United Nations flag flies at half mast to mourn the victims of the Haiti earthquake in front of the UN headquarters in New York, January 13, 2010. Thousands were feared dead in a major earthquake that destroyed the presidential palace, schools, hospitals and hillside shanties in Haiti, its leaders said on Wednesday, and the United States and other nations geared up for a big relief operation. [Xinhua] 

United Nations flag flies at half mast to mourn the victims of the Haiti earthquake in front of the UN headquarters in New York, January 13, 2010. Thousands were feared dead in a major earthquake that destroyed the presidential palace, schools, hospitals and hillside shanties in Haiti, its leaders said on Wednesday, and the United States and other nations geared up for a big relief operation. [Xinhua]