Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Angelina Jolie urges aid for flood-hit Pakistan


Story photo: Angelina Jolie urges aid for flood-hit PakistanUS actress Angelina Jolie poses for the photographers as she attends the Gala Premiere of her latest film 'Salt' at a central London cinema, Monday Aug. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)Associated Press
LONDON - Angelina Jolie says it's vital that people help Pakistan's flood victims and not surrender to compassion fatigue.
The floods have displaced 20 million people, but donations are below those for catastrophes like the Haitian earthquake or the Asian tsunami.
Jolie said she understood that "it is getting hard for people — they see Haiti, they see these other events ... and they get exhausted by the time another big one rolls around."
But she said Pakistanis face "mass death, mass displacement, and this situation is going to get worse."
Jolie has visited Haiti, Iraq and other countries as a U.N. goodwill ambassador.
The star says she might visit Pakistan once "the cameras go away."
Jolie spoke Monday at the London premiere of her spy thriller "Salt."