Bloomberg Mexichem SAB and Empresas ICA SAB fell the most on Mexico’s benchmark index after a deadly blast at a petrochemical plant where both companies had operations. Mexichem dropped 3.4 percent, capping a two-day decline of 8.4 percent after the on Wednesday explosion at a facility the company co-owns about 600 kilometers from Mexico City. ICA, which was upgrading ...

  Bloomberg First-round bidders for Yahoo! Inc. could find out as early as next week whether they’ve made it through to the next stage. Yahoo’s advisers will spend the weekend narrowing down the field of bidders after receiving more than 10 initial offers for the Internet company ranging from about $4 billion to $8 billion. Several first-round bidders will be ...

  Calgary, Alberta / Reuters TransCanada Corp agreed to submit to a Quebec environmental review of its Energy East pipeline, avoiding a potential legal battle with the province by putting the controversial project through an extra round of scrutiny. The resolution removes a potential hurdle but also introduces another approval process for the nearly 4,600 km cross-Canadian pipeline, which will ...

  Turkey / AFP German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border on Saturday, kicking off a high-stakes visit aimed at boosting a month-old migrant deal plagued by moral and legal concerns. Merkel, who was accompanied by European Council head Donald Tusk and European Commission Vice President FransTimmermans, headed to the Nizip 2 camp near Gaziantep ...

  Cairo / AFP An Egyptian court postponed on Saturday its verdict and sentence in the trial of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, who is charged with spying for Qatar. The head judge of the criminal court said the verdict was postponed to “May 7 to continue consultations,” in brief remarks aired on television. If he is convicted it would be ...

  ANKARA / AP A Turkish official says authorities have detained six suspected IS militants who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks in the central Turkish city of Konya. Gov. Muammer Erol said on Saturday that the six — all foreign nationals — were detained in Konya late Friday. He said the group was “in pursuit of attacks” against ...

  Aleppo / AFP At least 27 civilians were killed on Saturday in regime bombardment on rebel-held areas across Syria, a monitor and local sources said, in the latest deadly violence despite a ceasefire deal. Twelve civilians were killed in Aleppo, according to a local civil defence official, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 13 others died in ...

Aden / AP Yemeni forces backed by air power from the Saudi-led Arab coalition launched an operation on Saturday to drive Al-Qaeda fighters out of a southern provincial capital, military officials said. Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in Abyan province advanced towards Zinjibar and the neighbouring town of Jaar, the sources said. Soldiers reached Al-Kud, five kilometres (three ...

Gaza City / AP As peace offerings go, prefabricated metal huts on a sand dune may seem unimpressive, but they are what the Palestinian movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, has chosen. Hamas has set up dozens of new border posts and military checkpoints along the enclave’s border with Egypt in an attempt to improve relations with Cairo after ...

  Rome / AP Libya’s Vice President Ahmed Maetig has expressed hope that the European Union will enter into an agreement with his country similar to that between the EU and Turkey restricting the flow of migrants to Europe. Maetig made the appeal while in Rome meeting with Italy’s Interior Minister Angelino Alfano. “The vice president has asked that we ...