FirstFT: Today’s top stories | Financial Times

US regulators have approved the first new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease in almost two decades by giving a green light to a drug developed by Biogen despite a rancorous scientific debate over whether the medicine even works.

In a significant moment for the roughly 35m people suffering from the cognitive illness worldwide, the US Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved aducanumab, an intravenous infusion that will cost $56,000 for a yearly course.

Aducanumab, which will be sold under the brand name Aduhelm, is the first Alzheimer’s drug to be approved that purports to slow down the progression of the disease.

The medicine breaks up clumps of amyloid plaques that form in the brain, which some scientists believe cause the illness. All of the other drugs that have been approved for Alzheimer’s so far treat its symptoms rather than slowing or reversing the course of the disease.

Coronavirus digest

• Thailand launched its immunisation drive, which is built primarily around the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, supplemented with Chinese- and US-made jabs. 

• US and UK airline executives have issued a rare joint appeal for Joe Biden and Boris Johnson to use this week’s G7 meeting to reopen transatlantic air travel.

• US businesses are staffing up as Covid restrictions ease, but labour shortages are hurting independent companies that can’t offer same incentives as corporations.

• Uber’s UK ride-hailing business returned to pre-pandemic levels in mid-May — faster than the company expected. 

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In the news

G7 moves to tap Amazon in global corporate tax plan Finance ministers are plotting a raid on Amazon’s lucrative cloud-computing business to ensure it pays more corporate tax under the new G7 agreement on a global rate. Chris Nuttall has more on the taxing times ahead for Big Tech in the latest #techft newsletter. Sign up here.

• Amazon chief goes out of this world: Jeff Bezos plans to become one of the first civilians in space next month, taking Blue Origin’s first human flight just two weeks after stepping down as Amazon’s chief executive.

SoftBank-backed Katerra files for bankruptcy The US construction start-up backed by SoftBank’s Vision Fund filed for bankruptcy with more than $1bn in liabilities. It blamed Covid-19, the “unexpected insolvency” of its former lender Greensill Capital and an inability to secure new financing. 

US recovers most of Colonial Pipeline ransom US officials say they have recovered $2.3m worth of ransom payments made to hackers who shut down the Colonial Pipeline last month, causing several days of disruption to the country’s fuel supplies.

Apple WWDC 2021 At its annual developer conference that kicked off Monday, Apple said it would add user privacy protections after coming under pressure following experts’ warning that thousands of apps were continuing to collect data from users who had opted out of tracking. (Reuters, FT)

France fines Google €220m for antitrust abuse French competition regulators have fined Google €220m for abusing its dominant position in the online advertising market and imposed changes to how it operates in the country for three years. 

Chip shortage to continue through mid-2022, warns manufacturer The global chip shortage disrupting the car industry and threatening the supply of consumer technology products will last for at least another year, Flex, the world’s third-largest contract electronics manufacturer has warned.

Indian tech leader urges embrace of cryptocurrency Nandan Nilekani, the chair of the information technology and consulting company Infosys, said cryptocurrencies were too volatile and energy intensive to use as a means of payment, but should be encouraged as an asset to be bought and sold, like a commodity.

The days ahead

Bosnian Serb military leader hears final appeal verdict The final verdict in the trial of Ratko Mladic, former Bosnian Serb military commander, will be decided on Tuesday at The Hague. Mladic appealed the 2017 decision that found him guilty of war crimes including genocide during the Bosnian War. (AP)

Portugal removed from UK green list British tourists returning to the UK after 4am on Tuesday will have to quarantine for 10 days and take an extra Covid-19 test after the British government shifted Portugal to its “amber list” of travel destinations.

What else we’re reading

The G7 is the west’s last chance to lead The propaganda line pumped out from Beijing is that the west is in inexorable decline, writes Gideon Rachman. But a successful G7 summit could reinvigorate the idea that the west can provide global leadership in alliance with fellow democracies in Asia and around the world.

Will Europe sign up to Joe Biden’s plan to counter China? After the drama and tantrums of the Trump years, when the US picked fights with its closest partners, the new president has been trying to stitch back together a global coalition, with Beijing as its main focus. But as Biden prepares for his maiden overseas trip, he faces the most delicate task yet: coaxing a wary Europe to work more closely with Washington on China.

‘Many thought women should simply decide a car’s colour’ Asako Hoshino, the only woman among the seven highest-ranking executive officers — excluding the board — at Nissan, reflects on two decades in Japan’s male-dominated car industry and on how gender stereotypes still limit career opportunities for women.

Don’t dismiss market bubbles Amid much loose talk of “bubbles” all over the financial markets, it’s worth pausing to consider if these upheavals qualify as bubbles. If so, what does history tell us about how far they might deflate from here, writes Ruchir Sharma, Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s chief global strategist.

Minister of chaos In a new profile of Boris Johnson — which the prime minister sat for against his advisers’ wishes — the Atlantic’s Tom McTague seeks to discover whether the prime minister is “truly a populist, or just popular”. (Atlantic)

Australia border closures leave immigrants feeling trapped “Government plans to keep the international border shut until mid-2022 to keep Covid-19 at bay have caused me to question whether my newfound citizenship status may be turning me into a prisoner in paradise,” writes FT’s Jamie Smyth.

Comment of the day

In response to ‘Don’t make me go back to hard pants five days a week’:

“Not having to do the ironing was possibly the best thing about Covid working from home for me. When I started going back to the office a few times a week, firing up the iron for the first time in a year felt especially depressing. Also, my shirts seemed to have mysteriously shrunk!” — AdamC