VENTURE CAPITAL POST

France is now under “a state of economic and social emergency”. To keep up with the world's economy, French President Francois Hollande also unveiled a 1-billion-euro budget.

Eiffel Tower is closed for an indefinite period of time after the bloody Paris attack on Friday, Nov.13 that killed at least 129 people. The announcement was made by the operator on Saturday.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday after Greece rejected debt bailout terms, throwing the future of the country's euro zone membership into further doubt.

Germany's EU Commissioner Guenter Oettinger said on Monday it might still be possible for Greece and its creditors to reach a deal this week.

Finance ministers from the world's largest developed economies meet in Germany this week against a backdrop of faltering global growth, scant inflationary pressures and a bond market in turmoil.

Greece expects to reach a cash-for-reforms deal with its creditors in the next 10 days and aims to meet all its payments in June, the government's spokesman said on Friday, after the prime minister met with EU leaders.

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.

Foreigners are set to take over several French blue chip firms this year and will largely do what they want with their prizes - showing the limits of new laws passed in the name of "economic patriotism".

France, home of historic Gitanes and Gauloises cigarettes with their iconic blue-and-white packaging, will require all tobacco companies to sell their wares in plain boxes from next year in an anti-smoking crackdown.

PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUP.PA) said on Friday it had chosen a French factory over a rival Spanish plant to expand engine production, prompting a visit by President Francois Hollande to highlight a bright spot in France's gloomy labor market.

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.

New Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, striking a conciliatory note on debt talks after a turbulent start to office, has called the European Central Bank chief to assure him that Athens was seeking an agreement.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said on Wednesday France wanted to facilitate talks between Greece's new leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the rest of the euro zone, and would meet his Greek counterpart in Paris on Monday.

The European Central Bank is poised to announce a plan on Thursday to buy government bonds, resorting to its last big policy tool for breathing life into the flagging euro zone economy and fending off deflation.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande urged Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko on Sunday to press ahead with reforms to facilitate an economic recovery and access to foreign aid.