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Honeywell will review options for two businesses before 2026 split
Honeywell announced on Tuesday that it will evaluate strategic alternatives for the two businesses that serve the transportation industry and logistics as the industrial giant prepares to split into three. The company has been reorganizing its operations. It is expected that the division of the company into aerospace, automation, and advanced materials will be completed by next year. Honeywell said that its review of its "Productivity Solutions and Service" and "Warehouse and Workflow Solutions" businesses was to simplify its portfolio in advance of the separation. Honeywell says that the two units will generate more than $1 billion in revenue each by 2024. They include products like barcode scanners and printing solutions as well as conveyors, warehouse automation tools, and others. Marc Steinberg, a director at Elliott Investment Management, was added to the Charlotte-based industrial company's board in May ahead of the split. Honeywell Process Automation has also named Jim Masso its president and CEO, effective July 14. (Reporting and editing by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru, Aishwarya Jain from Bengaluru)
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Report reveals the human suffering caused by UK Post Office scandal
A public inquiry into Britain’s Post Office IT Scandal revealed on Tuesday that six postal workers committed suicide, while others fell seriously ill or declared bankrupt. The report also revealed the impact of this scandal on over 1,000 sub-postmasters. State-owned Post Office pursued Branch Managers for losses on their accounts due to flaws in a computer system between 2000 and 2013, leading to about 1,000 of them being found guilty in one of the biggest injustices of the country. ITV's dramatization of the managers' campaign, "Mr Bates Vs. the Post Office", last year sparked outrage and led to legislation exonerating those convicted. Wyn Williams, the chair of the public inquiry, said that he was satisfied Post Office executives were aware, or should have been aware, that Fujitsu's IT system was prone to error, but maintained that it was accurate. In the first volume, he called for immediate action to ensure that all compensation is paid. Williams said that it was difficult to determine the exact number of people affected, but he estimated there were approximately 10,000 eligible claimants under four compensation schemes. Williams outlined 17 first-hand stories, ranging from people who were wrongly held responsible for small amounts to those who fell seriously ill, were driven to despair, or committed suicide. In 2013, Martin Griffiths' contract was terminated due to a shortfall in his account. He deliberately walked into a bus and suffered multiple injuries, which led to his death. The 162-page report said that other people suffered from mental and physical illnesses, bankruptcy, and relationship breakdowns. Williams suggested free legal advice and compensation for family. He also recommended a commitment to "full and just" compensation. (Reporting and editing by Sachin Ravikumar; Reporting by Paul Sandle)
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Bergamo Airport in Italy temporarily closed due to runway failure
The Italian Bergamo Airport, which provides low-cost airline services to and from Milan, was closed temporarily on Tuesday following the death of a man on a runway while preparing for takeoff. The airport announced that flight operations had been suspended between 1020 and 12 local time (820-1000 GMT), "due a problem which occurred on the taxiway", adding that authorities were investigating the incident. A spokesperson confirmed the death of a man, but added that he wasn't a passenger or airport staff member. ANSA reports that the man died after being sucked into the engine of the Volotea plane. The Italian press office of the Spanish low-cost carrier was not available to comment immediately. Bergamo Police also had no immediate comments.
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Source: Top Turkish officials will visit Pakistan on Wednesday
A Turkish diplomatic source confirmed on Tuesday that the Turkish foreign and defense ministers would visit Pakistan on March 13 to meet with Prime Minister Shehbaz Shariff and discuss bilateral relations, regional issues and cooperation in the defence industry. The Turkish government has close ties to Pakistan, and it expressed its solidarity with Pakistan during the conflict between India and Pakistan in May. This angered India. Sources said that Hakan Fidan, Turkey's Foreign Minister, will visit Ankara to express the desire of the country to strengthen ties across all fields and offer Ankara its support for taking steps towards regional peace. Fidan will emphasize the need for countries to "intensify their cooperation in defence industry", the source said. Ankara has also enjoyed cordial relations with India. However, after India's support for Pakistan small Indian grocery stores and major online fashion retailers have boycotted Turkish goods, while New Delhi cancelled the clearance of Celebi, a Turkish aviation service provider, due to "national security" concerns.
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Italy pulls stamps featuring South Tyrol because of missing German text
The Italian government has pulled two stamps that depicted natural landmarks in the bilingual province of South Tyrol, located in the north, due to the lack of German inscriptions. A spokesman from the ministry of industry said that although stamps were to be released on Tuesday, they were pulled before going on sale. In a statement the ministry called it "an anomaly" and ordered both an investigation and a bilingual version. The ministry has also taken down the website that displayed the stamps in question. South Tyrol was a mountainous region bordering Austria, which once belonged the Austro-Hungarian empire. It became part of Italy following World War I. Benito Mussolini's fascist regime "Italianised", or forced the population to become Italian, which sparked local resentment. Separatist sentiments still linger today. The province of Alto Adige, also known as Suedtirol, is fully bilingual and enjoys high levels of autonomy. German is more common than Italian. The stamps were withdrawn because they showed the Catinaccio mountain range, also known as Rosengarten in the Dolomites and the Latemar mountain chain, which was part of a collection dedicated to parks, mountains and lakes throughout Italy. Stamps that have design errors may become collectible. The "Gronchi Rosa" stamp, a 1961 stamp that was withdrawn the day after it was released because the map of South America had the wrong border between Peru and Ecuador. (Reporting and editing by Giulia Segriti and Aidan Lewis.
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The Kremlin is shocked at the tragic death of a former minister who Putin fired
The Kremlin announced on Tuesday it was shocked at the sudden death, which occurred hours after President Vladimir Putin sacked Roman Starovoit as Russia's former Transport Minister. Starovoit, who was found shot to death in his car near Moscow on Monday by state investigators, is believed to have committed suicide. When asked about Starovoit’s death, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded that Putin was briefed and called the news "tragic and tragic". Peskov refused to speculate about the cause of Starovoit’s death citing an ongoing investigation. It can't but shock the average person. Peskov said, "It shocked us as well." "An investigation is underway." This investigation will provide all the answers. The presidential decree issued on Monday did not give any reason for Starovoit's dismissal after only a year at the job. However, political analysts suspect that it is linked to an investigation into corruption in the Kursk Region, where he was once in charge. Could not independently confirm these suggestions. However, a source in the transport industry, who refused to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the issue, stated on Monday that Starovoit’s position has been in doubt for months because of questions regarding the same corruption scandal. This investigation focuses on whether the 19.4 billion roubles (about $246 million) allocated in 2022 to fortify Russia's border in the Kursk area with Ukraine was spent properly or if some of this money was embezzled. (Reporting and writing by Dmitry Antonov; editing by Guy Faulconbridge/Andrew Osborn).
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Ryanair has a strong summer with bookings surging and fares increasing
Michael O'Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, said that the demand for summer travel was not slowing down, with high bookings and increasing ticket prices. This is despite a recent severe heatwave in Europe. O'Leary confirmed the Irish low budget airline's forecast for May, noting that it expects most but not all of the 7% drop in average fares last year, as consumers struggled with high interest rate. He said that bookings for summer 2025 were strong and prices were rising. Demand for destinations like Italy, Greece Spain, the Balearics Canaries, and Morocco is also high. According to the CEO, market consensus predicts that Ryanair's profit after tax for the first three months ending in June will double. He added, "We don't see any reason to change or object to this consensus, but we cannot comment on it". The company will release its first quarter results on 21 July. O'Leary, who addressed concerns about extreme weather conditions, described heatwaves in the summer as a temporary phenomenon that did not appear to affect travel patterns. O'Leary said that his airline, which sources nearly all its aircraft from Boeing, was hopeful about the exemption of commercial aircraft from U.S. tariffs and EU tariffs. However, he admitted that "nobody really knows". O'Leary, speaking in Warsaw announced plans to triple the number of passengers Ryanair services at the Modlin Airport to over 5 million per year by 2030. The company intends to invest $400,000,000 in Modlin, and will double the number aircraft there from four to eight, all while flying out of the main airport Okecie. O'Leary claimed that Modlin would be the "fastest growing airport in Poland" after a dispute over fares with Ryanair. Modlin Airport is required to construct at least four new check-in desks for passengers and four new parking lots by September 2027.
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The rupee is gaining ground on regional currencies, but the focus remains on tariffs.
The Indian rupee showed modest gains on Tuesday as it tracked the strength of regional peers. Markets looked past the White House tariff letters, and instead took comfort in the extension of the deadline to August 1, which leaves room for agreements to be made. The rupee closed the session at 85.65 against the U.S. Dollar, an increase of about 0.2% compared to its previous close of 85.85. The market reaction to U.S. president Donald Trump sending letters to 14 trading partners with sharply increased tariffs on imported goods into the United States has been largely muted. Most regional currencies and equities gained on Tuesday. While South Korea received a notice declaring a 25 percent tariff, the won gained 0.7% against the US dollar, and the KOSPI index rose nearly 2%. This was the best day for the KOSPI in the past two weeks. India's benchmark equity indices also posted modest gains. Since U.S. tariffs on reciprocal imports were announced in April, local equities have kept up with regional stock indexes. However, the rupee underperformed other emerging markets despite the general weakness of the dollar. In a recent note, ING stated that "the market appears to believe that nothing is definitive and that these letters are merely another step on the road towards a deal". A trader from a private bank stated that the local currency was supported on the day by modest dollar interbank sales, as well as positive signals from gains in regional currencies. The rupee will likely remain rangebound in the short-term, but the announcement that a trade agreement with the U.S. has been signed could allow for a move towards 85. As traders reduced their bets on rate reductions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, dollar-rupee premiums also declined. The implied yield on the 1-year dollar-rupee fell 4 basis points to 1.95 percent.
Ryanair CEO: Heatwave won't deter travel.
Ryanair's summer bookings are strong and prices are rising, but there is no sign that customers have delayed their holidays because of the recent heatwave.
O'Leary said that his airline, which sources nearly all its aircraft from Boeing, was hopeful about the exemption of commercial aircraft from U.S. tariffs and EU tariffs. However, he admitted that "nobody really knows".
He confirmed a forecast made in May that the Irish carrier, Europe's biggest airline by passenger number, would recover the majority, but not the entire, of the 7% drop in average fares last year, as consumers struggled to pay high interest rates.
O'Leary stated that "bookings for summer 2025 have been strong and prices are increasing."
He added that "August is looking strong for all the major holiday destinations. So Italy, Greece and Spain are very popular, as well as the Balearics. The Canaries, the Balearics. Even Morocco."
O'Leary stated that heat waves are a temporary phenomenon. "It does not tend to change the travel patterns this summer."
O'Leary spoke in Warsaw where he announced his plans to triple the number of passengers Ryanair will serve at the Modlin Airport, to over 5 million per year by 2030. (Reporting and writing by Anna Wlodarczak Semczuk, Editing and proofreading by Louise Heavens).
(source: Reuters)