More than a thousand Russian troops are operating inside Ukrainian territory according to NATO, who released satellite images showing forces with heavy weaponry.

"Over the past two weeks we have noted a significant escalation in both the level and sophistication of Russia's military interference in Ukraine," Dutch Brigadier-General Nico Tak, head of NATO's crisis management centre said reports Reuters.

"We assess well over 1,000 Russian troops are now operating inside Ukraine," he said, referring to Russia's actions as "incursions" rather than an invasion. "They are supporting separatists (and) fighting with them."

"We have also detected large quantities of advanced weapons, including air defence systems, artillery, tanks and armoured personnel carriers being transferred to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine," he said.

The UN Security Council met in an emergency session, and NATO and EU leaders said they will will consider a response on Friday, but Russia denied that its troops where in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Peter Poroschenko also said that Russians were supporting pro-Moscow rebels, who captured Novoazovsk and other parts of southeast Ukraine.

Members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (Undof) in Syria’s Golan Heights are being held by an “armed group” according to the UN.

A UN spokesperson said the 43 peacekeepers were detained "during a period of increased fighting beginning yesterday between armed elements and Syrian Arab Armed Forces within the area of separation".

"The United Nations is making every effort to secure the release of the detained peacekeepers, and to restore the full freedom of movement of the force throughout its area of operation."

Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria executed over 150 Syrian troops that were captured in the North-East of the country, reports the Independent.

The Britain based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 120 government troops were killed near the Tabqa airfield by IS fighters.

The US President in a press brief today said that though a strategy was yet to be decided, the US Defense Secretary had been instructed to formulate a plan to combat Islamic State (IS) militants.

Three people have been killed after a United Nations helicopter crashed in South Sudan, with unconfirmed reports that it had been shot down.

The helicopter crew were all Russian citizens. The helicopter’s owners, Russian airline UTair, stated that,

"According to preliminary information, the helicopter was shot down with surface-to-air fire."

One crew member survived and is currently reciving hospital treatment. 

Ukraine detained a group of Russian paratroopers that had crossed the border into eastern Ukraine , on Tuesday, reports the Washington Post.

The Ukrainian army detained 10 armed Russian military personnel in the Donetsk region said the Ukraine’s military spokesperson.

Rebels in South Sudan have denied shooting down a UN helicopter, which crashed on Tuesday, killing 3 and injuring one of those on board.

The rebel SPLM dismissed the claims made by the South Sudanese army as government propaganda.

"The SPLM/SPLA [in Opposition] would like to take this opportunity to refute these malicious allegations levelled by the propaganda machine of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GRSS)," said the statement, which bore the signature of Mabior Garang de Mabior, the chairperson of the committee for information and public relations.

"The area in which the plane was reportedly shot down is government-held territory, if indeed the aircraft was shot down. It is unfortunate that the GRSS propaganda machine is trying to capitalise on this unfortunate event to score political points,"

According to the Sudan Tribune, rebel brigadier-general Lul Ruai Koang pledged to assist any investigations.

The UN has accused the Syrian government and rebels opposed to it of committing war crimes in Syria.

A report released by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic details abuses by Islamic State and other rebel groups fighting Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The government is thought to have conducted chemical attacks eight times this year alone and used barrel bombs on civilian areas.

"In some instances, there is clear evidence that civilian gatherings were deliberately targeted" by government forces, the investigators said.

"In government prisons, detainees were subjected to horrific torture and sexual assault."

A long-term truce has been agreed between Israelis and Palestinians, after intense negotiations, brokered by Egypt.

Palestinian and Egyptian officials announced the end to 7-weeks of fighting, which killed over 2,200 people, mostly Palestinian civilians.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement, “An agreement has been reached between the two sides and we are awaiting the announcement from Cairo to determine the zero hour for implementation.”

Ismail Haniya, the former Hamas prime minister in Gaza, told Al Aqsa television that “we are at the doors of political understandings that will crown our people’s steadfastness and the performance of our armed resistance.”

President Barack Obama has approved surveillance flights over Syria to gain information on Islamic State militants.

The flights, which are reported to have commenced on Tuesday, are widely seen as a precursor for expanding the range of US airstrikes on IS positions in Iraq into Syria, according to The Guardian.

US officials ruled out cooperating with the Syrian government on fighting IS.