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Haiti Earthquake Prompts Global Response


International aid organizations and governments around the world are mobilizing massive relief efforts to help victims of Haiti's earthquake.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund say they will provide $100 million each in emergency funding.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the U.N. will immediately release $10 million in assistance, while the European Union has announced $4.3 million in aid to the impoverished country.

France has sent rescue teams and emergency supplies. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he will travel to the former French colony in the coming weeks to meet President Rene Preval.

Britain has pledged $10 million in aid, while a British rescue team has arrived in the country to help search for survivors.

Brazil ordered the delivery of $10 million in assistance, as well as 14 tons of food supplies to the country. Brazilian soldiers make up the bulk of U.N. forces in Haiti. Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba are also offering help.

China's state news agency (Xinhua) says a Chinese emergency rescue team arrived in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, Thursday along with 10 tons of food, equipment and medical supplies. Japan has pledged up to $5 million in aid.

Israel plans to send 220 rescue workers and to open a field hospital.

The Inter-American Development Bank and the International Red Cross have each approved $200,000 in funds for food, water, medicine and temporary shelter. The U.N. World Food Program says it is airlifting food from its emergency hub in El Salvador to provide more than a half-million meals.

Doctors Without Borders has set up tent clinics in place of their own damaged facilities and have been treating hundreds of quake victims, mainly for trauma injuries and fractures.

Several major corporations are donating their money and services as well. U.S. search engine Google said it would donate $1 million to provide relief, and U.S. airlines and carrier services volunteered flights to deliver supplies directly to the country.

Former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide, who lives in exile in South Africa, says he stands with the people of Haiti. He says the tragedy is one that defies expression and compels all people to the highest level of human compassion and solidarity.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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