Welcome to the weekend!

One of the biggest companies in a certain sector just finalized its purchase of a competitor for $35 billion. If they were to merge their slogans, they might come up with “It pays in your wallet” — accurate, if not exactly catchy. Which two companies are they? Find out with the Pointed quiz. 

If we were to come up with a slogan for our audio playlist, it might be “Catch up without slowing down” or, more helpfully, “Available in the Bloomberg app.” This week we’ve got five great stories, plus the full audio of our interview with Elon Musk. 

Don’t miss Sunday’s Forecast, in which we stress about nuclear war. For unlimited Bloomberg.com access, subscribe. 

Playing the Short Game

The US has long been a leader on global efforts to combat HIV/AIDs: One initiative known as PEPFAR is credited with saving 26 million lives over the past 20 years. But when Mishal Husain, editor at large for Bloomberg Weekend, confronted DOGE architect Elon Musk about the impacts of cutting foreign aid to programs like PEPFAR, he said no one had even come up with a “show orphan” to prove that lives are being saved. It was part of a wide-ranging and at times testy exchange, the first in our new Weekend Interview series.  

It was a big week for testy exchanges. When South African President Cyril Ramaphosa sat down with Donald Trump on Wednesday, the US president upbraided Ramaphosa over claims of genocide against White Afrikaner farmers — a widely debunked accusation that the US has used to justify ceasing most aid to the country. It was the latest in a series of broadsides and reneged pledges that are fostering ill will toward the US across African countries. That fallout will hamper America’s dealmaking ability on the continent, Antony Sguazzin writes, especially with China in the picture.

No fallout ranks higher on the Definitely Avoid list than the nuclear variety, and yet for a few hours on May 10 it looked like the India-Pakistan conflict might head in that direction. The crisis ultimately ended in a ceasefire, but it highlighted the limits of the Stability-Instability Paradox — a Cold War theory that suggests atomic weapons deter full-scale war while making smaller conflicts more likely. The four days of fighting, alongside recent nuclear rhetoric out of Russia, are showing how the space between conventional and nuclear war is narrowing, writes Daniel Ten Kate.

Dispatches

Berlin
Under the gold-embossed ceiling of the Berlin State Opera house, concert-goers sip champagne as ushers direct patrons to their seats. Outside, the scene is less genteel: 30 protesters chant slogans decrying Russian propaganda. They are there to protest the performance of Anna Netrebko, who plays Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore. It’s a role to which she brings a famously resonant voice — and the baggage that comes from years of being associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg 

Rotterdam
A few years after Frank Kanhai emigrated from Suriname to the Netherlands in 1975, his aunt came to live with him. She couldn’t speak Dutch, so when she wanted to trek to the nearest Surinamese supermarket, Frank wrote a note for her to show to the bus driver. That note is now displayed alongside works by Willem De Kooning and Grayson Perry at the city’s new Fenix Museum of Migration. It’s an eye-catching addition to the skyline, but its message is provocative in a country where anti-immigrant sentiment is festering.

Photographer: Ossip van Duivenbode for Bloomberg

Agree or Disagree?

Autarky’s risks go well beyond trade. Everyone is worried about global shipping lanes as countries move toward self-sufficiency — or what economists call autarky. But the risk that capital flows will be thwarted is much greater, John Authers writes for Bloomberg Opinion.

The end is nigh for the “technipolar moment.” The US tech industry exercises extraordinary influence over the country’s economy, and yet Big Tech has largely failed to shape Trump’s economic agenda to their advantage, Adrian Wooldridge writes for Bloomberg Opinion.

Go With God

Weekend Plans

What we’re buying tickets for: Good Night, and Good Luck, the Tony-nominated show from Greg Nobile’s Seaview Productions. At 32, the producer has cracked the code for Broadway success. Now he’s focusing on improving the theater-going experience. 

What we’re reading. Who Knew, a memoir by media mogul Barry Diller. In it, Diller credits his closeted sexuality with fueling his fearless business decisions, writing: “My one primary fear had the byproduct of eliminating almost any other fear a rational person would have.”

What we’re watching: How Gulf Giants Are Gathering Soft Power, a new mini-documentary from Bloomberg Originals. The sovereign wealth funds of oil-rich Gulf nations have piled billions of dollars into sports to gain returns, diplomatic sway and soft power. But is it working?

What we’re re-watching. Rob Zombie’s The Munsters. The 2022 movie was set in an American suburb, but filmed in Budapest for a fraction of Hollywood costs. Trump’s proposed “100% tariff” on films shot abroad is rattling the movie industry, and dominated chatter at Cannes. 

What we’re dealing with: feelings of inadequacy. So is Taiwan’s drone industry. Officials see drones as essential in future warfare, especially given China’s vast arsenal. Yet major players like TSMC and Foxconn have stayed on the sidelines, leaving the effort underpowered.

One Last Thing

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