JERUSALEM - ISRAEL expelled a UN human rights envoy on Monday because it perceives him to be severely biased against the Jewish state.

Richard Falk, the UN Human Rights Council monitor for the Palestinian territories, has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and accused the Jewish state of crimes against humanity because of its treatment of Palestinians.

SIRTE (Libya) - AFRICA needs investment of US$65 billion (S$95 billion) over the next 20 years to make enough water available for development of its farm and energy sectors, a UN agency said on Monday.

The 'Blue Revolution' programme aims to ensure water supplies in villages, for irrigated land and in big rivers, to help agriculture and hydroelectricity, said Jacques Diouf, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

LONDON - BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown threw his weight on Monday behind an Arab League appeal to US President-elect Barack Obama to give added urgency to the Middle East process.

Speaking after talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad - and before talks with Israel's interim premier Ehud Olmert on Tuesday - he also urged Israel to stop settlement building, saying it was a 'barrier' to peace.