Democratic and Republican negotiators on Tuesday night agreed a deal to set spending levels until 2015, breaking the latest fiscal logjam in Congress and stopping a cycle of crisis-driven economic policy making in Washington. The agreement is small in size – worth $85bn – but may herald the return of an era in which Congress can perform basic functions without the political brinkmanship that has repeatedly threatened the US economic recovery in recent years. – Financial Times

Royal Bank of Scotland was facing fresh management upheaval on Tuesday night when the bailed-out bank’s newly-appointed finance director suddenly quit. Nathan Bostock, who was only promoted to the top finance position on 1 October, is understood to have quit to become deputy chief executive of the UK arm of Spanish bank Santander. It is a bank he knows well, having left Santander in 2009 to join RBS after its £45bn taxpayer bailout. – The Guardian

Britain should press ahead with fracking, the chairman of the Government’s climate change advisory body said yesterday. Lord Deben dismissed claims by green groups that fracking would cause significant damage to the environment, adding that Britain needed to drill shale wells to reduce reliance on foreign imports of fossil fuel. – The Times

An activist investor with a stake in FirstGroup has called on the bus and rail operator to boost shareholder value by more than 50% through a split from its US businesses. New York-based Sandell Asset Management, a hedge fund that was set up by Swedish billionaire investor Thomas Sandell, said it had written to FirstGroup’s board proposing a spin-off and flotation of its US school buses and transit businesses, and a sale of Greyhound, its intercity bus provider. – The Telegraph

Tesco Bank is creating hundreds of jobs in Edinburgh and Glasgow as it steps up its challenge to the established high street giants. The company will hire 300 staff in the coming months, rising to 650 over two years, as it prepares to roll out a crucial current account offering in the middle of next year that will help it move towards becoming a full service bank. – The Scotsman

The Archbishop of Canterbury has summoned the bosses of the ‘Big Six’ energy companies to a private meeting on Wednesday to discuss fuel poverty and rising energy prices. The meeting comes after the Most Rev Justin Welby said he understood why people felt above-inflation price rises were “inexplicable” and called on the companies to act with “generosity”. – The Telegraph