VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The European Commission provisionally accepted the budgets of France and Italy, saying on Tuesday that no euro zone states had submitted deficit plans for next year that seriously breached EU rules for fiscal stability.

About 100,000 Hungarians rallied on Tuesday night to protest at a planned tax on data traffic and the broader course of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government they saw as undermining democracy and relations with European Union peers.

Russia and Ukraine failed to reach an accord on gas supplies for the coming winter in EU-brokered talks on Tuesday but agreed to meet again in Brussels in a week in the hope of ironing out problems over Kiev's ability to pay.

China is set to unveil key legal reforms this week that will try to limit the influence local officials have on court cases, a move being closely watched by company executives who hope it will make the legal system more impartial.

China's year-to-date foreign direct investment inflows declined for a third month in September, indicating investors remained cautious amid a further slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

The German and French economy ministers have asked experts in Berlin and Paris to come up with reform recommendations for both countries in an apparent attempt to avert a full-blown clash between the euro zone heavyweights over economic policy.

Russian hackers exploited a bug in Microsoft Windows and other software to spy on computers used by NATO, the European Union, Ukraine and companies in the energy and telecommunications sectors, according to cyber intelligence firm iSight Partners.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet Russian President Vladmir Putin on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Beijing in November, the two leaders decided on Tuesday, a Japanese government official said.

The Russia-led South Stream undersea gas pipeline is still going ahead, Energy Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying on Saturday, following concerns the European Union might be losing enthusiasm for the project.

Greece will aim to achieve a primary budget surplus of 2.9 percent of output next year, just shy of the 3 percent target set out under its bailout deal, its deputy finance minister said in an interview published Saturday.

Facebook (FB.O), the world's most popular social network, gained European Union clearance on Friday for its proposed $19 billion takeover of mobile messaging startup WhatsApp in a deal setting it against the telecoms industry.

EU antitrust regulators will open an extensive probe into Zimmer's (ZMH.N) $13.4 billion bid for Biomet, concerned that the creation of the world's second-largest orthopedic products group may hurt competition, three people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Russia issued a new warning on Monday that it would retaliate if the European Union or Ukraine push ahead with moves to implement a free-trade agreement.

Facing rumors that he could face pressure to quit, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi hit back on Sunday against criticism from business leaders and dared his opponents to challenge him in parliament.

Artificial sweetener maker NutraSweet Co said on Wednesday it would exit its aspartame business by the end of the year, citing increasing foreign competition.