VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Mergers and acquisition deals announced so far this year have topped $3 trillion, the highest since 2007, helped by mega deals in the healthcare, energy and power sectors.

Halliburton Co's $35 billion takeover of Baker Hughes Inc will create an oilfield services powerhouse in North Dakota with more than half the cementing market and a leading position in fracking, according to data seen by Reuters.

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) will recall 422,509 of its luxury brand Lexus vehicles in the United States because of a possible fuel leak that increases the risk of fire, U.S. regulators said on Friday.

U.S. President Barack Obama will attend India's Republic Day celebrations in January as chief guest, a sign of steadily expanding ties between two countries that share concerns about China's growing power in Asia.

A flurry of private Chinese investment into Hollywood should prompt Beijing to loosen its restrictions on U.S. film imports, the mayor of Los Angeles said in China on Friday as he urged officials to raise the country's annual cap on foreign films.

China's Industrial and Commercial Bank (ICBC) signed a pact with the Los Angeles city government to promote cross-border yuan trade and set up an offshore renminbi center in California, the bank said on Saturday.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi threw the door wide open on Friday for more drastic measures to prevent the euro zone from sliding into deflation, promising to use whatever means necessary as China also acted to boost its sagging economic growth.

The European Parliament is preparing a non-binding resolution that proposes splitting Google Inc's (GOOGL.O) search engine operations in Europe from the rest of its business as one possible option to rein in the Internet company’s dominance in the search market.

The Pentagon said on Friday it had awarded Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) a contract valued at $4.7 billion for an eighth batch of F-35 fighter jets that lowered the average price per jet by 3.5 percent from the last contract, and 57 percent from the first batch.

Japanese trading house Itochu Corp, is seeking to sell PrimeSource Building Products Inc, the largest distributor of screws and nails in the United States, for more than $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

In a front overlap crash safety tests of four minivans sold in the United States, only the latest model of the Toyota Motor Corp Sienna scored well, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said on Thursday.

German business software maker SAP is doing an about-face on its acquisition strategy and plans no more big new deals in the next few years, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) on Tuesday said it is recalling about 65,000 Fusion sedans in North America because the key can be removed from the ignition even if the car is not in the "park" position 30 minutes after the ignition is off, the company said.

European planemaker Airbus aims to deliver the first A350 jetliner to launch customer Qatar Airways by mid-December, the airline said on Tuesday.

The U.S. auto safety regulator on Tuesday called on Japanese supplier Takata and five automakers to expand nationwide a regional recall of potentially deadly air bags, increasing pressure on the industry to act more swiftly in the growing scandal.