Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned to Haiti after nearly 25 years in exile, a surprising and perplexing move that comes as his country struggles with a political crisis and the stalled effort to recover from last year’s devastating earthquake.

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.

Furious supporters of eliminated candidates set fires and put up barricades in the streets of Haiti's capital after officials announced that government protege Jude Celestin and former first lady Mirlande Manigat would advance to a second round run-off in presidential elections.

Haiti’s election ended in discord with nearly all the major presidential candidates calling for it to be disallowed over fraud and claims that large numbers of voters were turned away across the quake-stricken country.

THE ballot was as crowded as the earthquake-ravaged capital itself, and a collapsed presidential palace the prize.

HAITIANS faced growing concerns of voter fraud ahead of presidential elections tomorrow as the desperately poor nation gripped by cholera struggles to rebuild after a devastating earthquake.

Haiti’s president met Wyclef Jean for more than two hours, sparking a new round of speculation on whether the singer would be included in a list of presidential candidates.

Hip hop star Wyclef Jean’s Haiti presidential bid was in limbo today after the country’s electoral commission said it was postponing its ruling on who will be allowed to run for office in November

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.

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.

Singer Wyclef Jean is to run for president of earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

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

Haitian President Rene Preval set November 28 as the date voters will choose his successor as leader of the earthquake-shattered Caribbean nation.

Police fired tear gas outside the ruins of Haiti’s national palace to control 2,000 demonstrators calling for President Rene Preval’s resignation in the largest political protest since the January 12 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.

IT will take three years to clear the rubble left by Haiti’s devastating earthquake, said President Rene Preval, who admitted even he’s still afraid to sleep under concrete in case another quake strikes.

Haiti issued wildly conflicting death tolls for the January 12 earthquake, adding to confusion about how many people actually died – and to suspicion that nobody really knows.

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

RIOTS broke out in the centre of Haiti’s capital last night as government trucks carrying rice were attacked by crowds.

DRUMBEATS called the faithful to a Sunday Mass praising God amid a scene resembling the Apocalypse – a collapsed cathedral in a city cloaked with the smell of death, where aid is slow to reach survivors and rescue crews battle to pry anever-smaller number of the living from the ruins.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese yesterday told Haiti’s head of state that Ireland was praying for his country as the Government prepared to send a team of specialists to the earthquake-hit region.

President Mary McAleese today told Haiti’s head of state Ireland was praying for his country after the devastating earthquake thought to have killed tens of thousands of people.

Dazed survivors wandered past dead bodies in rubble-strewn streets, crying for loved ones, and rescuers desperately searched collapsed buildings as fears rose that the death toll from Haiti's devastating earthquake could reach into the tens of thousands.

THOUSANDS died in a major earthquake that destroyed the presidential palace, schools, hospitals and hillside shanties in Haiti, the country’s president said yesterday as nations across the world geared up for a big relief operation.

ROADS were blocked and sustained gunfire rang out in upscale neighbourhoods in the mountains above Port-au-Price yesterday, as protests and looting over soaring food prices paralysed the Haitian capital.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said US President George Bush represents the “most cynical, most murderous empire in all of history” but insisted he had nothing personal against him.

Haiti’s parliament has overwhelmingly approved a new cabinet that includes members of six political parties, a strong show of support for President Rene Preval as he steers the impoverished nation toward peace and stability.

HAITIANS celebrated in the streets yesterday as word quickly spread that Rene Preval will be Haiti’s next president.

HUNDREDS of smashed ballot boxes and bags apparently used to carry vote count sheets were scattered across a rubbish dump yesterday, more than a week after Haiti’s disputed presidential elections.

UN peacekeepers opened fire yesterday on Haitians protesting election results, killing at least one and wounding four, witnesses said as flaming roadblocks paralysed the capital.

Haitians voted in overwhelming numbers in an election aimed at restoring democracy in the impoverished nation, swamping officials who struggled to cope with the large turnout.