A spreading cholera outbreak in rural Haiti threatened to outpace aid groups as they stepped up efforts hoping to keep the disease from reaching the squalid camps of earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince.

UN officials said they are still far short of reaching all of the Haiti earthquake victims estimated to need food.

DOCTORS skirted a bureaucratic logjam to save the life of two critically ill child victims of Haiti’s earthquake yesterday, flying them to US hospitals on a private jet to avoid a military suspension of medical evacuation flights.

A frightening new aftershock in Haiti forced more earthquake survivors on to the capital’s streets and sent others fleeing to the countryside, where aid was only beginning to reach wrecked towns.

GEORGE CLOONEY says the “Hope for Haiti” benefit for victims of the earthquake will include performances from Bono, Sting, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys.

Hollywood big names came forward with cash donations to help the relief effort in Haiti.

IRISH nationals in Haiti yesterday told of the horrific impact of the massive earthquake.

The United States today rejected outright a call by the UN chief at the International AIDS Conference for an €824.2m contribution in 2005 to the global fund that has become the centrepiece of United Nations efforts against the disease.

The United States today urged its legions of detractors to end their bickering over condoms and drug patents and join with Washington in a global partnership to fight Aids.