The US and and five Arab countries have launched air strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria for the first time, using fighter jets, bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from ships in the region.

US special operations troops went on a secret mission to Syria this summer to rescue American hostages, including journalist James Foley.

The White House has accused Russia of stepping up its destabilising activity in Ukraine in an “extremely dangerous and provocative” way.

The United States has ordered an aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf as it laid out specific ways for Iraq to show it is united in order to gain assistance in its fight against Islamic insurgents.

It is understood the search for 276 schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria is closing in on a forest near the eastern border.