France plans to add a further 36 billion euros to its defence spending between now and 2030 under an updated military planning law that expands its nuclear arsenal and boosts missile and drone stocks. The increase reflects mounting security pressures from wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and growing uncertainty over U.S. commitments to NATO under President Donald Trump. FRANCE 24's Luke Shrago reports.

France plans 36 billion euro boost to rearmament, nuclear deterrent expansion
France plans to add a further 36 billion euros to its defence spending between now and 2030 under an updated military planning law that expands its nuclear arsenal and boosts missile and drone stocks. The increase reflects mounting security pressures from wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and growing uncertainty over U.S. commitments to NATO under President Donald Trump. FRANCE 24's Luke Shrago reports.
Related Stories

Australia news live: Penny Wong warns Middle East ceasefire is ‘fragile’; Albanese heads to Singapore after Brunei talks
Prime minister to hold talks with his counterpart to shore up fuel supplies Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Wong says any further fighting in Lebanon risks ‘whole ceasefire’ Wong spoke to RN Breakfast this morning about the statement, saying if fighting continues in Lebanon, “it risks the whole ceasefire across the region”. We don’t want that. We want the ceasefire to hold. We know it’s fragile. We know what it means for the world, and we know what it means for Australians at the petrol bowser. These are the best of us, and they should be protected. They should not be at risk doing their job. Attacks that threaten the safety and security of humanitarian personnel must stop. International humanitarian law must be upheld by all parties to the conflict in all circumstances. Respect for international humanitarian law is essential to preserving human dignity, mitigating civilian harm, and maintaining the space needed for humanitarian action and access. Continue reading...

Starmer says UK wants to help with opening of Hormuz strait on Gulf visit
PM is in Saudi Arabia before expected wider trip to regional allies, who may see him as more reliable than Trump Middle East crisis – live updates The UK has a “job” to help reopen the strait of Hormuz, Keir Starmer has said, as Iranian reports said the key shipping route was closed again just hours after a supposed ceasefire. The prime minister met British and local military personnel at an airbase in Taif, Saudi Arabia, at the start of what is expected to be a wider trip to Gulf allies, one billed as a mirror to his efforts to pull together a plan for how a ceasefire might operate in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Trump and former loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene trade jabs as Maga split over Iran widens – US politics live
President calls Greene a ‘traitor’ as former US representative accuses him of flipping from ‘America First to America Last’ Success or surrender? Iran ceasefire exposes rift in Trump’s Maga movement Sign up for the Breaking News US email Pete Hegseth repeated Donald Trump’s social media comments that Iran will cease uranium enrichment – a condition that Tehran has previously refused to budge on. “Any material they should not have, will be removed right now,” Hegseth said. “The president has been clear from the beginning, there will be no Iranian nuclear weapons.” Continue reading...

At least 182 killed across Lebanon in large wave of Israeli strikes
Attacks hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley, hours after a US-Iran ceasefire was announced.