US: Proposal to up defence budget

THE US government would seek a base defence budget of $534 billion (R6.2 trillion) when it sent its 2016 spending request to Congress next week, a US official said yesterday, a figure that exceeded federal caps by $35bn and could trigger mandatory cuts. The administration would also ask for nearly $51bn in funding for the war in Afghanistan as well as the conflict against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The base budget proposal includes $107.7bn for weapons procurement and $69.8bn for research, Bloomberg said. – Bloomberg