- Mood brightens after latest Greek offer to creditors (Reuters [20])
- ECB's Nowotny - Greek banks have funding extension for today (Reuters [21])
- Any Greece deal must match party manifesto, minister says (Reuters [22])
- Greece says now up to lenders to move on an agreement (Reuters [23])
- Greece sends wrong documents to monitors... Again (FT [24])
- U.S. won't let Russia 'drag us back to the past': Pentagon chief (Reuters [25])
- Belgium unblocks part of Russian diplomatic missions’ frozen accounts (Tass [26])
- Fed Scoop Heralded Era of Closed Doors for $100,000 Newsletters (BBG [27])
- How Chinese Billionaire Li Hejun’s Solar Bet Soured (WSJ [28])
- Health Mergers Could Cut Consumer Options (WSJ [29])
- Explosive local govt debt issuance threatens China central bank's easing efforts (Reuters [30])
- Too much sunshine: BOJ says factory output likely hit soft patch in April-June (Reuters [31])
- Affluent Greeks fret as they teeter on the edge (FT [32])
- SEC Fights Challenges to Its In-House Courts (WSJ [33])
- Venezuela Oil Loans Go Awry for China (WSJ [34])
- Tsipras Said to Risk Miscalculating Merkel on Greek Aid (BBG [35])
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* Potential deals among the biggest health insurers-including Cigna Corp, Anthem Inc, Aetna Inc, Humana Inc and UnitedHealth Group Inc -could have market overlaps that damp competition, a Journal analysis finds. (http://on.wsj.com/1H7PJtZ [36])
* Williams Cos has rejected an unsolicited buyout offer from Energy Transfer Equity Lp worth $48 billion but the natural-gas pipeline company said it is open to other offers. (http://on.wsj.com/1H7PLCb [37])
* The Securities and Exchange Commission is fending off a flurry of legal challenges to its in-house court system, which has become a key cog in its enforcement strategy but has drawn mounting criticism. (http://on.wsj.com/1H7PW0f [33])
* Music powerhouse Taylor Swift announced Sunday that she won't allow her latest album, "1989", to be included in Apple Inc's new music-streaming service, in a protest over royalties, and spurred a reversal in the tech giant's launch plan. (http://on.wsj.com/1daQsMM [38])
* European telecom company Altice SA said it has made an offer to buy France's Bouygues Telecom, confirming weekend reports of a multibillion-dollar takeover approach which could create France's largest operator by subscribers.
FT
Energy company Williams Companies Inc said it has rejected an unsolicited buyout offer from Energy Transfer, that valued the company at $48 billion, saying that the deal undervalued the company.
Virgin Media will begin the expansion of its cable network this week, spending about 3 billion pounds ($4.76 billion) in the process. The expansion plans may prove to be a major headache for rival BT Group, which has spent a fortune winning sports rights and acquiring mobile operator EE.
European private equity firm Park Square Capital has raised $2.4 billion to back large ticket deals. The company said the fund would "routinely be able to commit more than 100 million euro to transactions" involving private equity using senior debt.
Stock-image provider Shutterstock has taken its rivalry with Getty Images to the next level by tying up with Hollywood's Variety magazine to become a distributor of high-end fashion and entertainment photos.
NYT
* As Greece's standoff with its creditors enters the final stretch, the European Central Bank finds itself in the awkward position of being both the country's savior and its scold. Europe's central bank has been the lender of last resort for Greece, keeping its banking system - if not the country itself - from collapse. But the ECB has also been among the most recalcitrant of its creditors, pushing Greece to the verge of default by refusing to offer relief on its heavy debts. (http://nyti.ms/1MZylpm [39])
* Less than 24 hours after Taylor Swift complained publicly that Apple Inc was not planning to pay royalties during a three-month trial period of its new streaming music service, the company changed course, and confirmed it will pay its full royalty rates for music during the free trial. (http://nyti.ms/1BFKgIB [40])
* Anthem Inc made a $47 billion takeover bid for Cigna Corp on Saturday after months of negotiations had stalled. On Sunday, Cigna fired back, rejecting the bid as "inadequate and not in the best interest of Cigna's shareholders." (http://nyti.ms/1FvKhK6 [41])
* Altice, the cable and mobile services provider led by French entrepreneur Patrick Drahi, has offered to pay 10 billion euros, or about $11.3 billion, in cash for its rival Bouygues Telecom, according to a person familiar with the discussions. (http://nyti.ms/1BFK641 [42])
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The NDP and Liberal Party's plans to change the federal electoral system without necessarily holding a referendum have Conservative critics accusing them of playing loose with the democratic process. (http://bit.ly/1CnEnKQ [43])
** The latest quarterly C-Suite Survey shows that almost two-thirds of Canadian corporate executives - including those in the west - feel Canada's economic policy relies too much on Alberta and its natural resources. Fewer than one out of five say the economy has a good mix of industrial sectors. (http://bit.ly/1THx9fP [44])
** A report by RBC Economics says housing affordability continued to decline in Toronto and Vancouver, while conditions for homebuyers improved in Alberta during the first quarter of the year as lower oil prices caused the real estate market to soften. (http://bit.ly/1K6uBF1 [45])
NATIONAL POST
** A group of creditors and directors of small Canadian wireless carrier Mobilicity met over the weekend to assess offers from two of the country's telecommunications giants, Telus Corp and Rogers Communications Inc, which appear to be locked in an escalating bidding war to acquire the financially struggling company. (http://bit.ly/1Lp4GZr [46])
** A man hiking near Collingwood, Ontario, was rescued on Sunday after being trapped underground for more than 20 hours in a rock fissure just eight inches wide. (http://bit.ly/1BGn657 [47])
Hong Kong
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- New home sales in Hong Kong are set to top 20,000 units this year in their best showing in more than a decade, with the brisk demand seen driving a 10 percent increase in prices, according to Buggle Lau Ka-fai, chief economist at Midland Realty. (bit.ly/1QKZ7s3)
-- Greentown China Holdings Chief Executive Shou Bainian has resigned after 17 years at the mainland property developer. Shou, 61, said he had had no disagreement with the board and will remain an executive director. (bit.ly/1dYpjgZ)
-- Sogo department store operator Lifestyle International Holdings announced the issuance of 10-year bonds to raise $300 million for debt repayment and future expansion. The bonds, due to mature in 2025, will bear a fixed interest rate of 4.5 percent per year. (bit.ly/1I8uI1k)
THE STANDARD
-- Lawmaker Ronny Tong Ka-wah is expected to announce on Monday that he is leaving the Civic Party he helped found nine years ago. Tong had earlier set up a new think tank, Path of Democracy, aimed at finding a third road between Hong Kong's pro-establishment and pro- democracy camps. (bit.ly/1QKZv9Q)
-- Clearance of the "tent village" outside the Legislative Council on Tim Mei Avenue is imminent and is targeted to be completed before the July 1 handover holiday. The "villagers" will be given two days to clear their belongings before clearance begins on Wednesday at the earliest, sources said. (bit.ly/1TGHJn9)
-- Four companies kick off their roadshows this week, seeking an aggregate of at least HK$4.4 billion ($567.64 million). Guolian Securities Co, the brokerage partner of Royal Bank of Scotland in China, is seeking up to HK$3.64 billion in its initial public offering. (bit.ly/1SByGCA)
HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL
-- Up to 700 Shenzhen-listed profit-making small to medium sized enterprises, that are involved in the Internet, new energy, medical and healthcare businesses and have a market capitalisation of more than 20 billion yuan ($3.22 billion), will be included in the list of Chinese stocks allowed to trade under Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect, according to sources.
Britain
The Times
The Canadian investment giant Borealis Infrastructure is weighing a 5 billion pound ($7.94 billion) approach to buy Severn Trent, two years after the FTSE 100 water company rejected an earlier takeover attempt. (http://thetim.es/1BvWt2a [48])
Whitehall is drawing up a hit list of rail projects that could be delayed, scaled back or axed as concern about the performance of Network Rail reaches crisis point. (http://thetim.es/1BvWumL [49])
The Guardian
Greece's international creditors are aiming to strike a deal to stop Athens defaulting on its debt and possibly tumbling out of the euro by extending its bailout by six months and supplying up to 18 billion euros ($20.47 billion) in rescue funds. (http://bit.ly/1BvWxPq [50])
Tesco is expected to reveal a deterioration in UK trading this week, as Britain's biggest retailer prepares to face investors angered by "excessive" boardroom pay. (http://bit.ly/1BvWyDa [51])
The Telegraph
On the eve of an emergency summit of European leaders in Brussels, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis appealed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel to strike an "honourable compromise" to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt and keeping it in the euro. (http://bit.ly/1BvWALm [52])
ITV has threatened to begin a legal attack on the BBC over "extremely complex, costly and uncertain" plans for the BBC's production arm to compete for commercial contracts. (http://bit.ly/1MXEIK1 [53])
Sky News
Ministers are poised to sanction an inaugural sale of shares in the Government's Green Investment Bank, in a move that will accelerate the Conservatives' 50 billion stg post-election privatisation spree. (http://bit.ly/1MXH3EL [54])
American pop star Taylor Swift has refused to put her hit album 1989 on Apple's new music streaming service - saying "it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing". (http://bit.ly/1BvWFPa [55])
The Independent
The wife of a senior Israeli politician, Judy Mozes, has apologised for cracking a racist joke about U.S. President Barack Obama. (http://ind.pn/1BvWNOA [56])
New stringent immigration rules will fuel a critical shortage of nurses in Britain, "cause chaos" in hospitals and cost the NHS millions, according to alarming projections carried out by the Royal College of Nursing. (http://ind.pn/1BvWOBY [57])