From Pompeo's Israel visit to ISIS investigations: non-coronavirus news you may have missed

Pompeo has urged Kabul and Taliban co-operation after twin attacks and Russia and China boycotted a UN Security Council meeting on Syria

Pompeo Israel visit: US Secretary of State lands for talks

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Israel on Wednesday morning for talks on regional security and the country's controversial plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

In a rare foreign trip during the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Pompeo is to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and incoming defence minister Benny Gantz, a day before a unity government is scheduled to be sworn in.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Pompeo, speaking from Jerusalem, slammed Iran for "using the ayatollah regime's resources to foment terror across the world" even as its people face the Middle East's deadliest coronavirus outbreak.

ISIS war crimes investigators in Iraq get boost from mobile phone data

Mobile phone records have given UN investigators looking at ISIS war crimes in Iraq a major boost, the body’s annual report to the security council said this week.

Authored by Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, the team’s fourth annual report said that “there has been “significant progress in the identification and the recovery of new evidence”. Presented to the security council on Monday and seen by AFP news agency on Tuesday, Mr Khan’s team attributed the gains to increased co-operation with Iraqi authorities in its mission to “obtain recordings of call data” of mobile phones from Iraqi companies.

The collaboration enabled the collection of data from mobile phones, SIM cards and electronic storage used by ISIS, said the UN team leader.

Pompeo urges Kabul and Taliban co-operation after 'appalling' attack

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  In May, 24 women, children and babies – including one midwife – were killed when gunmen entered the Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in western Kabul and opened fire. Frederic Bonnot / Médecins Sans Frontières

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  People react at the scene of an attack at an MSF (Doctors without Borders) clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan. EPA

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  An Afghan man reacts at the scene after an attack at MSF (Doctors without Borders) clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan. EPA

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  Babies are taken away by ambulance after gunmen attacked a maternity hospital, in Kabul, Afghanistan. AP Photo

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  People shift injured victims of a suicide bomb attack to a hospital in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. EPA

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  An Afghan security officer carries a baby after gunmen attacked a maternity hospital, in Kabul, Afghanistan. AP Photo

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  An Afghan man reacts after his relative was killed in an attack at an MSF (Doctors without Borders) clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan. EPA

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  Afghan women sit in an ambulance after being rescued by security forces during an attack and gunfire at a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. REUTERS

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  People shift injured victims of a suicide bomb attack to a hospital in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. EPA

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  Smokes rises from a hospital after gunmen attacked in Kabul, Afghanistan. AP Photo

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  Afghan security forces arrive at the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. REUTERS

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  Afghan security personnel arrive at the site of an attack outside a hospital in Kabul. AFP

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  An Afghan soldier stands guard near the scene of an attack at an MSF (Doctors without Borders) clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan. EPA

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  An Afghan woman is brought to Emergency hospital for medical treatment after she was injured during an attack at an MSF (Doctors without Borders) clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan. EPA

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  Afghan security personnel arrive at the site where gunmen attacked, in Kabul, Afghanistan. AP Photo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday urged the Afghan government and Taliban to co-operate after deadly attacks on a maternity hospital and a funeral hurt prospects of ending the war.

Mr Pompeo called the twin assaults appalling but said the Taliban, who signed a February 29 accord with the US in his presence in Qatar, denied carrying them out.

“The United States condemns in the strongest terms the two horrific terrorist attacks in Afghanistan today,” he said. “During the holy month of Ramadan and amid the threat of Covid-19, these dual attacks are particularly appalling."

Russia and China boycott UN Security Council meeting on Syria

Russia and China on Tuesday boycotted what Moscow called an "unacceptable" closed-door video conference of the UN Security Council on chemical weapons in Syria.

Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, later said Moscow wanted the discussion to be open.

"Regrettably, our western partners and their allies insisted on holding this meeting behind closed doors in an informal setting, despite the slogans of openness and transparency of the Security Council," Mr Nebenzia said.