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The Trump administration requires an additional $19 billion for air traffic control.
Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, called on Congress on Wednesday to provide another $19 billion for overhauling the aging U.S. Air Traffic Control System after lawmakers approved an original $12.5 billion in funding over five years. Duffy told a U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that "we are going to require more money from Congress" and called for a funding program backed by aviation groups and airlines. "We are talking about $31.5 billion for the entire project." "We're talking $31.5 billion to do the full project." USDOT has plans to upgrade radar, telecommunications and air traffic control systems. The USDOT also plans to hire more air traffic controllers, and it has introduced new incentives for them to stay. The $12.5 billion approved by Donald Trump for air traffic control in the past month included $2 billion to build the first new en route air traffic center since 1960. The administration is looking to name a firm to oversee this massive project. Trump stated in April that Raytheon and IBM could be the company to receive the contract. The FAA is looking to replace 618 radars, purchase new radios, and install anti-collision technology on tarmac at 200 airports. Duffy wants to increase funding for airport equipment that will prevent near-misses and provide incentives to encourage the hiring and retention air traffic controllers. This occupation is 3,500 people short of its targeted staffing. A National Academies of Sciences study released last month revealed that the FAA has seen its overtime costs for controllers increase by over 300% since 2013. The report revealed that in 2024, the FAA air traffic workforce will have logged 2.2 millions hours of overtime at a cost of $200 million. (Reporting and editing by Matthew Lewis in Washington, David Shepardson from Washington)
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Armenpress reports that the US has informed Armenia that it is prepared to manage a transport corridor with Azerbaijan.
The Armenpress reported that Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia's Prime Minister, said on Wednesday that the U.S. offered to manage an upcoming transport corridor connecting the majority of Azerbaijan with an Azerbaijani enclave through Armenian territory. Baku wants to secure the potential corridor that would run approximately 32 km (20 miles), through Armenia's southern Syunik Province, connecting Azerbaijan's majority to Nakhchivan (an Azerbaijani enclave bordering Baku's Turkish ally). Azerbaijan is concerned that Yerevan may revoke the access to the corridor too easily. When asked at a press conference if Armenia received a specific offer from Washington in relation to the corridor proposal, Pashinyan replied: "Yes, the United States has made proposals," Armenpress reported. The transit link is just one of many obstacles to a deal for peace between Azerbaijan, a neighbour in the South Caucasus who has fought wars with Armenia since the 1980s. In March, the countries announced that they had finalised their a draft peace deal The timetable for signing the agreement is still uncertain. Pashinyan made his comments just days after Tom Barrack, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, stated that Washington had proposed taking over the planned Transit Corridor. It's not a joke that they are arguing about 32 kilometers of road. Barrack, according to the State Department's readout, told reporters last Friday in New York that this dispute has been ongoing for over a decade. What happens then is that America says, "Okay, let's take it over." You can share the road if you give us 32 km of road for a 100-year lease. (Reporting and Writing by Lucy Papachristou, Editing by Andrew Osborn.)
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HPE signs agreement with Elliott to add KLA chairman to its board
Hewlett Packard Enterprise agreed to work with activist investor Elliott Investment Management, and appointed a veteran tech executive as a member of its board in an effort to increase shareholder value after its Juniper Networks purchase. Robert Calderoni is the chairman of KLA's chip tools division. He has joined HPE’s board. Calderoni will also lead a newly formed strategy committee under an agreement signed with Elliott, which includes information sharing. Elliott, which owns a stake in HPE of over $1.5 billion, has also the right to nominate an employee to the board. The agreement lasts for at least one year and prevents Elliott from holding proxy contests. Elliott has a history of promoting change at many companies, including Southwest Airlines and Phillips 66. Elliott has continued to push forward with global campaigns this year, despite the market volatility which led many of its peers to settle. In a high-profile proxy battle in May, it won two seats in the oil refiner Phillips 66. In morning trading, HPE shares, which make servers used in data centres for AI workloads were not much changed. The stock is down 5% this year, falling behind AI server competitors such as Dell Technologies. It also trails the benchmark S&P 500 Index. The demand for AI servers has exploded as startups and big tech companies race to launch generative AI services like ChatGPT, which require massive amounts of computing power. The high cost of advanced chips from companies like Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices has weighed on the business. HPE announced that its strategy committee would also include independent directors Gary Reiner Raymond Lane and Charles Noski. Calderoni, as well as any Elliott employee directors, would also be nominated for election to the HPE 2026 annual shareholders meeting. Reporting by Jaspreet in Bengaluru, editing by Pooja desai
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Prologis raises its annual FFO forecast due to warehouse leasing rebound
Prologis, a warehouse-focused real estate trust focused on investment in 2025 operations, raised its bottom forecasted range of adjusted core funds after customers resumed leasing following a U.S. Tariff-induced slowdown in April. In premarket trading, shares of the company increased by 2.6% to $111.5. Despite the uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump's tariffs, businesses are again increasing their leasing programs as they prepare for early holiday sales and back-to school business. Daniel Letter, the company's president, said that "our leasing pipeline has reached a historically high level." The company expects to achieve adjusted core FFO of between $5.80-$5.85 per share. It had previously forecasted a range from $5.70-$5.86. According to data compiled and analyzed by LSEG, the new forecast is higher than analysts' expectations of $5.63 a share. The company reported core FFO at $1.46 per share, compared to the analysts' average estimate of just $1.41. Analysts at BTIG wrote a note before Prologis released its quarterly results: "We expect (Prologis) to continue expanding their leasing pipeline. This could indicate a recovery in the demand if economic expansion accelerates." Total revenue for the San Francisco-based company was $2.18 Billion. Analysts had predicted a revenue of $2.08billion on average. According to Prologis' latest annual report, Amazon, Home Depot and FedEx are among the biggest customers. (Reporting and editing by Sahal Muhammad in Bengaluru, with Abhinav Paramar reporting from Bengaluru)
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Soccer-US fund Apollo in talks to invest in Atletico Madrid, sources say
Two people with knowledge of the matter said that the U.S.-based Apollo Global Management was in discussions with Atletico Madrid's lead shareholder about a potential deal to invest in their Spanish top-flight team. The news was first reported by the Spanish newspaper Expansion on Wednesday. The club is embarking on a sport and leisure project worth 929 million euros (800 million Euros) around the Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid. According to Expansion, 200 million euro will be provided by the club and the remainder is expected to come from investors. One source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the talks were private, said that while the initial focus of the talks was to finance the building project of Atletico Madrid, the U.S. Fund is now interested in buying a stake in Atletico Holdco which owns a majority of the club. This person stated that there is no offer concrete on the table, but other funds would be interested in buying a stake in Atletico Holdco. A deal could bring the club's value up to three billion euros. According to Expansion, Apollo would receive its stake through a capital increase at Atletico Holdco. Apollo declined to comment. Atletico Holdco is owned by Miguel Angel Gil Marin, the club's CEO. His stake in Atletico Holdco is more than 50%. Enrique Cerezo and Ares Management, an investment fund, are also shareholders in the company which owns over 70% of the club. $1 = 0.8606 Euros (Reporting and editing by Peter Rutherford and Anousha Sakoui; Keith Weir, Anousha Saoui, and Pietro Lombardi)
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Italy asks Poste and state mint to restart talks about PagoPA
Two sources with knowledge of the situation said that Italy wants the state-backed Poste Italiane to resume talks about buying PagoPA, Treasury's platform for digital payments to public administration. According to a plan drawn up last year, Poste, which has expanded its business beyond mail and parcels into financial, broadband, and energy supply, would take a minor stake in PagoPA, thereby bolstering its payments business. Reports from April indicated that negotiations had hit a snag regarding the valuation of PagoPA. Poste and Mint questioned a price tag determined by an adviser to the Treasury of 500 million euro ($581 millions). One source, who refused to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the issue, said that the parties were now trying to finalise an agreement in September. However, no formal deadline had been set. PagoPA will play a key role in the Italian Government's efforts to create a digital wallet via the IO app. This year, PagoPA handled payments worth 57 billion euro to Italy's government administration. It allows users to store documents such as proof of digital identity, which they can use to access online services and make payments. Poste's stake in PagoPA is alarming to Italy's banking sector. It faces stiff competition from Apple, Alphabet, and PayPal in the digital payments arena. Sources close to the issue said that Poste was concerned about the impact of PagoPA's plans to develop a digital platform to allow public administrations and courts to send and receive legal notifications.
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Maguire: China will cut electricity emissions to record-low levels by 2025
China's utilities have been able to achieve record-low emissions in the first half of 2025 by focusing on clean energy supplies. According to the energy portal, electricitymaps.com, carbon dioxide emissions per Kilowatt Hour (kWh) of Electricity averaged 492 Grams during the first half of 2025. This was the first time a reading under 500 grams per kWh had been recorded. It is also down from 514g/kWh in the same period of 2024, and 539g/kWh between January and June 2023. CLEANING UP The main reason for the reduction of emissions intensity was the nearly 23% increase in clean power production from January to June 2020. This allowed the power companies to reduce the output of coal and gas power stations. LSEG data shows that the total power generated by thermal power plants – mainly coal – has dropped 4% compared to a year earlier, and is now just below 7,000 terawatt-hours (TWh). The total output of clean energy from January to the end of June was 2,400 TWh. This shows that fossil fuels still make up 75% of China's electricity generation mix. The growth of clean energy continues to outpace the growth in fossil fuels, suggesting that China’s power mix is set to continue getting cleaner. According to LSEG, the total Chinese clean energy output in the first half 2025 will be 200% higher than the first half 2019. The total thermal power produced in China from January to June of 2025 is 20% higher than the same period last year. Emissions Toll China's emissions from the fossil fuel sector have decreased in line with a cleaner mix. According to data from the energy think tank Ember, total emissions from fossil fuels in electricity production between January and May were 2,24 billion metric tonnes of CO2. This is 60.5 millions tons less than in the same months of 2020, and shows that Beijing is making progress towards its goal of reducing pollution from the energy sector. The lingering economic drag from a property slump and the uncertainty over tariffs imposed by the United States against Chinese goods also impacts China's energy needs and emission totals. Construction in China has been slowing down sharply in the past decade due to a debt crisis among developers. This has in turn slowed demand for energy-intensive products such as glass, construction steel, cement and piping. The latest tariffs imposed by U.S. president Donald Trump on Chinese products have impacted the demand for China-made goods and caused production lines to slow down across a variety of manufactured items. The overall energy needs of these industries have been reduced by the slower pace on construction sites and production lines in factories. This has allowed power generation companies to reduce their production. China's power requirements will rise if the manufacturing and construction sectors recover. This will lead to a return of fossil fuels that emit pollution. If China's economy is still slowed by the construction debt and the tariff concerns, then the use of fossil fuels could be further reduced, which would lead to further emissions reductions from the power sector. These are the opinions of a columnist who writes for. You like this article? Check it out Open Interest The new global financial commentary source (ROI) is your go-to for all the latest news and information. ROI provides data-driven, thought-provoking analysis on everything from soybeans to swap rates. The markets are changing faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on You can find us on LinkedIn.
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UK lifts ban on Pakistani Airlines after Five Years
The UK has lifted its five-year ban against Pakistani airlines. They can now apply to resume UK flight operations, just as Islamabad intensifies efforts to privatise Pakistan International Airlines, the country's national airline. The ban was imposed by Pakistan in 2020. This came after an investigation was launched into the validity and accuracy of the pilot licenses issued to Pakistani citizens following a PIA crash in which 97 people were killed. The British High Commission announced on Wednesday that the lifting of the embargo was due to improvements in safety by Pakistani authorities. The European Union made similar decisions just a few months ago. PIA is the only private Pakistani airline that has operated long-haul flights from Britain to Europe. PIA estimated a revenue loss of approximately 40 billion rupees (144 million dollars) annually due to the ban. The airline has considered UK routes such as London, Manchester and Birmingham to be among its most lucrative. It also holds highly sought after landing slots at Heathrow Airport in London that could become available again. The spokesperson for PIA said that the airline had finalised preparations to resume UK flight "in the shortest time possible" and submitted its proposed itinerary. The spokesperson said that flights would resume on the Islamabad to Manchester route. Three weekly flights were planned at first, pending approval of the schedule. In the first week of this month, Pakistan gave four groups permission to bid on a 51-100% share in PIA. The final bids will be announced later in the year. The government hopes that the recent reforms - which resulted in the airline making its first profit for 21 years – will attract buyers as part of a larger IMF-backed push to privatise. Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Pakistani Defense Minister, said at a Wednesday press conference that the resumption on all routes will improve PIA’s value before the privatisation. He said that there are plans to resume flights to New York. Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield in Karachi and Ariba Sharif. Mark Potter and Andrew Heavens edited the article.
Rupee drops as US inflation worries dent Fed rate-cut bets and hoist the dollar
The Indian rupee dropped on Wednesday, as the latest U.S. Inflation Report showed that tariffs are beginning to affect prices. This weakened bets about rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
The rupee closed the session at 85.94 US dollars, down by 0.1% compared to its previous close of 85.81.
The dollar index stood at 98.5 and was close to the three-week-high hit on Tuesday. Asian currencies were either flat or slightly lower.
In June, U.S. consumer price indexes rose the most since five months. Higher prices for certain goods suggest that tariffs are starting to bite.
According to the CME's FedWatch, the odds that the Fed will keep rates the same in September are now nearly two-to-one, up from 30% last week.
The Fed Chair Jerome Powell has been repeatedly criticized by U.S. president Donald Trump for not lowering the benchmark rate.
"Building evidence that tariffs are causing inflation supports the Fed's caution about resuming rate cuts in the short-term despite Trump administration criticism," MUFG stated in a recent note.
The dollar was firmer in the early trading of Wednesday. However, the rupee recovered because there was "clustered dollar selling interest" around this level.
The rupee was also supported by the dollar sales of large custodians banks. These usually signal foreign portfolio inflows.
The benchmark Indian equity indexes BSE Sensex (and Nifty 50) closed a tad bit higher on Friday, avoiding a drop in the majority of regional peers.
The market will focus on U.S. Wholesale Inflation data and remarks by Fed policymakers later in the day for clues about the trajectory of U.S. benchmark interest rates.
The market will be watching developments on U.S. Trade Negotiations, but the reaction has been much more subdued than earlier this year. (Reporting and editing by Sonia Cheema, Jaspreet kalra)
(source: Reuters)