Business news, technology, media and finance reports

TECHNOLOGY

Yahoo! set to acquire Tumblr in $1.1 billion deal

Yahoo! said on Monday that it was set to buy blogging network Tumblr for $1.1 billion, as new Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer seeks to rejuvenate the internet company’s image. The deal is expected to be finalised in the second half of the year.

FRANCE

Grandes écoles: The making of France’s ruling elite

British journalist Peter Gumbel (pictured), author of "France's Got Talent: The woeful consequences of French elitism" speaks to FRANCE 24’s François Picard about the country’s Grandes écoles, or prestigious institutions of higher learning.

FRANCE

French economy falls back into recession

The French economy has slipped back into recession, the INSEE statistics agency announced Wednesday, as the eurozone recession entered a sixth quarter — longer than the slump that hit the region during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

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GREECE

Boost for Greece as Fitch upgrades its credit grade

The ratings agency Fitch on Tuesday upgraded Greece's sovereign credit grade to B-, from CCC. The bonds of the debt-burdened country remain well-below investment grade, but the upgrade may boost morale.

FRANCE

French culture minister backs tablet tax plan

France's culture minister on Tuesday backed taxing tablets and smartphones to provide funding for artists. Aurélie Filippetti also warned that she and many of her European counterparts opposed the inclusion of cultural products in EU-US trade talks.

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Google recognises Palestine on homepage

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US ECONOMY

US jobless rate falls to 7.5 percent in April

The US jobless rate fell to 7.5% in April with 165,000 jobs added, the Labor Department said Friday. The news prompted the Dow Jones to rise more than 140 points on the day and the dollar spiked briefly.

FRANCE

EU forecasts 2013 French slide into recession

The European Commission published its highly anticipated spring forecasts on Friday, predicting a French slide into recession this year, with its economy projected to shrink by 0.1 percent.

PORTUGAL

Portugal austerity budget raises pension age, cuts jobs

Portugal's PM Pedro Passos Coelho unveiled budget cuts to meet the demands of international creditors Friday, including cutting 30,000 public sector jobs, introducing a 40-hour work week for civil servants and raising the retirement age to 66.

BANKING - FRANCE

BNP Paribas sees profits slump 45% in first quarter

French bank BNP Paribas announced Friday that its earnings dropped 45 percent in the first quarter of 2013, dragged down by a sharp decrease in corporate and investment banking as Europe continues to struggle with a stagnating economy.

EUROZONE

ECB cuts key interest rate to record low of 0.5%

The European Central Bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter point to a record low of 0.5 percent on Thursday as part of efforts to help dig the eurozone out of recession.

FRANCE

French minister under fire for saying ‘Non’ to Yahoo!

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EUROZONE

Eurozone unemployment reaches record 12.1 percent

Unemployment in the eurozone hit a record high of 12.1 percent in March, official Eurostat data showed on Tuesday, with 19.2 million people out of work. The jobless rate in the 17-nation bloc has climbed for 23 consecutive months.

FRANCE

Hollande unveils new measures to woo entrepreneurs

French President François Hollande unveiled a raft of measures on Monday aimed at helping small-business owners in an attempt to boost an economy struggling with the threat of recession and unemployment at over 10 percent.

FRANCE

Record 3.22 million jobseekers in France

Unemployment in France surged by 36,900 in March to hit a record 3,224 million, the Labour Ministry said on Thursday, breaking the country’s previous record in 1997, when there were a total of 3.195 million without jobs.

SPAIN

Spain jobless rate hits record 27.2%

More than six million Spanish were out of a job in the first quarter of 2013, raising the unemployment rate to an all-time high of 27.2 percent, according to figures released by Spain’s National Statistics Institute on Thursday.