Bloomberg Puerto Rico said its Government Development Bank, which is operating in a state of emergency to preserve its dwindling cash, reached an agreement with some credit unions to delay $33 million of bond payments as the commonwealth rushes toward a potential historic default. The pact only affects a portion of the $422 million that the bank owes on ...

  Bloomberg Brazil’s real climbed to the highest level since July as commodities prices rallied, overshadowing plans by the central bank to sell reverse-swap contracts that tend to weaken the currency. The real gained 1.5 percent to 3.4358 per dollar on Friday, extending this month’s gain to 4.6 percent, as the U.S. currency weakened globally. A Bloomberg index of raw ...

  Bloomberg Colombia’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by more than analysts forecast as inflation surged to its highest level since 2001 following the most severe drought in decades. The seven-member board voted to lift borrowing costs by half a point to 7 percent citing concern that inflation will return to target more slowly than forecast, central bank ...

  Bloomberg Canada was on pace to run a significant surplus for the last fiscal year, monthly data released Friday show, calling into question the federal government’s projection of a full-year deficit. The government raised C$3.2 billion ($2.6 billion) more than it spent in February, giving it a surplus of C$7.5 billion for the first eleven months of the fiscal ...

Maracaibo / AFP Carmela de la Hoz sent a customer away with his hair half cut when the power went off in her salon. The customer will be back — but so will the blackouts. The rolling electricity cuts the Venezuelan government ordered across the country starting this week have hit the city of Maracaibo hard. Security forces are patrolling the ...

  Aleppo / AFP Regime aircraft pounded rebel areas of Syria’s second city Aleppo, which was left out of a deal to “freeze” fighting from Saturday despite international outrage over renewed violence. Shelling and air raids in Aleppo over the past week have killed more than 230 civilians and pushed a landmark February 27 ceasefire to the verge of collapse. Crude ...

  Tehran / AFP Reformist and moderate politicians allied with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani won most seats in second round parliamentary elections, local media reported on Saturday. Unofficial and incomplete results said that of the 68 seats being contested at least 33 had gone to the pro-Rouhani List of Hope, with conservatives gaining 21 more MPs. The second ballot to complete ...

  BEIJING / AP China portrayed the visit Saturday by the Japanese foreign minister as an act of outreach to an angry Beijing, as the two sides try to repair relations bedeviled by disputes over territory, history and competition for influence in East Asia. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Fumio Kishida that the ties must be based on “respect ...

  Baghdad / AFP A car bomb targeting Shiite pilgrims killed at least 23 people near Baghdad on Saturday, as hundreds protested in the capital for reforms and parliament made another attempt to reshuffle the cabinet. Iraq has been hit by weeks of political turmoil surrounding Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi’s efforts to change the government. Both Washington and the United ...

  Kuwait City / AFP Yemen’s warring parties began face-to-face peace talks on Saturday on “key issues” in a bid to end the conflict in the impoverished Arab country, the United Nations said. “All delegations are present. Key issues will be addressed,” Charbel Raji, spokesman for Yemen’s UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said about the negotiations taking place in ...