-au-Prince had been destroyed but that most staff were accounted for. The UK said it was mobilising help and was "ready to provide whatever humanitarian assistance may be required".
Canada, Australia, France and a number of Latin American nations have also said they are mobilising their aid response. Pope Benedict XVI has called for a generous response to the "tragic situation" in Haiti.

HAITI COUNTRY PROFILE
Half of Caribbean island of Hispaniola
History of violence, instability and dictatorship
Population of 10 million people
Most live on less than $2 a day
Democratic rule restored in 2006
Economy in ruins and unemployment is chronic
UN peacekeepers deployed - foreign aid seen as vital
Massive deforestation has left just 2% forest
Storms and hurricanes in 2008 left almost 800 dead

And you're STILL saying there is no climate change?? Geez Louise!