EU preps for Android crackdown, the war on drugs splinters and feeling the heat of El Niño

The EU has given its strongest signal to date of its intent to crack down hard on Google’s mobile operating system, comparing an imminent antitrust case against Android to Brussels’ epic confrontation with Microsoft a decade ago.

People involved in the case said EU regulators were very close to opening a long-expected new front in their showdown with Google, which has already been hit with charges that it abused its dominance of online searches. (FT)

In the news

The war on drugs is splintering The US was once the chief proponent of a tough law enforcement-based approach but it has softened its position as Asian countries and Russia have adopted its tougher stance. (FT)

Twitter’s new MD for China linked to Great Firewall Twitter’s new managing director for Greater China once led a company that developed internet filtering products in conjunction with China’s Ministry of Public Security, raising questions for a company that has been blocked in the mainland since 2009. (FT)

Theranos probed by US prosecutors The troubled blood-testing start-up is being probed by federal prosecutors over whether it misled investors about the capabilities of its technology, according to people familiar with the situation. (FT)

Argentina’s $15bn sale of government bonds oversubscribed The country is headed for one of the most anticipated comebacks in recent history, ending a 15-year exile from international debt markets with a multibillion-dollar sale. (FT)

Abu Dhabi ends relationship with 1MDB The emirate’s International Petroleum Investment Company said its Malaysian counterpart was “in default” on an agreement and terminated the deal. (FT)

Beijing curbs new investment firms Authorities are halting the creation of new investment businesses as officials scramble to handle a rash of local failures that have left millions of mom-and-pop investors facing potential losses, people working in the industry say. (WSJ)

It's a big day for

The US presidential race Three New Yorkers are contending for their parties’ respective nominations in their home state’s primary, with former New York senator Hillary Clinton leading Brooklyn-born Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side, and Queens-born Donald Trump trouncing Ted Cruz and John Kasich among Republicans. (FT)

Food for thought

Free speech under attack in Germany Gideon Rachman on how the case of Jan Böhmermann, a German satirist who mocked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his TV show, “marks an attempt to export authoritarian practices into the democratic west”. (FT)

El Niño: Feeling the heat The current El Niño, which began in early 2015 and should peter out in the next few months, is one of the most intense in history. Its effect is stretching around the globe and prompting academics, aid agencies and insurers to warn of the need for countries and corporations to make greater efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and invest in measures to make them more resilient to severe weather events. (FT)

China’s future: an alternative scenario Arthur Kroeber argues that rather than curing its economic woes and cementing its position as an economic superpower, or suffering a devastating collapse, China looks set to spend the next decade in genteel decline, much as Japan has since the 1990s. (BloombergView)

In living colour With his hit series black-ish — which Michelle Obama has called her favourite TV show — Kenya Barris has revolutionised the family sitcom. (New Yorker)

To live and die in Mumbai A sensational murder involving one of India’s most celebrated couples has mesmerised the country and exposed some of its darkest fears. (California Sunday Magazine)

Video of the day

Money flows from Doha John Authers reports on the oil market’s swift rebound after the disappointment from Doha. (FT)