Daily briefing: EU considers tougher regulatory powers, Total’s milestone, the science of naming asteroids

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Europe wants more power. Regulatory power, that is. The competition watchdog is examining ways to intervene earlier in antitrust problems to avoid lengthy delays in investigations. EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she was looking at broader powers to impose so-called interim measures that can force companies to stop anti-competitive behaviour without a formal finding or wrongdoing.

The news comes a week after Brussels fined Google €2.42bn for abusing its dominance in search, concluding that the search group had abused its near-monopoly in online search to “give illegal advantage” to its own shopping service. The record fine is a sign of the EU’s anxiety over Silicon Valley’s pervasive influence. And here is an account of how the dogged commissioner managed to keep the scale of the fine a secret until it was announced. (FT, Politico)

In the news

Bank of England workers to go on strike
Workers at the UK’s central bank voted for their first strike action in more than 50 years. A dispute over pay will see staff in three departments striking for four days at the end of the month. (Reuters)

Qatar extension
Four Arab states accusing the tiny Gulf state of supporting terrorism have extended the deadline for Doha to comply with a list of demands, including the closure of Al Jazeera TV and the removal of Turkish troops. Qatar, which has been blockaded by the Saudi-led group for the past month, denies all charges and the foreign minister is in Kuwait to respond to the demands. But the immensely wealthy Gulf nation is, so far, feeling little pain from the sanctions. (Reuters, Al Jazeera, NYT)

Tightening truck controls
The International Energy Agency has called for tighter regulation of freight transport emissions. The energy body says countries must do more to improve energy efficiency and emissions standards. (FT)

Trump turns to Asia
Beijing has called the presence of a US warship near a disputed island in the South China Sea “a serious political and military provocation”. The incident happened just before leaders of the two countries spoke on the phone regarding the North Korean nuclear threat. The leader of Japan, Shinzo Abe, also received a phone call from Donald Trump on the need for China to be firmer with Pyongyang. (BBC, Bloomberg, NAR)

A Total milestone
Iran is to sign its first major energy contract with a European oil company in more than a decade. A consortium led by France’s Total is in Tehran to ink the multibillion-dollar gas deal, which will develop part of the world’s largest gasfield. The agreement comes as Washington and Europe are increasingly at odds over Iran policy. (FT)

Germany lures foreign banks
Frankfurt is offering “risk takers” an exemption from aspects of its labour laws in its latest bid to lure international banks seeking an EU base after Brexit. But some large banks remain sceptical. (FT)

The day ahead

Xi and Putin meet
Chinese president Xi Jinping arrives in Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin. Mr Xi has met his Russian counterpart 22 times since he took office in 2013 and the two will discuss North Korea, China’s Belt and Road Initiative and other geopolitical issues. (SCMP)

Elections in Senegal
More than 10 opposition political parties have formed an anti-government coalition ahead of a parliamentary election in Senegal in an effort to end the rule of President Macky Sall’s Alliance for the Republic party. (FT)

Macron address
French president Emmanuel Macron is to address a joint session of parliament at Versailles, setting out his agenda for the next five years. (Guardian)

Keep up with the important business, economic and political stories in the coming days with the FT’s Week Ahead.

What we’re reading

Nomura’s gamble
As the Japanese investment bank considers a revived overseas expansion, the FT’s Laura Noonan and Leo Lewis look at whether it has learnt lessons from its star-crossed 2008 acquisition of Lehman Brothers. (FT)

Apple’s spaceship lands
What looks like a giant spaceship has landed in Cupertino. It’s Steve Jobs’ last, posthumous hurrah: Apple’s $5bn new HQ. But Lucy Kellaway is upbeat about the world’s most expensive office: “Over the past two decades, three bad things have been happening with office design, and Apple Park puts all of them right.” (FT)

The science of naming asteroids
Naming space objects is not as easy as you would think. The discoverer has 10 years to suggest and submit a name, including a short pitch for why it should be accepted. There are complicated guidelines about what kind of names can be used, some related to ancient mythology. A 15-person committee at the International Astronomical Union judges the name and, if it approves, publishes it in a monthly newsletter. (Atlantic)

Female entrepreneurs speak out
The tech industry has long suffered a gender imbalance and, more recently, a pattern of sexual harassment has emerged. Now more than two dozen women in the technology start-up industry have spoken up about being sexually harassed — and named many of the high-profile investors behind it. The FT’s Rana Foroohar also looks at why Big Tech has become the prime target for a populist backlash similar to that faced by Wall Street after the financial crash. (NYT, FT)

Trump-Russia ultimate guide
Still confused about the Trump-Russia investigation? Mother Jones has put together the key players, a timeline and summary of why Donald Trump is already guilty of aiding Vladimir Putin’s attack on America. (Mother Jones)

Video of the day

FT week ahead: G20 meets, Trump in Poland, US data
Josh de la Mare highlights some of the big stories the FT is watching in the week ahead, with US president Donald Trump visiting Poland and then Germany for the G20 summit in Hamburg, the latest US economic data and minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting, and Tokyo’s high-stakes election in Japan.