“The United Nations stands ready to lend its assistance to efforts already under way by the Guatemalan authorities to respond to humanitarian needs created by the disaster and to mobilize any international support needed for that response,” the spokesperson told a news briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.

At a 7.4 magnitude, Wednesday’s earthquake was the strongest quake to hit the country in more than 30 years, and left 52 people confirmed dead, with dozens more missing, and several thousand homeless, displaced, or without power.

The tremor hit off the country’s Pacific coast on Wednesday, leaving many villagers near the Mexican border trapped under rubble, as homes and cars were crushed.

According to media reports, at least 48 people are dead, another 150 are injured and dozens are missing, with residents seeking safety in streets due to concerns over aftershocks on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Guatemalan officials expressed little chance of finding anyone alive under the rubble.

The spokesperson added that the Secretary-General is saddened by the loss of life, and the damage to homes and infrastructure in Guatemala as a result of the earthquake.

“He extends his sincere condolences to the Guatemalan government and people, particularly the families of those who have been killed or otherwise affected in this disaster,” the spokesperson said.

Lawmakers plans to hold a hearing on the report Tuesday morning, to question senior executives from the London-based bank.

The Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said London-based HSBC (HBC) failed to review thousands of suspicious transactions over the past decade.According to the report in 2007 and 2008, HSBC’s Mexico unit shipped $7 billion in cash to the bank’s U.S. affiliate, a volume of shipments that law enforcement officials said could reach that size “only if they included illegal drug proceeds,” bloomberg reports.HSBC Mexico had a number of high-profile clients linked to drug trafficking, the report says, as well as “a huge backlog of accounts marked for closure due to suspicious activity, but whose closures were delayed.”

In addition, some HSBC bank affiliates bypassed US government bans against financial transactions with Iran and other countries, according to the report.

And HSBC’s US affiliate provided money and banking services to some banks in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh believed to have links to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, the report said.

“We will acknowledge that, in the past, we have sometimes failed to meet the standards that regulators and customers expect,” Robert Sherman, an HSBC spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. “We will apologize, acknowledge these mistakes, answer for our actions and give our absolute commitment to fixing what went wrong.”

Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) had about 38 percent support and a lead of least 6 percentage points over his nearest rival, according to an official “quick count” by election authorities, Reuters reported.

Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party had 31 percent and Josefina Vazquez Mota of the ruling National Action Party had about 25 percent.

Conservative National Action Party candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota said earlier that none of the exit polls favor the first woman candidate for a major party in Mexico. Her party held the presidency for 12 years after kicking out Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, in 2000.

The PRI, which governed Mexico for 71 years until losing in 2000, has staged a comeback behind the telegenic Pena Nieto, who has pledged to open state-owned oil monopoly Pemex to foreign investors, raise tax revenue and liberalise the labour market, according to Al Jazeera. The party has been bossted by voter fatigue with a slow-moving economy and an increase in drug war that has killed roughly 50,000 mexicans.

“We stand at a crossroads. Our common future is at stake,” Ban said as Member States gathered for an informal meeting in the General Assembly to express their views ahead of the summit of the Group of 20 (G20) on 18 and 19 June in Los Cabos. “We must put a face on the future we want, and we must work together – the G20 and the community of nations – to achieve it,” he added.

Ban, who will represent the views of the Assembly at the summit, said that G20 leaders will be meeting against a backdrop of anxiety. “The world economy is in a precarious situation,” he said, noting that the euro crisis may still escalate, and some developed countries are in recession, while economic growth has all but stalled in many others. “Yet, beyond the anxiety, there is opportunity,” added the Secretary-General, pointing to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) that will bring the world community – including up to 130 heads of State and government – to Brazil later this month.

World leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro are expected to define steps towards a better future for all – more equitable, more prosperous, and more respectful of the planet’s finite resources, said Ban, adding that G20 leaders will also address these issues. “In Los Cabos, I will ask leaders to once again look not just at their national concerns but at the common good, which is inextricably linked to their own interests,” he said. “We need a powerful, coordinated solution to the worldwide jobs crisis and decisive action to avoid a new global recession. We need inclusive green growth that can drive sustainable development.”

In his remarks, the UN chief highlighted six development priorities in the context of the G20 discussions: infrastructure; food and nutrition security; working on the links between infrastructure, food and nutrition security, water, oceans and energy; enhancing investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy; social protection; and supporting efforts to make financial services accessible to all. “In Los Cabos, I will stress the need to integrate and balance the three pillars of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental,” said Mr. Ban. “The G20’s work can – and must – be complementary to the goals and outcome of Rio+20.” The Secretary-General added that his expectations from Los Cabos and Rio are very similar.

“We must find ways to stimulate our economies to create decent jobs. We must provide social protection to the most poor and vulnerable,” he said. “And we must achieve all this while respecting the boundaries of our planet to make our world more prosperous, secure and sustainable for the next generations.” In his remarks to the informal meeting, General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser said that, in the Assembly’s deliberations, it has been clear how eager Member States are to find solutions to stabilize the global markets, resume growth and job creation and begin the transition to a more sustainable model of development.

“I am glad that, through their engagement at all of the debates and meetings, Member States have demonstrated once again the central role of the United Nations, and the General Assembly in particular, in leading the process of proposing and coordinating effective economic policies,” he stated.