VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Oil settled up about 3 percent on Wednesday as a weak dollar, fighting in Yemen and speculative buying boosted crude prices in spite of U.S. inventories building to record highs for an 11th week.

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.

Germany's Angela Merkel does not expect talks on Monday with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to resolve his differences with the euro zone over Greece's bailout but she does want to hear from him in person about his reform plans, an aide said.

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.

Greece must cooperate with international creditors and boost confidence among its euro zone partners about economic reforms, Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling said in a radio interview, adding a lack of trust was a major problem.

Japan is split over joining a China-led development bank, concerned about missing out on the rapidly coalescing global movement for the institution while also worried about alienating ally United States and helping bolster rival China, officials said.

World shares rose back towards all-time highs and a slump then jump in the dollar triggered wild moves in currency markets on Thursday, as investors priced in a later start and a slower pace for future U.S. rate rises.

A push to make gas contracts agreed with countries such as Russia more transparent has pitched Poland against Germany ahead of energy talks among European Union leaders on Thursday.

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.

With incendiary interviews, an undiplomatic demeanor, a celebrity photo shoot and an obscene finger gesture, Yanis Varoufakis is becoming part of Greece's debt problem rather than the solution, or so his euro zone partners believe.

China has surpassed Germany to become the world's third largest arms exporter, a Stockholm-based think tank said in a report on Monday.

Greece's liquidity problems are "insignificant", the country's finance minister said on German television on Sunday, pledging that the Greek government would take all steps necessary to repay its debts.

EU finance ministers agreed the details of a 315 billion euro ($338 billion) investment plan on Tuesday to help revive the European economy without piling up more debt, and now aim to get the first projects going by the end of the year.

China will boost efforts this year to rid itself of a strong addiction to coal in a bid to reduce damaging pollution as well as cut the energy intensity of its economy, which is expected to grow at its lowest rate in 25 years.