VENTURE CAPITAL POST

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.

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.

Tens of thousands of workers marched through the center of Rome on Saturday against Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's reform of the labor market, headed by a popular union chief who is seen by many as a possible future leader of Italy's left.

Italian prosecutors have wrapped up an investigation into allegations U.S. tech giant Apple (AAPL.O) failed to pay corporate taxes to the tune of 879 million euros ($964 million), two sources said on Monday.

China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) is to buy Pirelli (PECI.MI), the world's fifth-largest tire maker, in a 7.1 billion euro ($7.7 billion) deal that will place one of the symbols of Italy's manufacturing industry in Chinese hands.

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.

The European Central Bank's bond purchases will create an unsustainable stock market rally and are unlikely to boost euro zone investments, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis warned on Saturday.

A blowout jobs report has changed the calculus for investors for what the Federal Reserve might do in coming months, resetting expectations for how markets might behave if the U.S. economy continues to strengthen even as global growth lags.

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.

Greek borrowing costs leapt and bank shares were hit hard on Thursday after the European Central Bank abruptly pulled the plug on its funding for the country's financial sector in what Athens labelled an act of coercion.

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 European Central Bank's bond buying program will give a decisive boost to Italy's stagnant economy, business lobby Confindustria said on Saturday, while the Bank of Italy said it would make it easier to pass reforms.

After a head-spinning bout of volatility, next week will be dominated by one question: Will the European Central Bank take the ultimate policy leap or pull its punches?