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.

President Barack Obama's push to attract foreign direct investment to the United States holds promise, but political gridlock in Washington could throw a wrench in the effort, analysts say.

And, with some specifics still unclear, it remains to be seen whether his bid to lure international firms and create more American jobs will work out.

Indonesia's trade balance unexpectedly swung back to a deficit in September, official data showed Friday, in a setback for Southeast Asia's beleaguered top economy after recently shown signs of recovery.

The news of the $657.2 million deficit followed a small surplus in August and a string of other positive indicators, including easing inflation and an uptick in the manufacturing sector.

A loans-to-mobsters scandal that is gripping Japan's banking sector has widened after major lender Shinsei Bank admitted doing business with organised crime figures.

The country's finance minister on Friday lauded Shinsei after it admitted a day earlier that one of its subsidiaries made more than a dozen loans to the notorious gangsters, known as yakuza.

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday warned sub-Saharan Africa's rapidly growing economies that they need to do more to protect themselves against financial shocks.

In a sign of the continent's growing role in global financial markets, the IMF urged governments to mitigate the impact of cash rapidly flowing in and out of their economies.

Tunisia, already destabilized by a political crisis, suffered a blow to its vital tourism industry after a suicide bombing and another that was foiled in two coastal resort towns.

Only the suicide bomber was killed Wednesday in an attack on a beachside hotel in Sousse, and the security forces thwarted another attempted suicide attack soon after in neighboring Monastir.

Consumer confidence in Germany appears to be holding up, even though retail sales in Europe's top economy fell for the second month in a row, data showed on Thursday.

"The first survey after the parliamentary elections paints a calm picture," market research company GfK said in a statement.