Russians are snapping up luxury villas surrounded by lush vegetation along Spain's rugged Mediterranean coast, drawn by a mild climate and relaxed lifestyle, proving the country's ailing economy with a much-needed boost.

Sergei Maslov, 53-year-old real estate developer, and his wife Larissa, 51, from Novosibirsk in Siberia are part of this wave of Russian investors with deep pockets who are being welcomed with open arms by Spanish officials.

Kuwait, where expats make up 68 percent of the population, plans to reduce the number of foreigners living in the Gulf state by one million over the next decade, a minister said on Tuesday.

"The ministry will take decisions and measures... aimed at reducing the number of expatriate workers by 100,000 every year for 10 years to reach one million," Social Affairs and Labor Minister Thekra al-Rasheedi told the official KUNA news agency.

Britain sent a Royal Air Force plane to crisis-hit Cyprus on Tuesday carrying one million euros ($1.3 million) in emergency loans for British military personnel, the defense ministry said.

The cash cargo flight was a "contingency" plan in case banks in Cyprus stopped giving out money as the island deals with the fallout from a controversial eurozone bailout deal, a spokesman said.

Rafik Hariri International Airport announced on Tuesday that it will halt flights for four hours on Thursday, March 21, as an act of the employees' solidarity with the Syndicate Coordination Committee's strike.

A released statement by the airport's administration elaborated: “In concordance with the employees of the General Directorate of the Civil Aviation and of the Committee of Air Traffic Controllers' decision to support the SCC's strike, flights will be suspended between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm on Thursday.”

German top-of-the-range carmaker BMW said Tuesday it is "cautiously optimistic" for business in 2013 after achieving the best year in the company's history last year.

"After achieving a record-breaking year in 2012, the BMW group's outlook for the current 12-month reporting period is cautiously optimistic, based on ambitious targets set amid a persisting difficult and volatile economic environment," BMW said in a statement.

Irish low-cost airline Ryanair on Tuesday announced that it has ordered 175 Boeing 737-800 airplanes worth $15.6 billion (12.1 billion euros) at catalogue prices.

"Ryanair ... today signed an agreement with the Boeing Company to purchase 175 new Next Generation 737-800 airplanes," the Dublin-based carrier said in a statement.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange said it had suspended trading for Tuesday and Wednesday due to the closure for the same period of banks amid fears of a run on accounts following a harsh EU bailout deal.

"We decided to suspend the trading of securities listed on the stock exchange for the purpose of ensuring the proper functioning of the stock market and to protect investors," the exchange said in a statement.

Investors who placed their money in Cyprus in order to pay less tax should shoulder the risks when it comes to a bailout, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Tuesday.

"Whoever invests their money in a country where they pay less tax, and perhaps where there is less supervision, shoulders the risk when that country's banks are no longer solvent. That's a fact," Schaeuble said in an interview on German public radio Deutschlandfunk.

The OECD trimmed its growth forecast for France on Tuesday but recommended the government avoid more spending cuts to meet it EU deficit reduction pledges.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said it now expects the French economy to grow by 0.1 percent this year, instead of the 0.3 percent it forecast earlier.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon led international appeals Monday for the major powers to reach a compromise on a landmark conventional arms trade treaty as final negotiations started.

The 193 U.N. members have until March 28 to conclude an accord on the $80 billion a year trade in small arms, tanks, warships, combat aircraft, ammunition and missile launchers.