US Senate backs further defence spending for anti-IS fight
The US Senate has approved a new annual defence bill expanding the military campaign against Islamic State (IS), the BBC reported.
The bill approves a general Pentagon budget of $496bn (£316bn) plus $64bn for US wars abroad.
The measure also authorises the training and equipping of moderate Syrian rebel fighters for two years.
The bill had already been passed by the House of Representatives and has now been sent to President Barack Obama to sign into law.
Until now, US operations against IS had been funded from the existing Pentagon budget.
The new bill, which was passed by 89 votes to 11, approves $3.4bn for the direct deployment of US forces against IS, and a further $1.6bn for training Iraqi Kurdish forces for two years.