Friday News Updates: Haiti Relief Updates, Health Care and Wall Street

Updates In Haiti

Haiti aid efforts hampered in critical hours

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) — Impassable roads, a bottleneck at the damaged airport, an unreachable dock and not enough equipment to unload supplies kept much of the world’s help Friday from desperate Haitians.

With thousands of people trapped under the rubble since Tuesday’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake, every minute mattered. Officials said the window of opportunity to save many lives was closing.

Burst of Mobile Giving Adds Millions in Relief Funds

In the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, many Americans are reaching for their cellphones to make a donation via text message. And plenty of them are then spreading the word to others on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

The American Red Cross, which is working with a mobile donations firm called mGive, said Thursday that it had raised more than $5 million this way.

Health Reform

Massachusetts vote could threaten health reform

Democrats envisioned a smooth passing of the baton in the January 19 special election to fill the seat of the late Edward Kennedy, a political giant who died of brain cancer in August after holding the seat for 46 years.

A victory would maintain the Democrats’ 60-seat Senate majority, allowing them to overcome Republican procedural hurdles that could block reform of the $2.5 trillion healthcare sector, Obama’s top legislative priority.

Wall Street

Intel shares fall on ‘peaking’ fear despite strong quarter

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – Shares of Intel Corp. fell early Friday after the semiconductor giant reported strong fourth-quarter results that won rave reviews from Wall Street, but also triggered worries about a peak in earnings growth.