US avoids shutdown after Congress passes funding bill

United States Congressional lawmakers on Saturday passed a last-gasp budget measure to avoid a shutdown of the federal government within hours of a midnight deadline.

Republicans had so far failed to agree on a bill to continue US government spending, amid reluctance by some conservatives to send more aid to Ukraine.

After it was passed in the House of Representatives, the Democrat-majority Senate voted 88 to 9 in favor of the bill. The nine senators who voted against the bill were all…