Putin wants opportunities for Russian firms abroad
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russian companies need more opportunities to invest abroad and pledged that he would make restrictions on foreign investment as transparent as possible.

Addressing an economic conference in St Petersburg, Putin said not all developed economies have transparent rules for foreign investors, including those from Russia, and that he sought a balanced approach to solve this not-so-simple question. Russia, the world's biggest energy producer, will remain a reliable fuel supplier, he added.

Putin's comments come amid increasing concerns amongst lawmakers in the US and Europe that the Kremlin was using oil and natural gas as a political weapon and criticism started in January when OAO Gazprom, the state-run gas company, cut supplies to Ukraine.
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Dow falls 86 points, wipes out gains made in 2006
New York: Wall Street incurred steep losses Tuesday on anxieties over inflation. Declining oil and gold prices did little to calm the worries. The selloff on Tuesday virtually wiped off the Dow Jones industrial average's gains made in 2006.

The US Labor Department's May producer price index showed a mild rise in wholesale prices and a stronger-than-forecast rise in inflation without food or energy costs. The PPI report gave Wall Street a mixed reading on wholesale prices. While overall PPI for May gained just 0.2 percent, core prices rose 0.3 percent to top economists' estimates of 0.2 percent.

The Dow fell 86.44, or 0.8 percent, to 10,706.14, after losing nearly 100 points on Monday. The Dow is now down 0.11 percent for 2006. Declining issues topped advancers by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Other global stock markets continued to suffer from concerns that rising interest rates will lower U.S. demand for foreign-made products. Japan's Nikkei stock average plunged 4.14 percent to a two-year low. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 1.8 percent, Germany's DAX index sank 1.92 percent and France's CAC-40 was lower by 2.24 percent.

Economists said the gain in core PPI was not a major concern since annual core inflation still stood at a mild 1.5 percent rate. They said PPI was less significant because it included only finished goods, while Wednesday's consumer price index would also account for services.
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Lawsuit filed against KFC
Louisville: Dr. Arthur Hoyte, a retired physician in the US along with the Center for Science in the Public Interest have filed a suit against Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in an effort to stop the chicken chain from cooking with high-fat partially hydrogenated oil.

The two want a judge to order Kentucky Fried Chicken to use other types of cooking oils or make sure customers know about trans fat content immediately before they make a purchase.

KFC said the lawsuit was frivolous and said the company will fight it in court. It said it provides nutrition and fat information to consumers online and in restaurants.
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