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Tunisia wins, Iran loses in US spending bill

Key US allies get a funding boost while Congress holds the line on visa waivers and Palestinian penalties.
(L-R) Republican Senate leaders Tom Barrasso (R-WY), John Thune (R-SD), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and John Cornyn (R-TX) hold a news conference on budget negotiations on Capitol Hill in Washington December 15, 2015.     REUTERS/Gary Cameron     - RTX1YUAQ

America’s Arab allies got gifts of gold while Iran and the United Nations got a stocking full of coal from the congressional Santa Claus.

House and Senate budget negotiators unveiled a $1.1 trillion FY2016 spending bill in the early hours of Dec. 16 that boosts support for countries on the front line of the fight against terrorism. Meanwhile, lawmakers held the line on tightening the rules for visa-free travel to the United States for dual citizens of Iran and punishing UN agencies that recognize Palestine as a state.

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