VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Russia on Monday scrapped the South Stream pipeline project to supply gas to southern Europe without crossing Ukraine, citing EU objections, and instead named Turkey as its preferred partner for an alternative pipeline, with a promise of hefty discounts.

Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang is set to sweeten his bid for the struggling French holiday group Club Mediterranee (CMIP.PA) to trump Italian tycoon Andrea Bonomi's offer in France's longest-running takeover battle.

Oil prices fell to their lowest in five years on Monday, hit by slowing factory activity in China and Europe and hammering emerging market stocks and commodity-linked currencies.

A European satellite beamed images to earth using new laser-based communications technology on Friday, opening the way for uninterrupted and near instantaneous viewing of natural disasters being sent to governments and relief agencies.

Britain's Merlin Entertainments is to open a Legoland theme park in South Korea, as part of its long term expansion plans to generate more of its income from overseas markets.

The European Commission should be able to veto national budgets if they breach the European Union's common fiscal rules, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister told fellow OPEC members they must combat the U.S. shale oil boom, arguing against cutting crude output in order to depress prices and undermine the profitability of North American producers.

Saudi Arabia blocked calls on Thursday from poorer members of the OPEC oil exporter group for production cuts to arrest a slide in global prices, sending benchmark crude plunging to a fresh four-year low.

Subdued food price inflation in Europe is unlikely to pick up any time soon, adding to the pressure on mainstream grocers as they struggle with changing shopping habits and competition from discounters.

Fading hopes OPEC will cut production when it meets Thursday sent oil prices tumbling to a four-year low and the world stock-market rally paused for Thanksgiving in the United States.

The Western world's first gene therapy drug is set to go on sale in Germany with a 1.1 million euro ($1.4 million) price tag, a new record for a medicine to treat a rare disease.

U.S. consumer spending rose modestly in October and a measure of business spending plans fell for a second straight month, suggesting some slowing in the pace of economic growth.

European privacy regulators want Internet search engines such as Google (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft's Bing (MSFT.O) to scrub results globally, not just in Europe, when people invoke their "right to be forgotten" as ruled by an EU court.

General Motors Co President Dan Ammann on Monday said he expects "more of the same" next year from a U.S. auto market that has been growing slowly, while he is bracing for continued soft demand in other parts of the globe.

Gap Inc (GPS.N) has struck a deal with Europe's largest dedicated online fashion retailer Zalando (ZALG.DE) to sell its core brand from next May, hoping to reach more consumers, particularly in markets where it has no physical stores.