The Hague  - Italian judge Antonio Cassese has appointed president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), the tribunal that will probe the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri said in a statement Tuesday.

The United Nations tribunal, which based in the Dutch city of The Hague, also said the other judges had been sworn in but did not release their names because "not all security measures are in place yet."

New York  - The United Nations Security Council on Monday renewed the mandate of its mission in Afghanistan for another year, emphasizing its "central and impartial role" in building peace and stability in the troubled nation.

The mission, with 115 international and more than 300 local staff, will lead international efforts to assist the government in Kabul, including the organization of general elections in August.

Geneva - Israel's recent military operation in the Gaza Strip was illegal and included violations of human rights and possible crimes against humanity, the United Nations expert on the Palestinian territories said Monday.

"To the extent that the combat zone was so densely populated by civilians, it meant that, with the types of weaponry relied upon, there was no lawful way to carry out the Israeli military operations," said Richard Falk, addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

New York  - The meeting of the world's 20 leading economies in London on April 2 has the potential of making profound changes in the global economy that is suffering a deep recession, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday.

"The stakes at the London summit are large," Ban told the UN General Assembly, which convened to discuss the world economic downturn, triggered initially by a US financial crisis and which threatens funding for UN programmes.

New York  - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Monday urged the United Nations to remain in Kosovo and not cut its troops and budget, but the UN said it has drastically reconfigured its presence a year after Kosovo seceded from Belgrade.

Tadic appeared before the UN Security Council in New York to request that the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) continue to function fully and protect the Serb ethnic population in the territory.

Belgrade rejected Pristina's unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008, still claiming it as a Serb province.

Geneva  - The recent Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip was illegal and included violations of human rights and possible crimes against humanity, the United Nations' expert on the Palestinian territories said Monday.

"To the extent that the combat zone was so densely populated by civilians, it meant that, with the types of weaponry relied upon, there was no lawful way to carry out the Israeli military operations," said Richard Falk, addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva.