BREAKING NEWS

Senate approves $91.3 billion funding for Afghanistan war

The Senate on Thursday passed a $91.3 billion military spending bill, shorn of money US President Barack Obama wants to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but allowing him to significantly ramp up the US war in Afghanistan. The Senate voted 86-3 to pass the bill, which provides money for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, setting up House-Senate talks on a compromise measure to present to Obama next month. The spending measure closely tracks Obama's request for war funds, although the $80 million he was seeking to close the US naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was dropped Wednesday. Obama is sending more than 20,000 additional troops there and, for the first time next year, the annual cost of the war in Afghanistan is projected to exceed the cost of fighting in Iraq.