Welcome to the weekend!

On Tuesday the White House press secretary responded to a report about a forthcoming Amazon policy by calling it “a hostile and political act.” Which rumor was she reacting to? Check your answer with the Pointed quiz. 

What act is neither hostile nor political? Listening to our audio playlist, available in the Bloomberg app. We’ve got seven great stories, read by professional voice actors.

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Caught in the Middle 

At first glance, a map of the Pacific Ocean shows a huge expanse of water with the US on one side, East Asia on the other and Hawaii in the center. But look closer and you’ll see 14 island nations, whose combined GDP of $36 billion belies their control over shipping lanes, deep-sea ports and undersea cables. As the US alienates local leaders with tariffs, foreign aid cuts and a retreat on climate change, Australia is the last line of defense against Beijing’s growing influence in the region. 

“Stuck between superpowers” is a familiar feeling in Vietnam, which this week celebrated 50 years since the end of what it calls the Resistance War against America. The country today is still caught between rival nations: The US is gearing up to impose 46% tariffs on Vietnam, while China is pushing to deepen ties. “We are trapped,” one street vendor said at this week’s Reunification Day parade. “Like the Vietnamese say, ‘When buffaloes and cows fight, flies and mosquitoes die.’”

There’s stuck in the middle by circumstance, and then there’s stuck in the middle by design. In 1945, two California men turned being an intermediary into a business model by founding Nutrilite, the first multi-level marketing company. Instead of selling vitamins, they sold the opportunity to sell them, building a system where profits flowed through recruitment. In Little Bosses Everywhere, Bridget Read explores how MLMs grew into a sprawling industry that still thrives today.

Dispatch

Fort Worth, Texas
At this year’s Cattle Raisers Convention, cowboys in boots and pressed shirts received a chilling warning: The screwworm is back. A “flying piranha” that devours animal flesh, the parasite was eradicated in the US 40 years ago thanks to groundbreaking science and cross-border cooperation. But decades of complacency and weakened government programs are opening the door for a grim comeback.“We took our hands off the wheel for the past 30 years,” said the head of a land-stewardship nonprofit. “We thought we were over it.”

Illustration: Isabella Cotier for Bloomberg

Facing the Music

Weekend Plans

What we’re eating: pork. A standoff in rural England over the stink from a pig farm captures a growing tension in Europe: between industrial meat production and environmental and community health.  

What we’re thinking about: Elon Musk’s first 100 days. Since Trump’s return, Musk has been a scene-stealer, gutting agencies and sparking litigation. But DOGE hasn’t fully lived up to its billing.

What we’re hacking: Wouldn’t you like to know? At China’s Tianfu Cup hacking competition, software vulnerabilities identified by participants are reported first to the government, not the companies. 

What we’re dreaming of: “ghost airports.” An empty airport is great… unless it’s one of the shiny new terminals in India. Dozens of these big-ticket projects have underperformed, echoing China’s “white elephants.”

What we’re watching: Giant. The provocative new play, in which John Lithgow plays a larger-than-life Roald Dahl, has been the talk of the town in London for tackling the author’s antisemitism.

One Last Thing

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