US Congress races to avoid government shutdown after bipartisan spending agreement was derailed following interventions by President-elect Donald Trump and his efficiency czar, Elon Musk.

Also in the programme: A high level US delegation holds talks with Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Shara’a; At least two dead and 68 injured after a car drove into a crowd at German Christmas market; and 27 new species discovered in Peru, including an amphibious mouse.

(Photo: Mike Johnson, Republican Speaker of the House, talking to journalists. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)