Jolie Returns, Moved, From Afghanistan Trip

UN info on displaced peoples now available through Earth mapping feature

(NEWSER) - A new feature allows Google Earth users to take a tour of the world’s refugee hotspots, with images of camps supplemented by information from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the AP reports. The search titan has greatly improved the available resolution in its satellite photos of refugee areas—for example, individual tents are visible in a Chadian camp for Darfur’s displaced. More»

UN goodwill ambassador visited survivors yesterday

(NEWSER) - Angelina Jolie's latest humanitarian mission: Haiti's earthquake victims. The actress and UN goodwill ambassador visited with survivors hospitalized in the neighboring Dominican Republic yesterday, and a UN rep says she is traveling to Haiti today, the AP reports. During yesterday's hospital visit Jolie, accompanied by a UN rep, "spoke with several children and a Haitian woman who recognized her and requested help," a hospital spokesperson says. More»

Stars visit with displaced people in Syria

(NEWSER) - Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are in Syria, using their powers for good. The celebrity übercouple visited Iraqi refugees in Damascus today in an attempt to keep the lowest-profile victims of the war from falling off the radar, People reports. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the UN's refugee agency, released a statement that reads in part: "Most Iraqi refugees cannot return to Iraq in view of the severe trauma they experienced there, the uncertainty linked to the coming Iraqi elections, the security issues and the lack of basic services." More»

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton is hoping text messages can save Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The Secretary of State is asking Americans to text “swat” to 20222 to make a $5 donation to help refugees from the fighting there, Foreign Policy reports. The money would go to a UN agency, which provides food, medicine, and tents for the 1.17 million who’ve been forced to flee their homes in the region. More»

Taylor Swift donates $4M to Country Music Hall of Fame

(NEWSER) - Taylor Swift is donating a sizable $4 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the largest gift ever donated to the museum by an artist. It will fund the Taylor Swift Education Center, a new classroom and exhibit space opening in 2014, the AP reports. Swift proves that not all celebrities spend their dough on things like $12,000 Chanel bicycles and $18,500 olive trees , and Celebuzz rounds up 14 more who give freely of their money and/or their time. And while some are obvious (hello, George Clooney) many might surprise:

• Sandra Bullock: Has donated $1 million to relief organizations that give aid to those affected by 9/11, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Japan.
• Ellen DeGeneres: Her pet cause is, ahem, animal rights and rescue organizations, and her pet food line benefits charity.