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.

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.

Geneva  - The United States blocked Friday the formation of a World Trade Organization panel to look into a complaint by Mexico that the US was unfairly closing its markets to tuna from its southern neighbour.

Mexico said US labeling rules, which prevent Mexican companies from placing "dolphin safe" labels on their products, violated trade rules as the tuna was in line with regulations on protecting dolphins.

About one-third of Mexico's fishing fleet was said to be adversely affected by the decision.

Geneva  - The recent Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip lacked a legal basis and potentially amounted to a "crime against peace," according to a United Nations expert report available on the internet Friday.

Israel did not exhaust the diplomatic options available to it before engaging in the conflict, Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, wrote in the report.

Geneva  - Africa is not immune to the world's financial troubles, the head of the African Development Bank said Friday, asking that at the upcoming G20 international economic conference the continent not be forgotten.

"For us, in the low income countries, the crisis is reaching us and hitting very hard," Donald Kaberuka, the bank's president, said.

The continent was witnessing contractions in all major sectors "much faster than we thought."

Geneva - The United Nations top rights official, Navi Pillay, issued a call Friday denouncing racial discrimination, ahead of an event marking the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa nearly five decades ago.

"Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance are insidious, corrosive and sometimes explosive forces that devastate the lives of many individuals and, if left to fester, can undermine societies as a whole," said Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Right.