U.S. pledges $1.15B to earthquake-stricken Haiti

[inflamesdjk02]

By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK -- A senior U.S. official says the Obama administration will pledge $1.15 billion over the next two years to help with Haiti's post-earthquake reconstruction.

The official says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will announce the pledge on Wednesday at a U.N. donors conference that is expected to raise $3.8 billion in initial assistance to rebuild schools, hospitals, courthouses and neighborhoods destroyed in the Jan. 12 quake.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement at the conference that Clinton is co-chairing with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (Bahn kee-MUHN'). Representatives of more that 130 countries are expected to attend the meeting.


http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/31/1556383/us-pledges-115b-to-earthquake.html

[Bruno]

Fire up the printing presses!

[Krugerrand]

I was just about to post this under "Off Topic" ... hopefully nobody minds if I squeeze it in here.

Study suggests toads can detect coming earthquakes (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100331/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_trembling_toads)

When it comes to predicting earthquakes, toads — warts and all — may be an asset.

British researchers said Wednesday that they observed a mass exodus of toads from a breeding site in Italy five days before a major tremor struck, suggesting the amphibians may be able to sense environmental changes, imperceptible to humans, that foretell a coming quake.