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This is the world in brief from The Economist.

Our top stories.

Republicans in America's House of Representatives reached a new spending deal

that would avert a government shutdown.

Democrats, whose votes will be needed to pass it,

have not yet said whether they will support it. Donald Trump endorsed the bill, which would

reportedly fund the government through March and suspend America's debt ceiling for two years.

On Wednesday, House Republicans scrapped an earlier funding deal, following criticism from the President-elect and Elon Musk.

Ukraine's president, Vladimir Zelensky, said that security guarantees from Europe won't be sufficient to protect his country from Russia and emphasised the importance of also having

American support and NATO membership. Mr Zelensky made the comments after attending a summit

with EU leaders in Brussels. Donald Trump, America's president-elect, has promised to bring

the war to a swift end.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin said he was ready to meet Mr. Trump.

Last month, the Washington Post reported that the pair had spoken over the phone.

The Kremlin dismissed the report as, quote, pure fiction.

Speaking during his annual press conference, Mr. Putin also denied that the fall of Syria's dictator Bashar al-Assad, whose regime he had propped up was a defeat for Russia.

The Bank of England held interest rates at 4.75%. The decision was expected, although three of the monetary policy committees, nine members,

...