Tears streamed down Wyclef Jean’s face as the singer promised his fellow Haitians that he would not desert them in their hour of need.

Clutching a handkerchief, he pleaded for continued international help for the quake-hit island at a press conference broadcast live on his Yéle Haiti foundation website.

The 37-year-old former Fugees star said the devastated capital Port-au-Prince urgently needed to be evacuated so that relief agencies could go in.

However, his impassioned speech was tinged with anger as he was forced to deny that money raised by his charity — up to $2m — had been diverted for his personal gain.

Jean, who had just returned from a three-day fact-finding mission to Haiti, said the most important job was to organise a mass exodus of Port-au-Prince so that emergency workers could go in and clear the rubble.

He insisted that residents should be evacuated to tent cities outside the capital so that aid could reach them and the clean-up could begin in earnest.

Jean asked for help from around the world in building encampments and urged people to help fund the distribution of tents to house the refugees in the interim. ‘We need to migrate at least two million people,’ he said, promising to draw on his status as one of Haiti’s favourite sons to aid in such an effort.

‘I give you my word, if I tell them to go, they will go. But they need somewhere to go to.’

His organisation has drawn fire in recent days as some groups which vet charities raised doubts about its accounting practices and ability to function in a nation devastated by last week’s earthquake.

— Daily Mail

Britney Spears ignores a court date to go shopping

They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend — but they certainly haven’t done Britney Spears any favours.

The pop star has been reprimanded by a judge after she missed a court date to go shopping for a sparkly pendant.

But judging from her outfit, a lingerie store should have been her first stop to get herself properly fitted for some underwear. Britney, 28, was spotted at a luxury shopping centre last Friday near her home in Calabasas, California, bursting out of a bra which was clearly too small for her.

She should have been in court for a conservatorship (guardianship) hearing but instead, she treated herself to some pampering at a nail salon where she brushed up on some dieting tips courtesy of a glossy magazine.

She then headed to designer jewellers Polacheck’s, where she bought herself a diamond pendant and was all smiles as she left the back door of the mall.

— Daily Mail

DiCaprio takes on-again girlfriend Bar Refaeli to watch basketball

She has found herself in the firing line of her native Israel’s army, but Bar Refaeli took her mind off matters with on-again boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio. The model joined the Departed star in the front row to watch the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team beat the Orlando Magic 98-92.

The pair seem to have rekindled their turbulent romance which cooled in June after Leo, 34, decided he wasn’t ready to move in with her. It follows reports the Israeli army has launched a campaign against the swimsuit model and called for a boycott of products she promotes. The model, who has applied for non-resident status in her native Israel for tax purposes, is said to have avoided military service.

Armed forces human resources director Avi Zamir called for a boycott as he addressed students near Tel Aviv.

‘I can’t take on Bar Refaeli, but you can,’ the Yediot Aharonot newspaper quoted him as saying as he urged Israelis not to buy lingerie and other products she promotes.

— Daily Mail

Streetwalker chic

Mischa Barton has channelled some seriously strange outfits in recent months — but shocking pink tights teamed with a floral minidress and leopard-print coat really tops the lot.

Still, the former OC actress can be forgiven for her sartorial slip-up this time — she was in character, playing a pregnant prostitute.

The 23-year-old was caught by photographers mid-way through filming scenes for the American TV series Law and Order: SVU in New York’s Meatpacking district. Hollywood heavyweight Sharon Stone has also been roped in for a cameo appearance on the show. While Mischa will play a hooker called Gladys, Sharon will play an ex-cop turned prosecutor over four episodes.

— Daily Mail