The European Union welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, highlighting its partnership with a Moscow determined to forcefully defend its interests against Western interference.

EU officials described the 30th EU-Russia summit as topping "15 years of intense summitry" between "indispensable partners" in a changing world.

U.S. photography giant Eastman Kodak said Wednesday it had agreed sell its digital imaging patents for $525 million to help it emerge from bankruptcy protection.

Kodak said 12 intellectual property licensees, led by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation, will buy the patents.

Japanese automaker Nissan said Wednesday it would start building a compact model of the luxury Infiniti brand at its huge plant in Sunderland in the north of England from 2015.

Production of the new vehicle would create another 1,000 jobs across the country, including 280 additional positions at the Sunderland plant, with a capacity to make about 60,000 Infiniti models annually.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday signed into law a 2.005 trillion-peso ($49 billion) budget for 2013, vowing to use higher taxes on tobacco and alcohol to boost programs to reduce poverty.

Education, health, agriculture and a cash-transfer scheme for the poor are the key priorities of the appropriations, which are 10.5 percent higher than the 2012 national budget, he said during the signing ceremony.

Monetary policy easing in the G3 countries may lead to excessive credit growth and the creation of asset bubbles in East Asia and Pacific (EAP) as investors flock to the region, the World Bank warned Wednesday.

In their East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank said recent central bank easing in Japan, the U.S. and the eurozone may redirect capital to the EAP, which could cause more harm than good for the region.

Swiss banking giant UBS has agreed to pay around $1.5 billion to British, U.S. and Swiss regulators to settle allegations it manipulated Libor interest rates, it said in a statement Wednesday.

"UBS agrees to pay approximately CHF 1.4 billion in fines and disgorgement to U.S., UK and Swiss authorities to resolve LIBOR-related investigations," the statement said.

The International Monetary Fund disbursed a fresh $1.17 billion (890 million euros) to Ireland on Monday, approving the country's progress under its two-year-old rescue program.

The IMF said that Ireland had pushed ahead with policy reforms and deficit cutting despite a slowdown in growth this year.

Renault will sign a pact Wednesday to build its first plant in Algeria during a highly symbolic visit by President Francois Hollande to the former French colony, a company spokeswoman said.

"Renault will sign the agreement tomorrow," she said, confirming press reports.

Malaysia Airlines on Tuesday said it will buy 36 new ATR turboprop aircraft for 3.0 billion ringgit ($916 million) as it looks to boost profits be further expanding its regional and domestic networks.

Of the 36 ATR-72-600 planes, the carrier said 20 will go to low-cost subsidiary Firefly, which is fast expanding its lucrative routes, while 16 are for MASwings, another low-cost carrier that flies to Sarawak and Sabah on Borneo island.

Coal is set to surpass oil as the world's top fuel within a decade, driven by growth in emerging market giants China and India, according to a report published Tuesday.

Economic growth is expected to push up the share of coal, which produces the most climate-changing gasses, in the global energy mix, "and if no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade," said Maria van der Hoeven, head of the International Energy Agency, in a statement.