VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Greece said it may impose capital controls and keep its banks shut on Monday after creditors refused to extend the country's bailout and savers queued to withdraw cash, taking Athens' standoff with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to a dangerous new level.

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 wants to gradually phase out the use of diesel fuel for private passenger transport and will put in place a system to identify the most polluting vehicles, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Friday.

Air France sought to bring a costly 12-day pilots strike, over the expansion of its budget Transavia unit, to an end on Friday with a series of proposals that won the backing of the company's board and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

A bitter Air France labor dispute deepened on Monday as management pledged to press ahead with its low-cost airline ambitions and pilots said that an eight day-old strike over the proposals would continue indefinitely as a result.

Germany and France will try to reconcile divergent visions of how to fix Europe's economy on Monday when Manuel Valls makes his first visit to Berlin as French prime minister and holds talks with Angela Merkel.

Air France pilots have voted to extend their week-long strike over cost cuts and plans for the company's Transavia unit by a further four days until Sept. 26, the head of the SNPL union said on Saturday.

World markets advanced on Monday despite the conflict in Ukraine, focusing on whether the European Central Bank will announce plans for economic stimulus when it meets this week.