Haiti: Death Toll Tops 150K

Actor will serve as nation's ambassador at large

(NEWSER) - "Diplomacy" doesn't even make the list of the top million things associated with Sean Penn, but Haiti has gone ahead and named the actor its ambassador at large anyway. Penn, who has long labored for Haitian relief in the wake of the devastating 2010 earthquake, was offered the job at an A-list fundraiser over the weekend by Haiti's foreign minister, reports the New York Post . “I do accept,” Penn said, adding it would be refreshing to “change being called 'hey, you (bleep)', to 'hey, Mr. Ambassador!'” More»

But some see 'progress' amid the 'distress'

(NEWSER) - The wires are awash with two-year anniversary stories about Haiti's earthquake, which pretty much run the optimism gamut from the Washington Post (Headline: "Two years after quake, signs of progress in Haiti") to the Wall Street Journal ("Two Years After Quake, Haiti Remains in Distress").

• Journal: It sees "donor fatigue" settling in and resentment rising against the government of former pop star Michel Martelly. Political infighting has held up reconstruction projects, and the US, along with charities and NGOs, are running out of patience. In the meantime, "half a million people still live in squalid tent cities and rubble remains where it fell in this ruined capital" of Port-au-Prince. Full story here .

Next stop: Hispaniola

(AP) - Hurricane Irene cut power to more than a million people in Puerto Rico, downing trees and flooding streets, before heading out over warm ocean water today on a path that could take it to the US mainland by the end of the week. There were no reports of deaths or major injuries in Puerto Rico, but Gov. Luis Fortuno declared a state of emergency and urged people to stay indoors to avoid downed power lines, flooded streets, and other hazards. More»

Government relocates hundreds of refugees from 1972 quake

(NEWSER) - In the aftermath of a 1972 earthquake that leveled 50,000 buildings and killed 10,000 in Nicaragua's capital city of Managua, many of the country's poor had no place to go. While 250,000 of their middle- and upper-class counterparts migrated to safer, more habitable locales, the less fortunate occupied the crumbling remains of the few standing vacated apartment buildings. Four decades later, the government has relocated those 103 families to new homes, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More»

True count may be 250K less than Haitian estimate

(NEWSER) - The number of people killed or made homeless by the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti last year is well below the Haitian government's figures, according to a report commissioned by the US government. The researchers estimate that between 46,000 and 85,000 people were killed in the quake, according to a copy of the unreleased report obtained by AP . The Haitian government says 316,000 people died in the quake, but it has not explained how it arrived at the official figure. More»