Wednesday newspaper round-up: British Airways, Heathrow, BoE, UK power

The US justice department is opening a broad antitrust review into major technology firms, as criticism over the companies’ growing reach and power heats up. The investigation will focus on growing complaints that the companies are unlawfully stifling competition. “The Department’s review will consider the widespread concerns that consumers, businesses and entrepreneurs have expressed about search, social media, and some retail services online,” the Department of Justice said in a statement. – Guardian

British Airways has lost its legal attempt to block planned strikes by pilots, which could take place next month and disrupt the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The pilots union, Balpa, can now call strike dates with two weeks’ notice. However, it has said it will not set dates until after further talks with the airline, which intends to take its case to the court of appeal. – Guardian

Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye believes neither Boris Johnson nor the Court of Appeal will be able to block the building of the third runway. The chief executive of the west London airport threw down the gauntlet to the new prime minister, who has previously opposed Heathrow's plans. "It is now government policy and we are all getting on with it," he said. "This is now a done deal." – Telegraph

The Bank of England’s chief economist has warned the new government not to expect the “monetary cavalry” to ride to the rescue if the economy flounders. Andy Haldane said a “dependency culture” around central banks could develop after a decade of ultra-low interest rates, adding rate-setters should not be “called at the first whiff of grapeshot”. – Telegraph

Britain needs to build a fleet of nuclear or carbon-capture power plants equivalent to a dozen Hinkley Point Cs to hit climate change targets, a leaked government analysis suggests. Up to 40 gigawatts of non-intermittent low carbon power stations could be needed in 2050 to reduce Britain’s emissions to “net zero”, ministers believe. – The Times

The German central bank has issued a wary welcome to Facebook’s plans to set up a digital currency, arguing that it could reform finance by driving down the costs for consumers of moving money around. However, the bank also said it would “closely monitor” the risks that the libra payment system could be used for money laundering or financing terrorism, as well as the dangers it could pose to the stability of the global economy. – The Times