There was something dispiriting about the last half hour of Barcelona’s 0-3 Champions League semi-final second leg defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Israel has become the first nation to miss a UN review of its human rights record without giving a reason.

Haiti’s Senate has approved Garry Conille as Prime Minister, with authorities hoping the appointment will jump-start stalled earthquake reconstruction efforts.

The Republic of Ireland have moved up two places to 31st in the latest FIFA rankings announced today.

MICHEL “Sweet Micky” Martelly, a pop star known for his bad-boy antics on stage, became earthquake-devastated Haiti’s new president and urged his countrymen to set aside their divisions and raise the nation from rubble.

Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, a pop star known for his bad-boy antics on stage, became earthquake-devastated Haiti's new president and urged his countrymen to set aside their divisions and raise the nation from rubble.

Haitians scarred by decades of poverty, political corruption and natural disasters have cast their ballots for a new president.

Former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned home from seven years in exile to a celebrity welcome today, and immediately took a swipe at the decision to bar his political party from the country’s presidential election.

Former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier told Haitians he had returned after 25 years in exile to participate in the post-earthquake reconstruction of his homeland and was ready to face “persecution” for alleged crimes during his administration.

OUSTED dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier is planning to stay in Haiti and play some kind of political role, his lawyer said.

Human rights groups today urged Haiti to prosecute former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier following his surprise return to the country.

HAITI began two days of remembrance ceremonies yesterday in honour of the nearly quarter million people who died in an earthquake that levelled the impoverished country a year ago.

Jose Mourinho was named FIFA Coach of the Year ahead of World Cup-winning Spain boss Vicente del Bosque and Barcelona's Pep Guardiola for leading Inter Milan to an unprecedented Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia treble.

Oxfam is calling on the Government in Haiti and the donors to start rebuilding the country.

A second-round vote to choose Haiti’s president will not be possible until late February, after the constitutional end of current President Rene Preval’s term, the electoral council says.

More than 100 protesters angered by a dysfunctional election commemorated Haiti’s Independence Day today by burning tyres and demanding that President Rene Preval be arrested.

HAITI’S cholera toll has risen above 900, including dozens of deaths in the teeming capital, as the epidemic showed no sign of abating two weeks ahead of presidential elections.

HAITI has desperately sought to halt a cholera epidemic that threatens to spiral out of control after reaching the capital’s crowded slums, where 73 cases and one death have so far been recorded.

Hip-hop star Wyclef Jean said today he was confident that Haiti election officials would accept his candidacy to run for president despite doubts over whether he meets the residency requirement.

Hip hop star Wyclef Jean submitted the paperwork to run for president of Haiti, thrusting himself into what is expected to be a highly competitive race and ending years of speculation about his political ambitions.

WYCLEF JEAN has stepped down as leader of the embattled aid group he founded as he prepares to formally declare his candidacy for the Haitian presidency.

Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean stepped down today as leader of the aid group he founded as he prepared to formally declare his candidacy for the country’s presidency.

AN Irish charity building houses in Haiti has said it has exceeded its targets in the impoverished country despite the destruction wrought by the hurricane last winter.

A senior US senator sharply criticised Haiti's president, portraying him as an ineffectual leader who was hindering recovery from January's devastating earthquake.

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it has cancelled Haiti’s $268 million (€207m) debt and will lend the earthquake-devastated island another $60m to help with reconstruction.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it has cancelled Haiti's $268m (€207m) debt and will lend the earthquake-devastated country another $60m (€46m) to help it with reconstruction plans.

The International Monetary Fund has agreed to cancel debts owed by impovrished Haiti.

'Britain’s Got Talent' has received its first ever nomination for a Bafta television award.

The Government today revealed plans to pledge a total of €13m towards rebuilding Haiti after the devastating earthquake.

HAITI has unveiled the first draft of its grand reconstruction plan, saying $11.5 billion (€8.36bn) would be needed to help the country rebuild after January’s earthquake.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon promised Haitians that the world has not forgotten the quake-torn nation as it suffers from a shortage of shelter and growing violence in teeming camps for the homeless.

The Irish Red Cross has raised over €2m for the relief effort in Haiti.

Latin American and Caribbean nations backed Argentina’s claim of sovereignty to the Falkland Islands in a growing dispute with Britain over plans to drill for oil off the islands in the Atlantic.

Digicel owner and chairman, Denis O’Brien, has been named as a goodwill ambassador for the city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti, it was announced today.

France is set to provide total budgetary support for Haiti.

Haiti's president predicts that it will take three years just to clear the rubble from the shattered capital Port-au-Prince.

The decision of the G7 countries to cancel Haiti’s huge debt burden will not, in itself, result in the stricken Caribbean nation making a satisfactory recovery from the recent earthquake, according to GOAL CEO John O'Shea.

TEN members of a US missionary group who said they were trying to rescue 33 child victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake were charged with child kidnapping and criminal association yesterday, their lawyer said.

The UN warned today that Haiti was sinking into potential violent chaos as people grow frustrated at the slow pace of aid getting through.

Ten Americans who tried to take a busload of undocumented Haitian children out of the country knew what they were doing was wrong and could be prosecuted in the US, Haiti’s prime minister said.

HAITIAN officials said last night they are thinking of sending a group of US Baptists home for prosecution after they were arrested trying to take 33 children out of the country without government permission.

HAITI’S quake survivors faced rising insecurity yesterday with thousands of criminals on the loose and reports of rape and violence plaguing the weak and vulnerable.

Chart star Wyclef Jean says his former group The Fugees may reform to record a charity single to raise money for Haiti earthquake victims.

THE role of the US military in delivering aid to Haiti is likely to be examined in the aftermath of the disaster, according to the Irish Red Cross, who said assistance should be delivered “purely on the basis of need”.