World News Update, what you need to know

Ukraine says a battalion of Russian soldiers has set up a base in the southeast of the country, and rebels in the east appear to have seized swathes of territory from government forces.

ELSEWHERE:

LONDON - Australian grandmother Irene Keel's bid to become the oldest person to swim across the English Channel is being delayed by bad weather.

LONDON - A number of child abuse victims in a northern English town have launched claims for compensation, lawyers say, as outrage grew in Britain that officials failed to stop 16 years of abuse earlier.

GENEVA - Climate change poses a growing health threat, the UN has warned, saying extreme weather and rising temperatures could claim hundreds of thousands of lives and spread disease.

WASHINGTON - The United States has warned that apparent incursions by Russian military units into Ukraine indicate a Moscow-orchestrated counter-offensive in rebel-contested areas.

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Islamist foe Hamas achieved none of its demands in a truce ending 50 days of deadly conflict in Gaza.

KIRKUK - Iraq is massing forces for an operation to break a two-month jihadist siege of the Shi'ite Turkmen town of Amerli, amid growing fears for residents short of food and water.