Renault-Nissan and Japanese firm Mitsubishi are to share the production of vehicles, technology and factory capacity, the two groups announced on Tuesday, highlighting the development of electric cars.

A statement on the terms of the deal said: "As a consequence, it has been agreed that the strategic cooperation between Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors could be expanded across the broader Renault-Nissan Alliance."

The Philippines said Tuesday it had deployed teams to check on reports of abuse in Saudi Arabia's crackdown on illegal workers, after one woman complained they were treated "like animals".

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Filipino diplomats were in touch with the oil-rich kingdom's human rights council to ensure the protection of Filipino workers there.

Irish no-frills airline Ryanair on Monday slashed its annual profits forecast for the second time since September owing to lower-priced fares, triggering a 14-percent slump in its share price.

The Dublin-based carrier expects annual profit after tax of not more than 520 million euros ($701 million), it said in a results statement, which compared with a forecast at the lower end of a 570-600 million euros range given just two months ago.

Iran's deputy oil minister, Ali Majedi, said Monday on that Pakistan must finance a controversial pipeline that would enable it to buy gas from the Islamic republic.

Majedi's remarks come after Pakistan's Oil Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi asked Iran to stump up $2 billion (1.45 billion euros) to finish the construction of the pipeline.

Austrian unemployment rose strongly in October due to weak export demand and seasonal factors, with the number of people out of work 11.8 percent higher year-on-year, government figures showed on Monday.

The unemployment rate in Austria, which has largely escaped the economic woes suffered by other eurozone members in recent years, rose 0.7 percentage points to 7.4 percent.

Australian banking giant Westpac on Monday posted a 14 percent jump in full-year net profit with all core divisions performing well, capping a bumper year for the country's major lenders.

The result in the 12 months to September 30 came in at Aus$6.82 billion (US$6.44 billion), compared with Aus$5.97 billion the previous year.

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday welcomed a call from the nation's business leaders for Britain to remain in the European Union, ahead of a referendum in 2017.

EU membership is "overwhelmingly" in Britain's economic interests, but major reform is needed, the Confederation of British Industry said Monday in a key study published at its annual gathering in London.

Thirty Filipino workers expelled from Saudi Arabia returned home Monday and alleged they were abused amid a crackdown on illegal migrants there.

They were among an estimated 6,700 Filipino workers stranded in parts of the oil-rich Middle Eastern kingdom where an amnesty for undocumented foreigners ended over the weekend.

Iran's Oil Minister says Iraq has increased its crude oil exports to compensate for a fall in Iranian exports as a result of sanctions over Tehran's suspected nuclear program, calling the policy "not friendly at all."

Bijan Namdar Zanganeh is quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency Saturday as saying that Iraq's oil policies are to Iran's detriment.

Thousands of illegal foreigners, mostly unskilled workers from Asia, are rushing to leave Saudi Arabia before an amnesty expires on Sunday as they risk being fined or even jailed.

Nearly a million Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Indians, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis, among others, have taken advantage of the three-month amnesty -- announced on April 3 and then extended for four months -- and left the country.