The Swedish government on Wednesday gave the green light for troubled automaker Saab to sell its real estate and lease it back, handing it the last approval needed to sell its plant and get access to much needed cash.

Saab welcomed the deal and said in a statement it planned to restart its production, which has been repeatedly stalled since April and last stopped on June 8, on August 9.

Private creditors and international banks were meeting in Rome on Thursday to discuss the role of the private sector in Greece's second debt bailout, an Italian Treasury source said.

The meeting was being held in order "to exchange points of view on the participation of private creditors," a source within the Treasury told Agence France Presse.

Up to 140,000 Philippine workers could lose their jobs in Saudi Arabia due to a domestic helper ban and a program to compel firms to employ more locals, the Filipino labor minister said Thursday.

Between 20,000-50,000 Filipino domestic workers in the kingdom could be hit by Saudi Arabia's decision announced last month to stop granting work permits to Philippine and Indonesian maids, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

World oil prices fell on Wednesday when markets were spooked by a ratings downgrade to Portugal which suggested that the Eurozone debt crisis was worsening.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August, dipped four cents to $96.85 a barrel.

Chinese car maker BYD, backed by billionaire Warren Buffet, said Wednesday it has ended a joint venture to provide financing for car purchases in China with a unit of France's Societe Generale.

The company signed a 500 million yuan ($77 million) joint venture with Compagnie Generale de Location d'Equipements (CGL) in June last year to tap growing mainland demand for cars in the world's biggest auto market.

A young woman in a tight silver dress posed on the front of a black Audi A6 sedan at a Hanoi auto show, hoping to entice buyers.

Luxury cars are increasingly irresistible for many Vietnamese, say industry players who report rising sales even as daily life becomes harder for the majority struggling to cope with one of the world's highest rates of inflation.

Spain, Europe's second-most visited country after France, aims to welcome one million Chinese tourists in 2020, the government said Tuesday.

The country received 89,523 Chinese tourists in 2009, the last year for which figures are available, and Tourism Minister Miguel Sebastian said this figure should rise to 300,000 in 2012.

The world needs $1.9 trillion in green technology investments a year, with over half of that sum necessary for developing countries," the U.N. said Tuesday.

"Over the next 40 years, $1.9 trillion (1.31 trillion Euros) per year will be needed for incremental investments in green technologies," the U.N. Economic and Social Affairs body said in its annual survey.

The United Arab Emirates has pledged $3 billion in financial assistance to Egypt during a visit to the oil-rich Gulf state by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, state media said.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan "has issued directives to allocate an aid package of $3 billion for Egypt," the official WAM news agency reported late on Monday.

Oil rose in Asian trade Monday after Eurozone finance ministers cleared the way for debt-hit Greece to receive 12 billion Euros by mid-July, analysts said.

In afternoon trade, New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for August delivery, rose 12 cents to $95.07 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for August added 18 cents to $111.95.