Disasters

Minnesotans launch Haiti aid efforts
Thousands of miles away from the disaster, Minnesotans were doing what they could to help the people of Haiti after an earthquake left the country's capital city in ruins.
Slideshow: International relief
The first cargo planes with food, water, medical supplies, shelter and sniffer dogs headed to the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation a day after the magnitude-7 quake flattened much of the capital of 2 million people.
Asian leaders cited their own experiences with natural disasters Thursday in offering help to quake-shattered Haiti as part of a massive international effort to alleviate the effects of the catastrophe.
Hospital mistakes that put Minnesota patients at risk of serious injury or death dipped slightly last year, according to a state Department of Health report to be released today.
Experts warned of quake risk
The earthquake that hit Haiti was was the largest in nearly 200 years. But scientists have warned for years that the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, was at risk for another major earthquake.
A young American aide worker - trapped for about 10 hours under the rubble of her mission house that was destroyed in Haiti's earthquake - has been rescued by her husband.
President Barack Obama said his thoughts and prayers were with the people of Haiti, where a powerful earthquake hit on Tuesday, and that the U.S. stood ready to help the impoverished Caribbean nation.