Breaking News English

Spending [on / in] weapons reached a record high in 2025. New data on military spending has [being / been] published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). It writes a report [all / every] year called "Trends in World Military Expenditure". SIPRI [started / stated] that global defence spending was [nearly / nearby] $2.9 trillion last year. This was a three per cent rise [comparison / compared] to 2024. Spending on armed forces has now [rising / risen] for eleven years in a row. Europe's defence spending shot [high / up] by 14 per cent, to $864 billion. The Asia-Oceania [region / legion] increased its spending by 8.1 per cent, to $681 billion. The USA remained the biggest [spends / spender] on defence. It spent $954 billion on its military last year.

There are [sever / several] reasons for the record levels of spending in Europe. One reason is that [every / all] NATO members met their target to spend two per cent of their GDP [on / in] defence. Last year, NATO members agreed to a new [target / targets] of five per cent by 2035. Another reason is the war [between / among] Russia and Ukraine. This conflict is now in its [five / fifth] year. Russia spent around $190 billion on defence. This was 7.5 per cent of its GDP. Ukraine spent an [unbelievably / unbelievable] 40 per cent of its GDP on the war. SIPRI said that the increased spending "really [speaks / sparks] to countries' reactions to ongoing wars, tensions and geopolitical [certainty / uncertainty] ". It added: "This trend will probably continue through 2026 and [beyond / behind] ."