In Haiti, Haitian government minister Carol Joseph has said that 70,000 victims of last week’s earthquake have now been buried in mass graves. The minister said a state of emergency had been declared and that it would last until at least the end of the month. A month of national mourning has also been announced.

While the International Red Cross is putting the probable death toll at around 50,000, the head of the United States rescue workers, Lieutenant-General Ken Keen, believes the figures may go as high as 200,000. However, he said it is still too early to know for sure. It appears likely that about one and a half million people have lost their homes. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called the earthquake the worst humanitarian crisis since the Asian tsunami in 2004.

On 25 January, countries donating funds to Haiti are to hold a meeting in the Canadian city of Montreal. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Haiti’s own Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive will be among those attending.

Read more about the relief efforts here.