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MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday there was no time left this year to sign a new Ukrainian gas transit deal, and laid the blame firmly on Ukraine for refusing to extend the agreement that brings gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria. “They announced that they would not renew the contract,” Putin said, adding that Kyiv was punishing Europe by the move. The current five-year gas transit deal between Russia … Read more…

By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York state will fine fossil fuel companies a total of $75 billion over the next 25 years to pay for damage caused to the climate under a bill Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law on Thursday. The law is intended to shift some of the recovery and adaptation costs of climate change from individual taxpayers to oil, gas and coal companies that the law says are liable. … Read more…

By Medha Singh and David French (Reuters) -Wall Street’s main indexes advanced on Tuesday, as gains in a handful of megacap and growth stocks bolstered benchmarks in a truncated trading session before Christmas. With megacap stocks having outsized influence on markets, their performance is often a key driver of indexes. When coupled with reduced trading volumes and few other catalysts, as many investors take time off for the holidays, this is even more pronounced. All … Read more…

By Nora Eckert DETROIT (Reuters) – Toyota Motor of North America is donating $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, a company spokesman said on Tuesday, a day after Detroit’s Ford Motor and General Motors, said they would give the same amount. Ford and GM are also contributing vehicles to the festivities, while Toyota is not planning to, the Japan-based company said. Trump’s proposed tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada would affect … Read more…

By Jody Godoy (Reuters) – Apple has asked to participate in Google’s upcoming U.S. antitrust trial over online search, saying it cannot rely on Google to defend revenue-sharing agreements that send the iPhone maker billions of dollars each year for making Google the default search engine on its Safari browser. Apple does not plan to build its own search engine to compete with Alphabet’s Google, whether or not the payments continue, the company’s lawyers said … Read more…

By Pete Schroeder (Reuters) -Major banks and business groups sued the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, alleging the U.S. central bank’s annual “stress tests” of Wall Street firms violate the law. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, claims the Fed’s practice of determining how big banks perform against hypothetical economic turmoil, and assigning capital requirements accordingly, do not follow proper administrative procedure. Plaintiffs included the Bank Policy Institute, the U.S. Chamber of … Read more…

By Hannah Lang (Reuters) – The cryptocurrency industry is pushing President-elect Donald Trump’s team to kick start his promised crypto policy overhaul when he takes office next month with executive orders that would help push tokens mainstream, according to industry officials. Trump plans to issue a flurry of executive orders and directives on everything from immigration to energy on his first day in office on Jan. 20, Reuters reported this month. On the campaign trail, … Read more…

By Nora Eckert and David Shepardson DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co is donating $1 million and a fleet of vehicles to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s January inauguration, a company spokesperson said on Monday. Policies on tariffs and electric vehicles that are being considered by the incoming administration would likely affect Detroit carmakers like Ford, who are struggling to ramp up and sell their battery-powered models. Republican Trump has proposed significant tariffs on imports from … Read more…