US Senate approves $29bn hurricane relief bill

The US Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill bearing $29bn (€24.5bn) in reconstruction aid for the Gulf Coast, nearly four months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the surrounding region.

The Senate approved the measure 93-0 after the aid became entangled with – and then finally disengaged from – a fight over an unrelated effort to open oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge.