International News

  Bloomberg Health insurers including WellCare Health Plans Inc. and Centene Corp. have offered to buy assets that Aetna Inc. may have to sell to gain regulatory approval for its proposed $37 billion takeover of Humana Inc., a person familiar with the matter said. WellCare and Centene have separately bid for Aetna’s Medicare Advantage policies that are up for sale, …

  Bloomberg Brazil’s consumer prices rose less than analysts forecast in June as new central bank chief Ilan Goldfajn pledges to bring inflation to the government’s target by the end of next year. The benchmark IPCA consumer price index climbed 0.35 percent after a 0.78 percent rise the previous month. That was lower than the median forecast for a 0.37 …

  Bloomberg Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. is considering a sale of some of its software assets as it continues to slim down its operations, according to people familiar with the matter. The divestitures would come from a portfolio of acquisitions made over roughly the last decade, including Autonomy, Mercury Interactive and Vertica Systems, said the people, who asked not to …

  Bloomberg Oi SA, the Brazilian phone company struggling under $20 billion in debt, said one of its biggest investors called for a shareholders’ meeting to change the makeup of the board. Magnate Nelson Tanure’s Bridge Administradora de Recursos Ltda., which holds a 6.6 percent stake in Oi, said it would seek to oust directors who represent Pharol SGPS SA, …

  London / AFP The British government on Saturday formally rejected a petition signed by more than 4.125 million people calling for a second referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. “We the undersigned call upon HM (Her Majesty’s) government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60 percent based a turnout less …

  Istanbul / AFP The first Russian flight carrying package tourists to Turkey since a diplomatic crisis erupted eight months ago landed on Saturday in the Turkish Mediterranean resort of Antalya. The Rossiya Airlines plane touched down at Antalya’s international airport at around 0730 GMT, after President Vladimir Putin last month officially lifted restrictions on tourism to Turkey. The Boeing …

  New Delhi / AFP India’s peaceful tourist hotspot Kerala has become the first state in the country to impose a “fat tax” on junk food in a bid to counter rising obesity. The state’s finance minister Thomas Isaac announced a 14.5 percent tax on food including burgers, pizzas and sandwiches sold at restaurants and fast-food chains, as part of …

  Bloomberg A seventh straight week of gains in German bunds has pushed yields on securities of all maturities to unprecedented lows — leaving about $801 billion of debt out of the reach of the European Central Bank. The surge in sovereign debt since Britain’s vote to exit the European Union last month has pushed yields on about 70 percent …

  Bloomberg Traders will be watching the Bank of England’s first policy meeting since the Brexit referendum for fresh reasons to sell the pound. Speculation is building that BOE Governor Mark Carney will use the Thursday gathering to follow up on his pledge to take whatever steps are necessary to spur the economy. The chances of the central bank cutting …

  Bloomberg Russia raised 52.2 billion rubles ($816 million) from the sale of Alrosa PJSC, the world’s largest diamond miner, according to a person with knowledge of the deal, the country’s biggest privatization in three years marred by economic uncertainty. Shares were priced at 65 rubles a piece, the person said, a 3.8 percent discount to the stock’s Friday closing …