Spain has emerged from recession in the third quarter, with estimated economic growth of 0.1 to 0.2 percent, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a newspaper interview Tuesday.

He also forecast growth of between 0.5 and 1.0 percent in 2014, stronger than the government's previous estimate, in an interview published in the Wall Street Journal.

Robust economic growth in the Philippines should continue this year and next despite the anticipated unwinding of the massive U.S. stimulus program, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

"In 2013, growth is expected to remain strong at 6 3/4 percent, easing to about 6.0 percent in 2014, which is still somewhat faster than potential output," IMF official Rachel van Elkan said in a statement.

Greek civil servants on Tuesday launched a 48-hour strike, their second work stoppage in as many weeks to protest job cuts the government is undertaking in return for international bailout funds.

The strike, which follows one last week, shut down government buildings and was expected to disrupt operations at public hospitals.

A U.S. judge has ordered Bank of America to pay nearly $2.2 million for discriminating against African-American job seekers, in a case that has been ongoing for nearly two decades.

The judge in North Carolina determined the bank had used "unfair and inconsistent" hiring practices for teller and entry-level clerical and administrative jobs, blocking qualified African-American applicants from getting jobs, the U.S. labor department said in statement Monday.

The Pentagon warned its workforce on Monday that it is preparing for a possible government shutdown if Congress fails to break a political impasse.

If U.S. government agencies are forced to shutter, American troops around the world would stay on the job and some civilian employees would be ordered on unpaid leave, Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.

The Syrian government has earmarked 50 billion Syrian pounds ($250 million) for reconstruction next year in the war-torn country, a pro-regime daily on Monday quoted the prime minister as saying.

"The government has increased its budget spending for emergency aid and reconstruction for 2014 to 50 billion Syrian pounds," Wael al-Halqi said in remarks published by al-Watan newspaper.

A record 8.3 million foreign tourists flocked to Spain in August, with British, French and German holidaymakers leading the charge, the Spanish government said on Monday.

It was the highest monthly number of foreign tourists to Spain since current records began in 1995 and 7.1 percent higher than August last year, the tourism ministry said in a statement.

One of China's richest businessmen plans to invest 50 billion yuan ($8.2 billion) to build the country's version of Hollywood in the eastern city of Qingdao

Wang Jianlin said Sunday that his company, Dalian Wanda Group, will build a massive, state of the art film studio complex in a bid to dominate China's rapidly growing movie market.

The euro rose against the dollar in Asian trade Monday after German chancellor Angela Merkel clinched her third term in a convincing election victory.

The euro bought $1.3529, up from $1.3524 in New York late Friday, while it also bought 134.15 yen compared with 134.36 yen.

Hard-up Italians have increasingly taken the place of immigrant seasonal laborers in the vineyards this harvest season -- and a new pilot project plans to increase the number even further.

In Oltrepo-Pavese, a wine region in northern Italy, the farmers' union Coldiretti has launched an initiative called the "Harvest of Solidarity."