RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s military today to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million, as Moscow continues its invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Putin’s decree, published on the official government website, will take effect on December 1. It sets the overall number of Russian military personnel at nearly 2.4m, including 1.5m troops.

EUROPEAN UNION: An influential French member of the European Union’s powerful executive branch resigned today, calling into question the leadership of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.