German cabinet passes bill for voluntary military service

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's cabinet passed a draft bill on Wednesday that would introduce a voluntary military service as the country seeks to bolster national defences over Russian security concerns. The text also opened the door to a reintroduction of compulsory enlistment. The defence ministry hopes the voluntary six-month scheme will help double the number of trained reservists from the current level of around 100,000 and that some of the volunteers will go on to have a career in active service.