France Telecom ( FTE ) will invest up to €50M ($64M) in video site Dailymotion and once more begin looking for a partner this fall, says Orange CEO Stephane Richard. With the French government (27% stake) having scuttled the Yahoo deal , FTE has reportedly been fielding Dailymotion bids from local ... France slid into recession during Q1 as the French economy contracts 0.2% Q/Q after shrinking by the same amount in Q4. With unemployment at record levels and President François Hollande's popularity at all-time lows, the country faces an uphill battle to right the ship as it struggles to bring its ... Vivendi ( VIVHY.PK ) has offered to buy Dailymotion from France Telecom ( FTE ) now that the French government has thwarted Yahoo's bid , Reuters reports. In addition, a consortium headed by the founder of upstart French carrier Iliad is said to have made a bid at a "much lower price" than Yahoo's. ... The French government has reportedly scuttled Yahoo's ( YHOO ) attempt to buy a $200M controlling stake in video site Dailymotion from France Telecom ( FTE ). A source tells TechCrunch French minister Arnaud Montebourg opposed the deal out of an unwillingness to let a "marquee" French tech company ... The French government is open to letting mobile carriers France Telecom ( FTE ), Vivendi ( VIVHY.PK ), Bouygues Telecom, and Iliad share their networks . It's an attempt to help the carriers cope with slumping voice/text revenue ( a problem faced by many European peers) and an intense price war ... The Paris apartment of IMF Director Christine Lagarde has been raided by French police and is being searched. The investigation relates to allegations of improprieties from back when she was France's finance minister. Post your comment! The return of Burger King ( BKW +0.6% ) to France is the talk of the nation , according to French media reports and social networking buzz. Speculation on the eventual return of the Whopper to the nation ever since the chain pulled out of France in 1997 has taken on a life of its own, boding well ... PARIS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's ratings agency has downgraded France's credit rating, French television channels reported on Friday, citing a government source. PARIS, March 7 (Reuters) - France's FSI strategic investment fund plans to take a 2.5 billion euro ($3.25 billion) writedown on its 13.67 percent holding in France Telecom to reflect the drop in the share price, sources familiar with the matter said. PARIS, March 8 (Reuters) - France's FSI strategic investment fund confirmed on Friday that it will take a 2.4 billion euro ($3.14 billion) writedown on its 13.6 percent holding in France Telecom to reflect the drop in the share price.