VENTURE CAPITAL POST

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.

As the dollar surged in the last 12 months, David Marcus, head of the Evermore Global Value fund, steadily increased his stake in Europe. He now has 60 percent of his portfolio invested in companies in the euro zone, the largest stake among any global fund tracked by Lipper.

The United States has urged countries to think twice before signing up to a new China-led Asian development bank that Washington sees as a rival to the World Bank, after Germany, France and Italy followed Britain in saying they would join.

Germany, France and Italy said on Tuesday they had agreed to join a new China-led Asian investment bank after close ally Britain defied U.S. pressure to become a founder member of a venture seen in Washington as a rival to the World Bank.

Once depicted as a "Blue Banana" stretching from Manchester to Milan, Europe's industrial heartland has moved eastwards just as its political center of gravity has shifted to Germany.

Swiss company Holcim (HOLN.VX) came under pressure on Monday to secure improved terms for its shareholders in a planned merger with France's Lafarge (LAFP.PA) that would create the world's largest cement maker.

The French government loaned Egypt 3.2 billion euros to finance the recent multibillion-euro purchase of French military equipment, Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in an interview on al-Arabiya TV on Saturday.

Francois Hollande faces a major test on Tuesday when his flagship economic reform bill is put to parliament, 10 days before the European Commission rules on whether France's reforms go far enough to avoid sanctions for its budget slippages.

France's lower house of parliament approved a law on Saturday letting shops open more often on Sundays, the latest measure in the government's pro-growth bill intended to lift the sluggish economy.

The S&P 500 index finished unchanged on Wednesday as investors were reluctant to make big bets while they waited for the outcomes of major talks involving Greece and Ukraine, but Apple helped boost the Nasdaq after an activist investor's bullish comments.

Greece's new leftist-led government, isolated in the euro zone and under pressure from the European Central Bank, said on Friday it wanted no more bailout money with strings attached from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

When Edith Zemirou bought Euro Disney stock two decades ago, she expected a decent return and her own small share in Mickey Mouse magic.