VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Leftist Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras threw down an open challenge to international creditors on Wednesday by halting privatisation plans agreed under the country's bailout deal, prompting a third day of heavy losses on financial markets.

The deadly attacks in Paris earlier this month could have a lasting impact on tourism if anti-France protests that have swept the Muslim world lead wealthy Arabs to shun the city.

Myanmar, Haiti and Mali were ranked the least open and transparent countries in a global index of government data released on Tuesday, which found that most governments do not make official data openly available to the public.

The chief executive of controversial online ride-sharing company Uber stuck a newly conciliatory tone on Sunday, promising to create 50,000 new jobs this year across Europe in cities that are willing to reach deals to help his firm operate.

The euro zone economy ended 2014 with its worst quarter for over a year as further price cutting failed to significantly drive up business activity, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to act, surveys showed.

France's floundering economy pushed car sales 6.8 percent lower year-on-year in December, while Spanish sales jumped by 21.4 percent, helped by a subsidy scheme, and also rose in Italy, according to auto industry associations.

Billboards, which trace their roots to ancient Egypt, are set to generate a boom in U.S. deal activity as the biggest operators seek to expand in regional markets, investment banking sources said.

Bid speculation drove up the shares of medical devices maker Smith & Nephew (SN.L) on Wednesday, allowing it to outpace sluggish European stock markets in a shortened session ahead of the Christmas break.

Xerox Corp (XRX.N) said it agreed to sell its information technology outsourcing arm to French IT services firm Atos SE (ATOS.PA) for $1.05 billion, sending its shares up almost 4 percent in late trade on Thursday.

Brazilian tycoon Abilio Diniz is in talks with Carrefour SA about buying a stake in the French retailer's Brazilian unit, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said on Wednesday.

The Philippines aims to buy two frigates, two helicopters and three gunboats for deployment in the South China Sea where a territorial dispute with China has lent urgency to the need to bolster forces, a Philippine navy officer said on Wednesday.

The global economy is ending the year in a fragile state with factory activity shrinking in China, euro zone business growth remaining weak, and emerging market giant Russia in a spiraling currency crisis.

French hotel operator Accor announced a strategic alliance with China Lodging Group on Sunday to create a major new player in the fast-growing Chinese domestic travel and hospitality market.

Technip (TECF.PA) has ruled out making an offer for seismic surveys specialist CGG (GEPH.PA) after talks with the company failed to produce an agreement, the French oil services group said on Sunday.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said the European Commission's decision to give France longer to prove it is serious about economic reform and fixing its excessive public deficit risks damaging the credibility of the bloc's budget rules.