VENTURE CAPITAL POST

U.S. officials will press their Chinese counterparts on currency policy at high-level talks next week, and have not taken off the table the possibility that the United States may one day join a China-led infrastructure bank, a senior U.S. Treasury official said.

Samsung, the technology giant has announced its undisclosed amount of investment in France-based start up Sigfox, which has recently raised $115 million mega round in venture capital.

FAO Schwarz, the oldest toy store in the United States and a retailer once considered accessible only to the rich, is closing its much-loved Fifth Avenue flagship store in Manhattan, citing rising rent prices.

Russia wants 1.163 billion euros ($1.32 billion) from France in compensation for cancelling a contract to deliver two Mistral helicopter carriers, a Russian source close to the negotiations said on Friday.

France sees plenty of scope for Britain to meet its demands for EU reform without changing its treaties, and is ready to discuss the question sooner rather than later, the French European affairs minister told Reuters.

A slowdown in Germany weighed on the euro zone in the first quarter, but the bloc's economy still grew at its fastest in almost two years as cheap food and fuel boosted spending and a central bank stimulus program kicked in.

European and Asian shares advanced on Wednesday as expectations of further monetary stimulus in China offset another mixed bag of data from some of the world’s major economies.

When the Swiss central bank abandoned its cap on the franc back in January, corporate Switzerland warned of an economic "tsunami" that would hit exports, hammer jobs and plunge the Alpine nation into a deep recession.

World financial markets were unsettled again on Thursday as a week-long sell-off in benchmark government bonds, stocks and the dollar, and a race up in oil prices, was compounded by UK election uncertainty.

China overtook France last year as the world's second largest wine grower by area under cultivation as it continued to plant vast fields of mostly imported grape vines to meet growing demand.

The chief executive of France's telecom leader Orange said on Saturday he believed the price war in the national telecoms sector was coming to a close.

No decision has yet been taken on the future of France's suspended contract to deliver Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia, French President Francois Hollande said on Friday after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A wine battle may be uncorked as imports of rosés from France, Italy, Spain, Germany, South Africa vie for shelf space and a share of the U.S. market, which is good news for consumers.

Australia has invited Germany, France and Japan to pitch for a contract to build its new submarine fleet, kicking off a contentious A$50 billion ($38.8 billion) project which has become a political football at home.

The United States ranks near the bottom among major economies in terms of policies to allow hiring highly skilled immigrant workers, according to a study by a business lobbying group that supports relaxing immigration controls.