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Haiti earthquake: Friday news updates

Three young men pause atop a collapsed building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Three young men pause atop a collapsed building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Look here for news updates on the aftermath of a 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti. All times are Haiti local time, which is the same as Eastern Standard Time in the U.S. and five hours behind GMT.

(CNN) -- 10:54 p.m. -- People looking for loved ones in Haiti are posting their pictures on CNN.com's iReport page dedicated to them. Likewise, people in Haiti are sending messages out to say they're OK.

Are you there? Send us images, video

10:45 p.m. -- CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta is the only doctor left at a makeshift hospital in Port-au-Prince after medical personnel were told by United Nations officials to leave the area. "There is concern about riots not far from here -- and this is part of the problem," Gupta said.

10:16 p.m. -- Officials caution that international aid teams arriving in Haiti need to be self-sufficient or they'll be putting pressure on services that are already strained: "If aid personnel arrive needing support in terms of transportation, lodging, food, and water, this just puts additional stress on services that are already constrained and needed by the Haitian population," said Dr. Jon Andrus, deputy director of the Pan American Health Organization.

10:07 p.m. -- Hundreds of people filled the pews of a Catholic church in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., Friday evening to offer prayers for members of the area's Haitian community in the wake of the earthquake in their homeland.

9:54 p.m. -- A general lack of resources in makeshift medical clinics means patients are undergoing amputations without anesthesia and staff are cleaning apparatus with soap and water, according to CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. "They're not even low-tech, they're no tech," she says. Read more

9:49 p.m. -- A top United Nations official acknowledges that the earthquake relief operation in Haiti is not progressing fast enough: "You can't snap your fingers and make it happen just by magic," U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes says. "We will do it, slowly and surely."

9:07 p.m. -- Yéle Haiti, the charity organization founded by musician Wyclef Jean, denies allegations that the organization is misusing donations: "Wyclef Jean, the founder of Yéle Haiti, has never profited from his organization. It's a shame that during this international emergency, we have had to divert resources away from our response efforts to address these allegations," says Hugh Locke, president of Yéle Haiti.

8:39 p.m. -- Aftershocks continue to rock Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince. Some are barely perceptable, others shake the ground, eliciting screams. One pair of overnight aftershocks were so strong they compelled a resting CNN crew to throw on their shoes and leave their rooms as a precaution.

8:09 p.m. -- Kids Alive International, an international orphan rescue group, is planning to bring 50 Haitian orphans to group homes in the Dominican Republic until new homes can be built for them in Haiti, the group said Friday.

7:51 p.m. -- Fire trucks and tanker trucks are sporadically driving around distributing drinkable water in a sign that food and water is slowly becoming available, according to CNN Radio's Steve Kastenbaum. At a U.N. distribution center guarded by Bolivian peacekeeping troops, thousands of plates of cooked rice and chicken were handed out to Haitians waiting in an orderly line.

7:30 p.m. -- The World Food Program gearing up to distribute ready-to-eat food rations to 2 million people in quake-stricken Haiti. WFP is part of the United Nations system and is voluntarily funded. Read more

7:25 p.m. -- The U.S. Postal Service is holding mail destined for Haiti, a spokeswoman said. Mail addressed to Haiti will still be accepted at post offices, but will be held until alternative transportation arrangements become available.

6:57 p.m. -- The deaths of three American citizens have been announced by their families or others. It is not known if they were among the five confirmed by The State Department. They are Jean Arnwine of Dallas, Texas; Molly Hightower, 22, of Port Orchard, Washington; and Benjamin Larson, 25, a student at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.

6:16 p.m. -- An 11-year-old girl who was rescued yesterday from a pile of rubble that was her home has died, CNN's Ivan Watson reports. Rescue workers struggled to extract the girl as she wailed in pain under the weight of the rubble, which had crushed her leg. Her family says she died an hour after she was rescued. Watch her story Video

6:06 p.m. -- Entertainer Lady Gaga will donate all the proceeds from her January 24 show in New York City to relief efforts, a representative for her label, Interscope, said. She will also donate proceeds from all merchandise purchased that day at the venue and on her Web site.

5:46 p.m. -- U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Friday that she is designating a temporary protected status for Haitian nationals who were in the United States as of Tuesday. Napolitano said the temporary status allows an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Haitian nationals in the nation illegally to stay in the United States for 18 months.

5:38 p.m. -- The State Department has launched a "Person Finder" tool on its site that helps people find and share information on missing loved ones in Haiti.

5:02 p.m. -- At least 100 bodies were discovered by a CNN crew in one open pit outside Port-au-Prince, along with several other pits half-filled or completely covered over with earth. In the capital city, bodies litter the streets, and barely functioning clinics are overwhelmed. There is still no confirmed death toll, but the Haitian consul general to the United Nations has estimated the toll could top 100,000. Watch (graphic content) Video

4:43 p.m. -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces she will travel to Haiti tomorrow with U.S. Agency for International Development Director Rajiv Shah. Clinton, the first major U.S. official to travel to the quake-battered country, will meet with President Rene Preval and other members of the government. Watch Video

4:28 p.m. -- Philadelphia 76ers center and Haiti native Samuel Dalembert taped a public service announcement for UNICEF encouraging fans to contribute to relief efforts. UNICEF volunteers will also be available to collect donations from fans at tonight's home game at the Wachovia Center.

3:47 p.m. -- As of Friday afternoon, corporate America had pledged more than $40 million in donations to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Read more

3:20 p.m. -- A number of celebrities, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, are contributing to Haiti relief efforts, according to ABC News. Clooney and MTV are working on a telethon for Haiti later this month, ABC said.

2:04 p.m. -- Images from Google Earth illustrate the devastation wrought by Haiti's earthquake. Watch Video

1:47 p.m. -- President Obama confirmed Friday that he will team up with former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to discuss how best to encourage a broad-based national volunteer relief effort for Haiti. The three leaders will meet Saturday at the White House.

1:30 p.m. -- The United Nations announced Friday that at least 37 of its personnel have died -- 36 with the U.N. mission and one with the World Food Programme. The number of unaccounted for U.N. people stands at 330 out of the 12,000 people working for U.N. organizations in Haiti before the earthquake.

1:12 p.m. -- "The entire world stands with the government and the people of Haiti," President Obama said at the White House. He said the United States bears a special responsibility to help Haiti, given the countries' close proximity.

12:55 p.m. -- Pop star Madonna announced she has donated $250,000 to Partners in Health, a health care provider in Haiti. "My prayers are with the people of Haiti," statement from the singer said. "I can't imagine the terrible pain and suffering they are experiencing. Sadly the depths of the tragedy are just becoming known and the need for our support grows more urgent with every passing moment."

12:10 p.m. -- Jimmy O, a well-known singer and songwriter in Haiti who also was active in hip-hop artist and philanthropist Wyclef Jean's charity, is dead. Jimmy O, 35, was crushed in a vehicle in downtown Port-au-Prince during the earthquake.

11:30 a.m. -- President Obama spoke with Haitian President Rene Preval for about 30 minutes Friday morning, according to the White House. Obama reiterated his pledge of help, and Preval asked him to pass a message to the American people: "From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the Haitian people, thank you, thank you, thank you."

Follow daily developments:

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

11:25 a.m. -- A text-message and social network campaign has raised $8 million for the Red Cross' relief efforts in Haiti, according to a Twitter message from the White House that was reposted on the Red Cross account.

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11:13 a.m. -- CNN's Anderson Cooper reports Port-au-Prince's prison is empty but for four decomposing bodies. Watch (graphic content) Video

10:43 a.m. -- Within four days, 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne will be in the quake zone. By Tuesday, three more U.S. Navy ships carrying 2,200 Marines and heavy equipment will join them. By Saturday, about 5,000 to 6,000 men and women dedicated to supporting the relief effort will be in Haiti, military officials say.

Watch CNN affiliate WRAL's report on the Marines' mission

10:39 a.m. -- Five more American deaths have been confirmed in Haiti, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday, adding he expects the number to go up.

10:24 a.m. -- The USS Carl Vinson arrived off the coast of Haiti on Friday morning, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said.

9:22 a.m. -- U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne unit's Iraq and Afghanistan veterans welcome an opportunity to take part in a humanitarian mission. Watch CNN affiliate WTVD's report

8:15 a.m. -- Diesel fuel is selling on the black market in Port-au-Prince for $25 a gallon. It usually sells for $3 a gallon.

7:57 a.m. -- Cuba is allowing the United States to use its airspace to fly medical evacuation flights -- but no other relief flights -- from Haiti, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said Friday. This agreement will allow the United States to fly earthquake victims directly from Haiti to the United States and reduce the flight time.

7:15 a.m. -- At least 12 American corporations have pledged donations of $1 million or more to the Haiti relief effort.

7:09 a.m. -- Aid agencies continue to struggle to get relief items from the Port-au-Prince airport, said Dave Toycen, a relief worker with the aid agency World Vision. "The issue is obviously logistics. It is problematic to get the streets clear," Toycen said. "There was a mile-long line to get gasoline. We are short the basics."

5:55 a.m. Friday, January 15, 2010 -- The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is to arrive in Haiti on Friday, carrying 19 helicopters and 30 pallets of relief goods, Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser said.

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