Putin scorns US claims over Trump-Russia ties.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said

Americans must stop their "hysteria" about an alleged Russian deal with US President Donald
Trump.

"This is simply some kind of hysteria. You can't seem to stop. Do we need to give you a tablet?" he said
in a debate at the St Petersburg Economic Forum. A US journalist had asked him if Russia had reached a
secret deal with Mr Trump to soften US sanctions on Russia. Mr Putin again denied Russian meddling in
the election that Mr Trump won. The allegations of Russian interference in the presidential election were
"harmful chatter" detrimental to international relations, security and the fight against terrorism, he said.

"This is an attempt to resolve domestic political issues by using foreign policy instruments," he said."It's
easier to say 'we're not to blame - the Russians are to blame, they interfered in our election, and we're
good'. This reminds me of anti-Semitism. The Jews are blamed for everything," he added.The US
intelligence agencies say the hacking of the US Democrats last year bore the hallmarks of Russian state
security servicesPresident Trump's campaign aides are currently being investigated over possible
collusion with the Russian government.

Plea to US business

Mr Putin accused the West of carrying out "crude and systematic interference in Russian affairs for many
years".
Russia: The scandal Trump can't shake
US Congress issues Russia probe subpoenas

Earlier, Mr Putin urged US business executives to help improve Russian-US relations, amid continuing
Western sanctions. He said those relations had hit "their lowest point since the Cold War"."I want to pass
the buck back to you - help us to restore a normal political dialogue," he said at the forum.

Besides the US allegations of Russian meddling, tensions have risen during the Ukraine and Syria
conflicts. Russia remains under US and EU sanctions because of its involvement in the Ukraine conflict
and annexation of Crimea. Western governments back Sunni Arab and Kurdish groups fighting Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed militarily by Russia and Iran. But Islamic State (IS) jihadists
are being targeted by both the West and Russia.

"I appeal to you and the US side: help the newly-elected president too, and his administration," Mr Putin
told the US business leaders. Russian Ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak is at the centre of US
suspicions about Kremlin contacts with the Trump team. Mr Putin poured scorn on the allegations.
"They're talking such drivel... Our ambassador met someone. What's an ambassador supposed to do? It's
his job."

US stocks end week at new highs. Falling oil prices and a lukewarm jobs report did not stop US markets
on Friday, which closed the week at record highs.

Gains in technology, chemical and transport stocks offset the decline among energy companies.
The Dow Jones climbed 62.11 points or 0.29% to 21,206.29.
The broader S&P 500 rose 9.01 points or 0.37% to 2,439.07. And the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 58.97
points or 0.94% to 6,305.80.Friday's gains continue the markets' winning streak.

Since the start of the year, the Nasdaq has risen more than 16%. The other two indices are also up more
than 6%, buoyed by strong corporate profits.Stocks have farther to go, Terry Sandven, chief equity
strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management wrote in a note."We continue to look for equities to grind
higher in 2017 as corporate earnings increase, the pace of inflation and wage gains trend moderately
higher and future Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hikes occur in a measured and deliberate manner," he wrote.

Friday's jobs report, which showed employers adding just 138,000 jobs in May, did little to slow the
market.Though the gain marked a sharp deceleration from previous months, a slowdown had been
expected because the unemployment rate is so low. It fell to 4.3% in May - the lowest since
2001.Technology stocks fuelled Friday's gains.Semiconductor supplier Broadcom Ltd closed the day up
more than 8%.Microsoft also closed higher after its updates to Skype met with positive reviews.Oil
companies had the biggest retreats.

ExxonMobil and Chevron each fell more than 1% as oil prices, which have decreased in the face of softer
demand, declined farther on Friday.Markets expect increased energy supply, with US President Donald
Trump's plan to pull the US out of the global Paris climate agreement leading to increased output by
American energy companies.

How Scottish salmon conquered the world. Past midnight on Monday in Mallaig: a boat docks with a
cargo of live salmon.

They've been shipped from one of dozens of fish farms in the sea lochs of Scotland's north-west coast,
where they swam earlier on Sunday in a large cage, machine fed for up to three years, growing as big as
8kg.Mallaig is on a picturesque promontory looking over the sea to Skye. Its harbour used to heave with
herring boats: its bracing fresh air mingled with the potent tang of smoking kippers.

The wild catch at Mallaig quayside is now langoustine, scallops and lobster. Many of the shellfish are
bound for markets in Spain and France, trucked live and swiftly for premium prices. bigger fish business
in the west Highlands is the farming of Atlantic salmon. From the fishing boat they are vacuumed through
a pipe into the ice house, slaughtered, packed and driven along the winding road through the Lochaber
region to a processing plant at Fort William. They are gutted and despatched to markets around the world.

By Thursday, some of the bigger fish are being served in China's best restaurants. Beijing first allowed
imports of Scottish salmon in 2011. Last year, more than 11,000 tonnes were exported to the Far East,
with a value of 73m ($94m).

It is 25 years since Scottish salmon became the first non-French food to win the Label Rouge designation.
Based on taste and appearance, that has been a valuable asset in France, the biggest European market for
salmon, and an important calling card in other countries.
Salmon is now by far the biggest food export from Scotland. In 2014, it beat confectionery to become
the UK's biggest food export.

Demand is led by the EU, which imported 35,000 tonnes of Scottish salmon last year, and the US, which
imported nearly 26,000 tonnes.

While the UK has less than a tenth of global production, Scotland offers a premium product, at about 10%
above the world price. Scottish salmon is typically fed better quality feed, and farming can be less
intensive - fewer fish in a cage mean they swim further, and develop more muscle.

Loch Duart set out in 1999 to carve a niche within that Scottish niche. Farming in the sea lochs of
Sutherland and the Outer Hebrides, it charges a premium of 20-25% over other salmon producers, selling
to wholesalers whose high-end client chefs require that extra assurance of quality and reliability. "We've
got to have an authentic message, a clear set of farming principles that the customer can buy into, that can
be verified. We were the first to have RSPCA welfare standards," says sales director Andy Bing.

Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of industry body the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO),
points out that fresh fish is hard to differentiate, except on its look. "The good quality flesh of the fish [is]
particularly firm and less fatty. And that works in the sushi and sashimi market in particular," he says.

The journey for Scottish salmon began nearly 50 years ago.Unilever was the pioneer, spotting the
potential for farmed salmon, which at that time was only caught wild and eaten as an expensive
luxury.The food conglomerate's Marine Harvest division first produced farmed salmon in 1971 at
Lochailort - the shoreline between Mallaig and Fort William - and is today the world's largest salmon
farmer. Now an independent firm, Marine Harvest is based in Bergen, Norway, the country that
dominates the industry. (Norwegian annual production has topped 1.1m tonnes, while the UK produces
less than 160,000 tonnes.)

Scotland's most valuable export - Scotch whisky - has helped to fuel the popularity of the country's
salmon, by projecting a reputation for quality and provenance. "The inroads the whisky industry made
have helped with Scotland the Brand, but salmon doesn't sell itself," observes Steve Bracken, spokesman
for Marine Harvest and an industry veteran.

He points out that producers have worked hard alongside the SSPO and the Scottish Food and Drink trade
body to promote the fish. The public sector's contribution has been significant too, through Scottish
Development International, the government agency that promotes exports. However, recently Scottish
salmon's growth has been scaled back with production hit by sea lice. When the parasites take hold of a
farm, fish are harvested before their health deteriorates.

That helps explain why total world tonnage was down by 7% last year - by 5% in Scotland and Norway,
and 16% in Chile. The South American country is the second biggest producer of Atlantic salmon, but has
been blighted by the rapid spread of fish disease.

The industry has yet to get on top of sea lice. Feeder fish can be used as a predator for the parasites, but
they haven't solved the problem yet. Another answer could be cages strong enough to be anchored far out
at sea and in deeper water. Scottish salmon also faces an on going battle with environmental campaigners
who fear that intensive farming in lochs and fjords is damaging to wild stocks and ecosystems.

Nonetheless, demand remains healthy. Salmon is marketed as a healthy eating option. Consumer tastes
have been shifting to it as an affordable source of protein. Since 2013, salmon and trout have been the
biggest category of traded fish worldwide. While Scotland's export tonnage fell 10% last year, its value
rose by 17%.Demand for Scottish salmon is expected to remain strong despite uncertain supply and
continued tough competition. In the short term, the SSPO's Mr Landsburgh says recent surveys suggest
the tide has turned on lice. "And there's no shortage of demand," he points out.

Why a $1.6bn car plant has been left to decay. Mexico is currently the world's fourth largest car
exporter, but could US President Donald Trump's plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade
Agreement (Nafta) between the US, Canada and Mexico bring this to an end?

On the outskirts of the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, the skeletal remains of the partially constructed
Ford plant loom over the desert. To the residents of the small towns surrounding the site it's a constant
reminder of a failed economic promise.
For Jose Puebla Ortiz, who sold his plot of land to Ford, it's still painful to think of the economic
prosperity his family could have had. Mr Puebla Ortiz used the proceeds from the sale to buy a truck. He
expected to work as a private contractor during the plant's construction, but since the company cancelled
its plans he has struggled to find regular high-paying work.

"When Ford arrived and we thought everything would be good... there was investment and there was
money," he says. Now that investment has dried up."[Ford] decided to pull out and overnight they told us,
'it's over, we're not continuing, we're leaving, this is cancelled.' And, well, there was nothing we could
do."

In January, Ford announced it was cancelling plans to spend $1.6bn (1.2bn) building a factory in here in
central Mexico. The company's chief executive at the time, Mark Fields, said the decision related to the
declining sales of small cars the company was intending to build at the new plant.But he also admitted
that Donald Trump's presidential victory and the "improved business climate" the company expected as a
result was a factor.

During the campaign and since assuming the presidency Mr Trump has expressed his anger at car
companies such as GM and Toyota for using Mexican plants to build cars sold in the US.
He has called for the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) to be renegotiated, blaming it for
the loss of US jobs.

The agreement - which came into effect between the US, Canada and Mexico in 1994 - created one of the
world's largest free trade zones by reducing or eliminating tariffs on most products.For many in San Luis
Potosi, Mr Trump's presidency is seen as a real threat. But most economists, politicians and industry
observers think his calls to pull out of or rework Nafta are all talk.

"There's a learning curve," says Eduardo Soliz Sanchez, head of Mexico's car trade body AMIA.He says
the checks and balances in the US government, where the different branches of government hold equal
authority and offset one another, and the interdependence of the car industry across the Nafta members
will keep the deal alive. "Someone should explain to Mr Trump," says Manuel Molano from the Mexican
Competitiveness Institute. "Maybe you started with an oil molecule in Mexico. That becomes some
plastic [part] and goes up north to the US, and becomes a more sophisticated part of a car. [Then the
piece] goes back south and becomes a motor, and then goes back up and becomes a complete car."

On average car parts made in North America cross the US border to Mexico or Canada eight times. And
that could mean that restricting Nafta or imposing border taxes on car parts made in the US's neighbours
could cost American jobs.Mexican officials are betting the US won't shoot itself in the foot even as its
new president tries to change his country's role in the global economy.It's a bet they can't afford to lose.

The car sector makes up 6% of Mexico's gross domestic product and 25% of its exports. In just over 20
years Mexico has gone from a relatively insular economy to the fourth largest car exporter - behind
Germany, South Korea and Japan.Economist Jonathan Heath says Nafta "cemented" the opening of
Mexico's economy."That is when the auto industry started to flourish. Now almost every single carmaker
in the world is present in Mexico," Mr Heath says.

It is not just Nafta that has attracted companies such as BMW, Nissan and General Motors. Mexico has
trade deals with 45 countries and its position on the US border, with access to both the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, makes it an ideal trading hub for carmakers.
But any changes to its deal with the US would still be a big blow. Mexico exported 77% of the cars it
made to the US last year.Still AMIA head Mr Soliz Sanchez admits that after 23 years Nafta would
benefit from being updated. He says his group, which represents Mexico's car and car parts makers,
would be okay with "deepening and modernising" the trade agreement.

But for Mexicans who have benefited from its influence, changes to the deal pose a risk. "We have people
from the community here working in BMW, in General Motors," says Mr Ortiz. "That's what we
imagined with Ford - that there'd be a lot of work so there'd be enough for all the boys. But there's nothing
we can do, this was cancelled. Ford was cancelled."

Mr Ortiz's village is thousands of miles from Washington DC, but the decisions and the rhetoric coming
from the US is having a direct impact on him and his neighbours. While the car industry as a whole may
not be turning its back on Mexico, the uncertainty is casting a shadow over the livelihoods of Mexicans
that rely on the sector.