France ramps up military spending

French president Emmanuel Macron’s government is ramping up military spending, arming drones and hiring more “cyberfighters” for Europe’s biggest army.

The move comes amid demands from Nato and US president Donald Trump for European countries to pitch in more for their own defence.

The French defence minister presented a bill foreseeing €295 billion (£257bn) in overall defence spending from 2019 to 2025.

That includes €1.7bn in extra spending each year through until 2022, particularly to modernise equipment.