Japan GDP Falls Most Since 2011 Quake on Sales Tax Hike

Workers load containers from trucks onto a cargo ship at a port in Tokyo.Reuters

The Japanese economy has witnessed its biggest contraction in the second quarter since the 2011 disastrous tsunami and earthquake as consumer spending declined due to the sales tax hike in April.

Japan gross domestic product (GDP) declined an annualised 6.8% in the second quarter, compared to economists' projections for a 7.1% drop.

On a sequential basis, the economy contracted 1.7% after a 1.5% growth in the first quarter.

Private consumption, which contributes 60% of the GDP, declined 5% from the previous quarter.

Japan increased its sales tax from 5% to 8% in April in order to generate more revenues and pare its huge public debt. As a result, goods became more expensive in the country and consumers started to reduce their spending.

The move had some negative impacts on the economy. Japan's industrial production declined 3.3% on month in June, as the country's sales tax hike prompted consumers to cut spending.

In addition, June retail sales fell 0.6% year on year and household spending declined in recent months.

Ahead of the tax hike, businesses and individuals boosted their spending, resulting in weaker demand in recent months.

"Consumers had brought forward spending ahead of April's increase in the consumption tax," said Marcel Thieliant, Japan economist at Capital Economics.

Thieliant noted that the economy will rebound in the second half of the year.

"The collapse in economic activity last quarter was largely a result of the higher sales tax, and we still believe that the recovery will resume in the second half of the year," he said.

Nomura economist Tomo Kinoshita noted that private consumption would rebound in the third quarter by 1% sequentially lifting annualised real GDP growth 2.3 percentage points.

"Given current conditions in the US and other overseas economies, we expect real exports to return to growth in Jul-Sep. Meanwhile, companies still appear to be relatively upbeat on capital investment. We think the Japanese economy will continue to recover at a moderate pace," Kinoshita said.

The Japanese government had the same view about the economy.

"Looking at monthly data during April-June, sales of electronics goods and those at department stores are picking up after falling sharply in April," Economics Minister Akira Amari said in a statement.

"The job market is also improving steadily. Taking these into account, Japan's economy continues to recover moderately as a trend and the effect of the sales tax hike is subsiding."

Iraq Crisis: US Sending 130 More Military Advisers to Help New Baghdad Government

A F/A-18E Super Hornet of Strike Fighter Squadron comes in to land onboard the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, in the GulfHamad I Mohammed/Reuters

The US is sending 130 military advisers to Iraq to help combat the Sunni Islamists in the Kurdish region and to assist the rescue operations in the Sinjar Mountain, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said.

The US defence secretary has insisted this is not a military intervention by American troops but an effort to assist the Iraqi security forces.

"Very specifically, this is not a combat boots on the ground operation. We are not going to have that kind of operation. But short of that, there are some things we can continue to do and we are doing," Hagel told reporters from the Camp Pendleton, a Marine base in California.

There are already 250 US military personnel in Iraq.

Another US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that the additional special advisers are Marines and special operation forces who are specifically intended to aid the operation in Sinjar, Al Jazeera reported.

The European Union has also authorised the individual members in the bloc to send military aid to Kurdish and Iraqi security forces to fight the militants of Islamic State, formerly known as Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant (Isis).

"The [envoys] noted the urgent request by the Kurdish regional authorities to certain member states for military support and underlined the need to consider this request in close coordination with the Iraqi authorities," a statement from the office of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.

Countries such as France, Italy and the Czech Republic are in favour of delivering weapons to the Iraqi security forces, despite strong opposition from other EU members. Henceforth, it is not clear whether or when the countries would start sending their arms.

Vatican to Muslim Leaders: Denounce Massacre of Christians and Yazidis in Iraq

Iraqi Christians, who fled the violence in the village of Qaraqosh, seek refuge inside a church building in Erbil, north of Baghdad(Reuters)

The Vatican has appealed to Muslim leaders to "unambiguously denounce and condemn" the barbaric practices of the Islamic State against Christians and Yazidis in Iraq, suggesting that their credibility may be damaged if they do not do so.

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogues, the Vatican department which deals with the Muslims, said that the massacre of Christians and Yazidis - an ancient and reclusive Zoroastrian religion that dates back to the Mesopotamian age - cannot be justified by any religion and "brings shame on humanity".

Among the crimes denounced by the Vatican are "unspeakable acts" such as beheading, crucifying and hanging bodies in public places; the forced expulsion of tens of thousands of people; the abduction of girls and women as spoils of war; the imposition of the barbaric practice of infibulation and the destruction of places of worship and Christian and Muslim burial places.

In the strongest condemnation yet of Islamic State practice, the Vatican statement said: "All must be unanimous in condemning unequivocally these crimes and in denouncing the use of religion to justify them. If not, what credibility will religions, their followers and their leaders have? What credibility can the interreligious dialogue that we have patiently pursued over recent years have?"

It also openly asks Muslim leaders to take a "clear and courageous stance" in denouncing the jihadists and "the invoking of religion to justify" crimes against humanity.

Pope Francis has been vocal in cricitising attacks against Christians after 100,000 of them were reported to have fled their homes in Iraq because of the Sunni militants' threat. Cardinal Fernando Filoni, a personal envoy of the Argentinian Pope, was sent to the region to show solidarity with the victims, provide them with emergency funding and meet Iraqi and Kurdish leaders.

Indonesia: Hindus Throw Live Animals into Crater of Mount Bromo Volcano for Gods

On the 14th day of the Hindu festival of Yadnya Kasada, the Tenggerese people throw fruit, vegetables and live animals into the crater of Mount Bromo as offerings to the mountain gods.

However, not all of their offerings reach the gods. Locals from a nearby village in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia, wait inside the crater with nets and try to catch the food thrown by the Hindu worshippers.

A tribesman holds a goat before throwing it into the crater of Mount Bromo as an offering(AFP)

A bird tries to fly after being thrown into the crater of Mount Bromo by Hindu worshippers(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Villagers with nets prepare to catch offerings thrown by Hindu worshippers into the crater of Mount Bromo(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

The origin of the festival lies in the 15th century when a princess named Roro Anteng started the principality of Tengger with her husband Joko Seger, and the childless couple asked the mountain gods for help in bearing children.

The legend says the gods granted them 24 children, on the provision that the 25th must be tossed into the volcano in sacrifice. The 25th child, Kesuma, was finally sacrificed in this way after initial refusal, and the tradition of throwing sacrifices into the caldera to appease the mountain gods continues today.

A village is seen at the foot of Mount Bromo in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in Probolinggo, Java, Indonesia( Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Two men lead a goat across the Sea of Sand towards the crater of Mount Bromo(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

People carry offerings of fruit and vegetables up towards the crater of Mount Bromo(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

A villager crossing the Sea of Sands pauses to take in the view(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Clouds blanket the valley below as Tenggerese worshippers pray to their ancestors at the crater of Mount Bromo(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Tenggerese worshippers trek across the Sea of Sand to give their offerings to Mount Bromo(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Villagers use nets to try to catch offerings thrown by Hindu worshippers(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Eleven-year-old Feri holds a net as he and other villagers wait to catch offerings thrown by Hindu worshippers(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

A villager tries to catch a chicken thrown by Hindu worshippers into the crater of Mount Bromo(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

The Tenggerese or Tengger people live in villages in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in east-central Java. They are generally Hindu, but they also worship Ida Sang Hyang Widi Wasa, which translates as "Big Almighty Lord", as well as several Buddhist deities.

The main Tenggerese temple is Pura Luhur Poten on the Sea of Sands at the foot of Mount Bromo. They gather here before setting off up Mount Bromo with their offerings for the mountain gods.

Tenggerese worshippers prepare at Poten Temple before going to Mount Bromo(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Tenggerese worshippers gather around a fire at Poten Temple before heading to the mountain(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Worshippers consult with a shaman at Widodaren Cave before they set off up the mountain(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

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How Mosul Dam Allows the Islamic State to Inflict Water Torture on Iraq

Mosul dam lies on the Tigris river(Reuters)

When militants from the Islamic State seized control of Iraq's largest dam in early August, it marked the most significant prize in their Iraq campaign to date.

The jihadists' lightning advance through northern Iraq in early June shocked the world. Iraq's second city of Mosul fell with minimal resistance and many believed the group would drive south, straight for the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Instead, the militants sought to consolidate the victories that they had already won by grabbing strategic assets in the northern part of the country. They waged battles for the country's biggest oil refinery and successfully seized oilfields. Yet their most valuable price to date is undoubtedly the Mosul Dam.

When fighters from the Islamic State arrived at the dam, they told the workers hiding in offices that they were not in danger and would receive their salaries as usual if they kept the dam working and producing electricity for the territory they control.

Mosul dam provides electricity and water to Mosul's 1.7 million residents, who currently live under the Islamic State's rule. It is in the group's interest to keep the dam running as usual.

The dam's capacity to flood vast plains of the country has garnered much media attention. Mosul could be engulfed by a massive wave within a matter of hours, while Baghdad could even be flooded if the Islamic State militants chose to do so.

The structure itself is old and requires daily cement injections. $30m was spent on the dam by the United States when they occupied the country but the project to repair and upgrade the dam was mismanaged badly.

Reports vary on how many engineers are in place at the dam to manage its maintenance.

Indeed, the dam's current ownership is disputed in some quarters in Iraq. Kurdish forces have neither confirmed nor denied that the dam was captured by the Islamic State. The Kurds' refusal to admit its loss reveals the importance of the asset.

Controlling Mosul dam gives the Islamic State leverage with the central Iraqi government. It is central to its idea of establishing a caliphate, whereby it takes on the role of a state rather than a mere fighting force.

It has executed this tactic in eastern Syria, where it controls vast amounts of oil facilities that can generate millions of dollars in revenue. Part of this cash is reinvested in social projects in the territory it controls, as well as buying weapons and paying wages.

The Islamic State believe they are settling in for the long-run.

India Lowers Monsoon Rains Forecast but Says No Drought

A man uses an umbrella to protect himself from rain as he walks through the flooded banks of the Ganges river in the northern Indian city of Allahabad on 4 August.Reuters

India has lowered its forecast for June-September monsoon rainfall to 87% of the long-period average, from 93% previously, following a slow start to the season.

No sign of a drought sas been detected this year, however.

The forecast, provided by Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh, will mollify New Delhi's fears about higher food inflation. A drought would have severely hit farm output, pushing up food prices.

Singh, on 12 August, said that there was no scientific evidence of a drought in 2014 and that rainfall for the August-September period was forecast at 95% of the long-period average.

An average monsoon for the August-September period is when the subcontinent receives downpours of between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 43.5 centimetres, according to the the weather office.

"The second half of monsoon is expected to be better than the first half.

"The distribution of rainfall by and large is expected to be good," the minister said in the capital, Reuters reported.

Rice Exports

A weak start to the 2014 monsoon season will hit India's rice exports.

Monsoon rains, which feed India's summer-sown rice crop, were 40% below average in the first six-weeks of the June-September monsoon season.

India's rice exports could drop to eight million tonnes in the financial year 2014-15, B V Krishna Rao, managing director at Pattabhi Agro Foods told Reuters in July.

India exported a record 10.86 million tonnes of rice in the fiscal year ended 31 March, 2014.

The June-September precipitation accounts for 70% of India's rainfall and irrigates more than half its farmland.

The agriculture sector accounts for 14% of India's gross domestic product (GDP).

Pakistan: Parliament Passes Resolution to Protect Democracy Amid Coup Fears

Police wait on the sidelines before a demonstration called by Muhammad Tahirul Qadri, Sufi cleric and leader of political party Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), outside his residence in LahoreMohsin Raza/Reuters

As fears over a coup d'état loom large over the Pakistan government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the parliament has passed a resolution fortifying democracy in the country.

According to the resolution which was adopted unanimously, democracy should be protected even under difficult circumstances, sending warning signals to opposition forces, which are planning to hold big rallies on 14 August, the country's Independence Day.

The debate on the resolution was heated over the worsening political situation in Pakistan.

Sharif is also making a special address to the country later in the day over the crisis.

The developments come in the wake of the move by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan to hold massive protests against the government.

Khan has called for a million people to march against the Sharif government amid speculation that the military may seize power.

"We all need to be prepared to remove any hurdles in our way. The police are with us, and the army will not stop us as they are with the people," Khan told a gathering on the eve of the parliament session.

Khan's party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, has been protesting against alleged rigging during the parliamentary elections held in 2013, which catapulted Sharif to power.

The army, which ruled Pakistan for several decades, has staged coups against civilian governments at least three times since Pakistan's independence from Britain in 1947. There have also been unsuccessful coup attempts by the military in the past.

India's Royal Enfield Plans LatAm and SE Asia Push

Royal Enfield Motors eyes Latin America and South East Asia markets.Reuters

Royal Enfield, the motorcycle arm of India's Eicher Motors, has said it plans to tap new markets in Latin America and South East Asia over the next three years.

"Besides the developed markets, we are also looking to expand in the emerging markets in the next 1-3 years. We are looking to enter markets in Latin America and South East Asia," Eicher Motors Chief Executive Siddhartha Lal said on 12 August.

"We have large ambitions in Colombia, where we have already appointed a distributor. We will be opening showrooms there before the end of this year.

"The [Latin American] market is largely underserved. Our endeavour is to fill the gap for mid-sized motorcycles in these markets," Lal said after his firm reported strong first-quarter earnings.

Eicher Results

Eicher Motors' stock finished at a record high 9,280.85 rupees (£90), surging 7.94% in Mumbai on 12 August after the maker of tractors, trucks and buses reported a 70.5% jump in net profit for the April-June first-quarter.

Royal Enfield, an age-old British brand that enjoys cult status in India, sells various popular motorcycle models including the muscular Bullet and the Continental GT café racer in the UK, in Europe, the US, Japan and in Australia.

Royal Enfield manufactured 178,000 bikes in 2013.

Prudential Sees 17% Rise in Profits Thanks to US and Asia

Operating profit was up by 17% for the firm.(Reuters)

Prudential has posted a strong rise in profits on the back of its US and Asia businesses, weathering the storm of the UK's annuity rules shake-up.

The UK's biggest listed insurance group said that its operating profit was up by 17%, hitting £1.5bn (£2.5bn, €1.9bn) for the first half of 2014.

The results were driven by solid profits in its US business Jackson National Life, which saw earnings increase by 28% year on year, contributing £686m.

In addition Prudential's Asia life and asset management operations saw profit of £525m, up 19%.

Tidjane Thiam, group chief executive said that: "In the first half, fee income was up 24% to £764m, mostly as a result of the success of our US strategy, and insurance margin was up 23% to £680m, underlining our success in providing health and protection products in Asia."

UK Profit also took a jump as it rose by 10% to reach £374m despite "significant disruption in the UK life and pension market where annuities sales decreased markedly following the Budget announcement."

Shares in Prudential rose in value to 1,362.95p in early morning trading, as they increased by 1.79%

Ebola Outbreak: Miguel Pajares First European on Trial Drug ZMapp Dies in Spain

Ebola has now claimed more than 1,000 lives worldwide according to the World Health Organisation (WHO)Reuters

The Spanish priest who became the first European to be treated with experimental Ebola drug ZMapp, has died of the deadly virus today in a Madrid hospital.

Father Miguel Pajares, 75, was also the first European to be evacuated from Ebola-hit Liberia in West Africa.

Pajares was being treated in an isolation ward at Carlos III Hospital. He had been working in Liberia as a Catholic missionary when he contracted the illness. He was evacuated to Spain with a nun, Sister Juliana Bonoha Bohe, 65, who has also been receiving treatment despite testing negative for Ebola.

Spain's Health Ministry said on Monday it had obtained a course of the experimental drug ZMapp over the weekend and would be using it to treat the priest.

The hospital has not confirmed whether Pajares had been treated with the drug before he passed away.

A colleague of Pajares, George Combey, also died from Ebola yesterday. Combey had been working alongside the priest in Africa at a religious order named the Hospitaller Order of St John of God.

Combey died at ELWA Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. It is understood that he was unaware he had contracted the virus when Pajares was evacuated and so remained in the country.

Spanish media reported on Sunday that two African nuns infected with Ebola who worked with the Spanish missionaries were denied permission to join them on the flight to Madrid. One of the African nuns, Sister Chantal Pascaline, died on Saturday at San Jose Hospital in Monrovia.

Ebola is spread by contact with bodily fluids, including blood, urine and saliva but the virus is not airborne. The incubation period is two to 21 days and the infection can only be contracted from patients who exhibit symptoms.

The World Health Organisation has confirmed Ebola is now responsible for more than 1,000 deaths.

IEA Sees Global Oil Demand Slowing in 2014

Workers are seen next to pipelines at the Zueitina oil terminal in Zueitina(Reuters)

Global demand for oil is set to grow at a slower pace than previously estimated as the world's economy slows, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said.

The Paris-based energy watchdog cut its estimated growth in demand to one million barrels a day, 180,000 barrels a day less than its previous estimate. Demand in the second quarter was lower than expected, the IEA said.

"Despite armed conflict in Libya, Iraq and Ukraine, the oil market today looks better supplied than expected, with an oil glut even reported in the Atlantic basin," it said in the monthly report.

"Remarkably low oil deliveries in both Europe and North America helped slash this report's estimate of global demand growth for the second quarter of 2014 to less than 700,000 barrels a day year-on-year – a low of more than two years," it added.

The agency expects demand to increase to 1.3 million barrels of oil per day in 2015, although that figure is lower than the previous estimate.

Production from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) accelerated to 30.44 million barrels of oil per day, as Libyan output was boosted along with production in Saudi Arabia.

Slowing economic growth in China and Russia are key factors behind the agency's estimate that global demand will grow at a slower pace.

Hot Shots Photos of the Day: Tiny Panda Cub, Bizarre Fashion Show, Robin Williams

A newborn giant panda cub, one of the triplets which were born to mother Juxiao, is seen in an incubator at the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China(Reuters)

Three brown bear cubs are pictured at a bear sanctuary in Mramor, near the Kosovan capital Pristina, before they were transported to a wildlife enclosure in a forest. The cubs were rescued from a private zoo where they were kept illegally, and have been living in the sanctuary since March. They will be released to the wild next year(Reuters)

Forest officials prepare a pyre for a dead male leopard at Jorhat in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. A local forest official said a group of tea workers killed the leopard on Sunday after it had attacked them, injuring four people(Reuters)

A miniature Oscar statuette and a note reading "We will miss you" are placed on Robin Williams' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Academy Award-winning actor and comedian was found dead in his Marin County home after an apparent suicide. He was 63 years old(AFP)

A woman watches Chinese artist Zhou Jie sleep on an unfinished iron wire bed, one of her sculpture works, at Beijing Now Art Gallery. The artist will live inside a gallery, producing wire sculptures and sleeping on her wire bed, for 36 days(Reuters)

A model walks on a stage full of live beetles during the Loren Chinese Top Model Contest in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China(Getty)

A tightrope walker performs between two spheres of the Atomium monument in Brussels(Reuters)

A member of the public rides a zip wire that has been built above one of the main shopping streets in Liverpool. The 1000ft long wire will be open until 7 September(AFP)

A nurse and a doctor wearing isolation suits demonstrate the decontamination procedure as part of an Ebola drill at Station 59 at Charite hospital in Berlin, Germany(Getty)

A member of the Czech military wearing protective gear takes part in an Ebola drill with a dummy in the Biological Defence Centre in the village of Techonin(Reuters)

A would-be immigrant lies on the ground at the harbour in Tarifa after Spain's coastguard rescued more than 260 sub-Saharan African migrants crossing the Strait of Gibraltar on small boats(AFP)

People protest after an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown was shot multiple times after being confronted by an officer in Ferguson, Missouri(Getty)

An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the Fighting Black Lions of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213 is refuelled in mid-air after launching from the aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush in the Arabian Gulf. A series of US airstrikes has slowed the operational tempo of the Islamic State, the militant group that has seized large parts of northern Iraq(Reuters)

Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar, ride in the boot of a car as they make their way towards the Syrian border(Reuters)

A residential structure damaged by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza, is seen in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, Israel(Reuters)

Israelis relax on the shore of the Mediterranean sea in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon as a 72-hour truce appeared to be holding(Reuters)

Palestinians sit in a tent outside their apartments, which were destroyed in an Israeli offensive, during a 72-hour truce in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip(Reuters)

A youth walks past a hole in the wall of a house at a former Libyan army camp in Tripoli following reported clashes between rival militias(AFP)

Rescue workers search for any people trapped under a six-storey building under construction that collapsed, in Pathum Thani province, Thailand(AFP)

An injured worker is seen trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building, which had been under construction, in Pathum Thani province, Thailand. The six-storey apartment building collapsed, killing at least three people and injuring 19 others. Emergency teams rescued seven people from the site, leaving at least seven others trapped underneath the rubble(Reuters)

Google to Invest in $300m Undersea Cable Venture

Google to invest in $300m undersea cable venture.Reuters

Internet giant Google and five Asian telecoms firms will together invest about $300m to develop and operate a trans-Pacific submarine cable network connecting the US with Japan.

The five telecos are China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, KDDI and SingTel, according to a statement by Japan's NEC, the system supplier for the cable network.

The undersea cable network, to be named "FASTER", will have an initial capacity of 60 terabits per second. It will connect Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Oregon and Seattle on the US west coast with Chikura and Shima in Japan, NEC said.

Construction will begin immediately and the network will be ready for service in the second-quarter of 2016, the statement added.

The network will also be able to connect to neighbouring cable systems to extend its capacity to other Asian countries, Reuters reported.

Woohyong Choi, the chairman of the FASTER executive committee, said in the statement: "FASTER is one of a few hundred submarine telecommunications cables connecting various parts of the world.

"These cables collectively form an important infrastructure that helps run global Internet and communications. The consortium partners are glad to work together to add a new cable to our global infrastructure.

"The FASTER cable system has the largest design capacity ever built on the Trans-Pacific route, which is one of the longest routes in the world. The agreement announced today will benefit all users of the global Internet."

Undersea Internet

Some 200 fibre optic cables make up an undersea network that transports Internet data around the world, carrying more than 95% of transoceanic voice and data traffic, according to a report by digital marketing firm Builtvisible.

Underwater cables carried 51 billion gigabytes of data a month in 2013, a figure that is expected to jump to 132 billion gigabytes in 2018, the report said.

George Clooney's Fiancée Amal Alamuddin Declines to be Part of UN Gaza Probe Panel

British-Lebanese human rights lawyer and George Clooney's fiancée Amal Alamuddin declines to be part of UN panel in Gaza probeJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images

British-Lebanese human rights lawyer and George Clooney's fiancée Amal Alamuddin has declined to be part of a three-member UN team to probe alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza, citing prior commitments.

The UN panel will look into the actions of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem for any violations of international law.

Turning down the offer from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Lebanese- born lawyer said: "I am horrified by the situation in the occupied Gaza Strip, particularly the civilian casualties... and strongly believe that there should be an independent investigation and accountability for crimes that have been committed."

"I am honoured to have received the offer, but given existing commitments – including eight ongoing cases – unfortunately could not accept this role."

It is still unclear who will be replacing her in the team. The other two members are Doudou Diene of Senegal, a human rights veteran who was also involved in probing the post-war scenario in Ivory Coast, and Canadian lawyer William Schabas, the chief of the panel.

The team will be asked to file its report with the UNHRC in March 2015

Meanwhile, Tel Aviv has lambasted the UN for appointing fierce critics of Israel to the panel and called the UNHRC a "kangaroo court".

"When the decision about the creation of the committee was made on 23 July, the prime minister and foreign ministry announced that the Human Rights Council had long ago become the Terrorists' Rights Council, a kangaroo court in which the results of its 'investigations' can be predicted in advanced," Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement.

On the other hand, Hamas has welcomed the UN probe initiative.