The UN is investigating claims of a mass rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo; a country one UN official called "the rape capital of the world". The alleged incidents were reported to have happened within miles of an UN base. The suspects are members of rebel militias. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is sending two high-level officials to Congo to help investigate the allegations.

One of the largest earthquakes in the region, with a magnitude of 7.0, has hit Haiti Tuesday, killing possibly thousands, leveling buildings and destroying infrastructure. Reports say thousands of people are living out on the streets in the dust-covered capital.

The quake has been declared "catastrophic" by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Representatives from approximately 30 countries walked out of a session at the UN when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech describing Israel as "racist". His speech included accusations that migrant American and European Jews helped Palestine create a "cruel and repressive racist regime".