US Senate passes biggest defence Bill

The US Senate on Saturday approved the Obama administration's record $626 billion defence spending bill for the current fiscal.

The vote was 88 to 10. With the House of Representatives having already approved the bill, all that remains is President Barack Obama's signature for it to take effect for the fiscal year that began Oct 1.

The bill foresees spending of $128.3 billion for the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But the administration has alredy signalled that it might need an estimated $30 billion more for Afghanistan after the recent decision to send a further 30,000 troops there.