Oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz "must be very careful," the spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned on Monday. The spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, also defended Iran's attacks on Gulf States, telling CNBC's Dan Murphy that targeting "military bases and assets" belonging to the United States in the region is "legitimate under international law." The price of crude oil has sharply spiked past $100 a barrel as the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed. "As long as the situation is insecure, I think all tankers, all maritime navigation, must be very careful," said Baghaei, who is also head of the Center for Public Diplomacy. He said Iran will fight against the U.S. and Israel "as long as it takes," and that his nation is preparing for every possible scenario, including a potential ground invasion. Baghaei predicted Iran will "unite around" new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was selected over the weekend to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. He dismissed the suggestion by U.S. President Donald Trump that the United States should have any say in selecting Iran's leader. "I think it's a basic principle of international law and civility that the nation decides for themselves, free from the foreigners' intervention," Baghaei said. "It is the absolute, unique right of the Iranians to decide about their leadership, about their system, and I think it's absolutely unlawful for any politicians, for any person outside Iran to say who should rule Iran. Asked why Iran has targeted Gulf States, with attacks on desalination plants in Bahrain, oil refineries in Saudi Arabia, and civilian infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates, Baghaei said, "We are only defending our country against the aggressors." "What we are doing against military bases and assets belonging to the aggressors to the United States in the region, is legitimate under international law," he said. "We are defending ourselves under Article 51 of the UN Charter. And all military bases, installations and assets that in any form or manner are being used to help the aggressors are regarded as legitimate targets." Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Live Nation Entertainment has reached a settlement with the Department of Justice over antitrust concerns surrounding its Ticketmaster platform, a senior DOJ official said Monday. The settlement would see Ticketmaster unwind some of its exclusivity agreements with musical artists and open up the ticketing industry to greater competition. It still needs approval by more than 20 states that had filed suit and by the court. As part of the settlement, Ticketmaster will offer a standalone third-party ticketing system for other companies like SeatGeek to use its technology. It has also agreed to pay roughly $280 million in civil penalties. Shares of Live Nation rose 5% in morning trading. Live Nation and Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ticketmaster has long faced criticism that its dominance in the live events and ticketing space pushes up prices for consumers. The company has come under heightened scrutiny in recent years from fans who argue that it's become harder and pricier to snag coveted event tickets. In 2022, the backlash boiled over when the rollout of tickets for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour was mishandled, leading to a probe of the company. And in 2024, the DOJ — along with more than two dozen states — sued to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which merged in 2010. In September, Live Nation was separately sued by the Federal Trade Commission over what the agency called "illegal" ticket resale tactics. The FTC said Ticketmaster controls roughly 80% of major concert venues' ticketing. In a Monday statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office would continue to fight against Live Nation's alleged monopoly even after its agreement with the DOJ. We cannot agree to it," said James, who is joined by the attorneys general of more than 20 other states. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

If you're flying through US airports this week, get ready to wait in line. The call-outs are compounding an already busy travel period. US airports typically see heavier crowds in March as spring break begins, with Sunday — already the busiest travel day of the week — seeing nearly 2.8 million travelers pass through TSA checkpoints. In an X post early on Monday morning, New Orleans airport told passengers they should arrive at least three hours before their flight, saying delays of up to two hours are expected in security lines. "As a result of the partial federal government shutdown, passengers at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) should arrive at least 4 to 5 hours before their flight to allow extra time for TSA screening," Houston Airports said in a press release. One passenger caught in a long line was 16-year-old Michael Helfenstein III, who arrived at Houston Hobby at 3:37 p.m. Sunday for an 8:45 p.m. Southwest flight to Fort Lauderdale, his father, Michael Helfenstein II, said. He cleared security at 5:47 p.m. — a wait of 2 hours and 10 minutes, his father said. "The line was extremely long, but it did move, just very slowly," Michael Helfenstein II told Business Insider, adding that passengers were given cookies and water while they waited. Some stalled travelers shared photos of the winding lines and crowds on social media. A photo shared to Reddit showed a massive crowd at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, where wait times reached an hour on Sunday. The airport encouraged travelers to arrive early for their flights. "The delays are the result of residual impacts from two ground stops issued on Friday, which created a temporary backlog in passenger volumes, combined with current TSA staffing constraints," a Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport spokesperson told Business Insider on Sunday. The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana also told travelers to arrive early. Security checkpoints at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina were about a 50-minute wait on Sunday. Passengers at Houston Hobby had been warned that TSA PreCheck may not be available due to staffing shortages, though the airport posted on Monday morning that PreCheck was open. While Houston Hobby saw three-hour lines on Sunday, the city's larger airport, George Bush Intercontinental, did not. As of Monday morning, security wait times at Intercontinental ranged from 10 to 40 minutes, depending on the terminal; at Hobby, it was still three hours. Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, Boston, and New York airports were similarly more under control Monday morning, reporting waits of 30 minutes or less. But those times could rise as call-outs increase and spring break travelers arrive en masse. Lauren Bis, deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, said TSA agents "received only partial paychecks earlier this month and now face their first full missed paycheck, leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages." TSA agents are federal workers under DHS, which means they are directly affected by the partial shutdown that began in January. During the earlier 43-day government shutdown last year, TSA agents went weeks without pay. A shortage of air traffic controllers at airports in 2025 played a significant role in forcing the government to reach an agreement.

Oil prices sustained their move above the critical $100-per-barrel threshold on Monday, hitting stocks and sparking more concerns about widespread impacts to the economy. Crude hitting $100 per barrel was increasingly being bandied about as a possibility after the Iran war started, but it wasn't supposed to happen this quickly. Oil futures spiked above $100 per barrel when trading kicked off on Sunday evening and continued surging, with Brent crude oil futures and WTI crude gaining about 30%. The move sent crude to nearly $120 overnight, its biggest one-day jump since 2020. Prices of both grades have nearly doubled this year. According to data from AAA, the national average price per gallon jumped 27 cents last week to $3.25 in the week ending March 5. Here's where major US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell: "Investors were hoping cooler heads would prevail in the Iran war this weekend, and instead, tensions escalated, which is exacerbating last week's stock market declines and oil price spikes," Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth, said. "Triple digit oil prices rapidly translate into sizable increases at the gas pump, which is a dynamic that understandably spooks investors and consumers alike." Then sentiment turned to outright panic after reports that major oil producers Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates had begun trimming output as storage facilities filled up rapidly in the wake of the Strait of Hormuz closure. Iraq, another major producer, started production cuts days earlier. Prices settled in early-morning Monday trading reports that G7 ministers and the International Energy Agency are set to discuss a joint release of emergency oil reserves. Given that gas prices at the pump just rose to the highest level of Trump's second term, and that stocks are coming off their roughest week in months, both pieces of that equation appear to be moving into place. "This oil shock won't end until ships can sail freely through the Strait," wrote veteran strategist Ed Yardeni. "Until then, the financial markets are likely to become increasingly concerned about a 1970s-style stagflation scenario; back then, the period of stagflation included two recessions," Yardeni added. Warren Patterson, the head of commodities strategy at ING, wrote that even if shipments through the Strait of Hormuz restart, producers won't be able to quickly restore output. With production offline and no clear signs that the conflict is easing, traders are being forced to factor in the risk of an extended disruption, he added. "The bottom line is that, as long as we don't see oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices will only move higher," Patterson wrote. (The equity market already started feeling that pressure last week.) Morgan Stanley's chief investment officer, Mike Wilson — one of the most bullish stock strategists on Wall Street — has also been eyeing $100 as the level where he'd lower his base-case scenario for stocks this year. If oil keeps rising, market pros have said to expect more trouble.

About 20% of the world's oil supply has been disrupted for nine days now as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a standstill. Crude prices have surged above $100 per barrel in response. The biggest disruption before the current war was during the Suez Crisis of 1956 when Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, the energy consulting firm told clients in a Sunday note. The Arab embargo disrupted about 7% of global supplies. "The conflict has not only taken offline a historically high share of global supply – it has simultaneously disrupted the primary holders of spare capacity," the Rapidan analysts said. "The result is a market with no meaningful cushion. There is no swing producer positioned to step in." This means that the global oil market will need to balance by destroying demand through sharply rising oil prices, the analysts said. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve currently has 415 million barrels, about 58% of its total authorized capacity of 714 million barrels, according to the Department of Energy. A White House official told CNBC on Friday that the Trump administration believes "the oil markets remain well supplied and if we need to take additional action, we will do so." Member states of the International Energy Agency will come under pressure to release their strategic stocks because this is "the only remaining supply response option," the Rapidan analysts said. The G7, or Group of Seven, finance ministers met Monday to discuss a coordinated release of oil from their reserves. But France's finance minister, Roland Lescure, said the group has not made a decision to do so yet. "We are not there yet," Lescure told The Financial Times. We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.

Oil futures have passed $100 as investors react to the risk of a prolonged disruption to crude shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic through the critical oil chokepoint remains constrained a week after the US and Israel attacked Iran, while several major Gulf producers have begun slowing output. Oil prices have nearly doubled in just over three months in 2026, raising fresh concerns about inflation and the outlook for the economy and stock market. Here's what energy, business, and finance experts are saying about oil's break above the key $100 a barrel psychological barrier. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, wrote in a thread on X on Sunday, that rising oil and gas prices tied to Middle East turmoil are likely to squeeze lower- and middle-income Americans and weigh on consumer sentiment. "As long as the Strait of Hormuz remains impassable for tanker traffic, the higher prices will go, and the more economic damage will be wrought," he wrote, adding that Americans could soon be paying $4 a gallon for fuel. The disruption to the Strait of Hormuz is a larger shock to global oil supplies than the 1970s oil shocks and — if prolonged — could push oil prices much higher, Paul Krugman, Nobel-winning economist and columnist, wrote in a Substack post on Sunday. The impact of a prolonged shutdown is nonlinear, he wrote, with longer closures doing disproportionately more damage to supply. He said recent political developments, including President Donald Trump's call for Iran's "unconditional surrender" and Iran's selection of Ayatollah Khamenei's "hard-line" son as the new supreme leader, have likely dashed traders' hopes of a quick diplomatic off-ramp. Even so, Krugman cautioned it is premature to predict a global recession, saying that advanced economies are less vulnerable to oil shocks than they were in the 1970s. Financial markets are increasingly worried about a replay of the 1970s oil shock, veteran strategist Ed Yardeni wrote. That was when energy shortages sent prices soaring, strained economies around the world, and contributed to stagflation. "This oil shock won't end until ships can sail freely through the Strait," he wrote. It all depends on how long the Strait will be closed, obviously," Yardeni wrote. "This represents the largest oil supply loss in history, by a factor of two. Worse, unlike in past crises, there's zero spare capacity available," McNally wrote. This will likely pressure central banks to raise rates, which in turn could increase the risk of a significant global stock market correction, he wrote. He added that production shut-ins and a lack of de-escalation in the war are forcing markets to aggressively price in the risk of a prolonged supply disruption. Peter Schiff, chief economist and global strategist at Euro Pacific Asset Management, wrote in an X post on Monday, that soaring oil prices won't cause inflation but could trigger a recession. Schiff suggested that any renewed inflation surge would likely stem from how governments and central banks respond to the economic slowdown, rather than from higher energy costs alone. If anything, it'll get more open, so I wouldn't chase this spike," wrote Brooks, a former chief foreign exchange strategist at Goldman Sachs, on X. Restarting the oil supply chain is complicated: Ports must reschedule shipments, production has to ramp back up, and refineries need a steady flow of crude before committing to full operations. "Even if Hormuz reopens tomorrow, normalization takes months — not days," Schuurman wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Every time Jacob publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell the morning of August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on explosive sex-trafficking charges. On August 11, his autopsy was performed by Kristin Roman, a doctor and New York City medical examiner. After examining Jeffrey Epstein's corpse, Baden was convinced he died by homicide. On Epstein's death certificate, she did not check the boxes for "homicide" or "suicide" and instead checked the box for "pending studies." Every time Jacob publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! Stay connected to Jacob and get more of their work as it publishes. By clicking "Sign up", you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Five days later, Barbara Sampson, the chief medical examiner of New York City and Roman's boss, ruled that Epstein died by suicide after what she said was a "careful review of all investigative information." Roman's initially ambiguous classification of Epstein's death, combined with Baden's frequent media interviews, helped fuel conspiracy theories that Epstein, a financier with ties to elite figures in politics and business, was murdered as part of a cover-up. The world did not learn that Roman agreed with her office's findings until nearly four years later, when the Justice Department inspector general's office released its report into Epstein's death. A transcript of Roman's interview for the Justice Department investigation was made public this year under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. "If he had been a less high-profile person who there weren't people wanting to kill, I would have probably called it a hanging on the day of autopsy," Roman said. Baden told Business Insider Friday he still believes Epstein died by homicide after reviewing the transcript of Roman's interview, citing three fractures in his neck that he said are more consistent with strangulation than hanging. Epstein's brother, many of his former lawyers, his sex-trafficking co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, and numerous victims have all said they do not believe he died by suicide and often point to Baden's findings. Roman told investigators she wanted to see Epstein's cell and speak to the employee at the Manhattan Correctional Center who found his body before finalizing her findings. That kind of stuff," Roman said, in explaining her requests for more information. Roman said she was not permitted to speak to correctional officers or look at Epstein's cell, but she was shown photographs of the room. She said those limitations did not affect her conclusion that Epstein killed himself. "It would have been more for completeness rather than a big factor in making the determination," she said. She said the hyoid bone was fractured on "the tip" where it would have pressed up against his spine, rather than near the joints, where one would expect fractures "if somebody squeezes your neck in a homicidal fashion with un-sustained pressure." She said "manual strangulation" would have fractured it "unevenly." Baden told Business Insider he has never seen three fractures in a suicidal hanging while working as a New York City medical examiner for 25 years, nor while serving for decades on a New York state commission that oversees prison deaths. When Epstein's body arrived at the medical examiner's office, it was accompanied by a noose, found by jail officers, fashioned out of a bedsheet, Roman said in the interview. Baden told Business Insider that he did not see the noose during the autopsy, but later saw pictures of it, as well as photos of other nooses on the floor of Epstein's cell. He said the ligature marks on Epstein's neck did not resemble what he would expect to see if Epstein used those nooses to hang himself. Roman said she was "not as convinced as I would like to be" about which noose was used, but that it didn't affect her conclusion that Epstein hanged himself. In another part of the interview, investigators showed her photos of two possible nooses made from torn bedsheets and found in Epstein's cell that could have been used for the hanging. "But this one, this second one that you're showing me that was never brought to me, looks like a more likely candidate." Roman and Sampson did not respond to Business Insider's requests for comment. After reviewing the transcript of Roman's interview, Mark Epstein told Business Insider he continues to think his brother was murdered. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress, as well as best practices for professionals and resources to aid in prevention and crisis situations.

Every time Tim publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. When the economy is uncertain, CEOs often reach for a familiar lever: job cuts. A lack of clarity in business is nothing new, yet sometimes the fog grows thicker. When it does, holding onto cash starts to look like the smart call to some CEOs, said Sunil Setlur, founder of Cognisen.co, a leadership and organizational strategy advisory firm. Every time Tim publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! Stay connected to Tim and get more of their work as it publishes. By clicking "Sign up", you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. That can mean cutting people, he said, because payroll often represents the biggest line item on a company's balance sheet. From Meta to Spotify, Wall Street has rewarded companies that announce layoffs in recent years. When markets applaud job cuts, and compensation is tied to a company's stock performance, that incentive structure can make such decisions "easier than they might otherwise be," Setlur said. In some industries, like tech, where many companies bulked up during a pandemic-era boom, layoffs can also bring payroll back in line with demand, he said. For years, some firms have been trying to thin layers of both middle management and rank-and-file workers to create smaller, more nimble teams. Amazon, for example, said in January that it would cut 16,000 corporate workers as part of an effort to become the "world's largest startup." A number of companies, exercising the leverage they hold in a softer job market, are tightening performance standards — another way to reduce head count without announcing it outright. In late February, the tech company Block laid off more than 40% of its workforce, citing AI-generated efficiencies allowing smaller teams to get more done. The company's cofounder and CEO, Jack Dorsey, predicted that more companies would eventually embrace a similar slim down because of AI. At companies in five industries likely to feel "significant near-term impacts" from AI adoption, employment fell by 4%, on average, over the prior year, while net productivity rose, Morgan Stanley reported in February. "Despite the perception that adoption is still in early stages, new data show AI's impact is both measurable and accelerating faster than expected," the report said. Job cuts often don't have as much to do with AI as with pragmatic decisions to reduce costs, said Alibek Dostiyarov, cofounder of Perceptis, which develops AI-powered software for professional services firms. "AI is just a convenient scapegoat," Dostiyarov told Business Insider. In general, Tim Walsh, CEO of KPMG US, doesn't see AI behind many corporate cutbacks. Instead, he told Business Insider, many businesses are reviewing their overall workforce to reassess where they need people. "Deploying AI does not automatically lead to workforce reduction," Walsh said. "A lot of people have been just waiting for the AI shoe to drop," said Jeff Fettes, CEO of Laivly, which uses AI agents to support customer service work for Fortune 500 companies. Yet because it often takes companies a while to adopt new technology, not all of the reductions are likely to show up right away.

Every time Alex publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. For Ania Smith, the CEO of Taskrabbit, that's good news. It's growing fast — and Smith sees AI supercharging the platform by providing it with more "taskers" who can do physical jobs that are harder for AI, and by improving how Taskrabbit's marketplace works. Taskrabbit's revenue has grown by a factor of five over the past five years, and it's betting on more growth ahead as AI pushes more people to trade jobs, Smith told Business Insider in an interview. Taskrabbit is privately owned and doesn't report earnings publicly. Every time Alex publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! Stay connected to Alex and get more of their work as it publishes. By clicking "Sign up", you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. "Right now, it feels like there's infinite room for growth," Smith said. AI has already led companies to cut white-collar jobs in tech and related fields. But other jobs, including trade work like plumbing and electrical work, are less likely to be automated in the near future, experts have said. Furniture assembly is a popular category, especially since IKEA purchased Taskrabbit in 2017. Customers can submit their location and details about what they're trying to do — such as moving out of their apartment in an afternoon — and Taskrabbit will suggest gig workers along with hourly rates and credentials. "A lot of our business is tied to things like moving or transitions in life," Smith said. Other companies that operate marketplaces for trade work include Airtasker and Thumbtack. Taskrabbit is now also using AI to read customers' task requests and better match them with gig workers. "I remember what a huge lift it was to produce those matching algorithms," Solivan said. "When we hired our first data scientist, it would take weeks to go through location-based awareness, pricing, skills, and availability. Smith said Taskrabbit uses reviews from past jobs to show prospective customers "whether the person knows what they're doing or not." AI tools such as ChatGPT also make it possible for people to learn and become experts at completing tasks like the ones available on Taskrabbit — another potential boon for the company going forward, Solivan added. Do you have a story to share about the gig economy?

Nigeria, Rwanda and four other African countries have been selected to pilot a new $40 smartphone backed by six major telecom operators as part of an effort to make internet access more affordable across the continent. Africa's leading mobile network operators are planning to introduce a $40 smartphone in six African markets as part of a broader effort to close the continent's digital access gap and bring millions of people online. Combined, these companies serve roughly 800 million Africans, giving the initiative potential to significantly accelerate smartphone adoption across some of the continent's fastest growing telecom markets. This presents itself in the willingness of our population to go online, simply because they cannot find content in their own languages. Industry data shows that around 85 percent of Africa's population lives within reach of mobile broadband networks, yet far fewer people actually use mobile internet services. These include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The coalition has shared minimum specifications with device manufacturers including requirements for storage capacity, screen size and battery performance. Africa's smartphone market is currently dominated by Chinese manufacturers that produce lower cost devices designed for emerging markets. These devices are typically cheaper than premium smartphones produced by companies such as Apple and Samsung. Even so, smartphone ownership across Africa remains far below global levels. A recent GSMA study found that only one in four Africans owned a smartphone in 2024 compared with more than half of the global population. Studies by Google and the International Finance Corporation estimate that the continent's digital economy could reach about $180 billion by 2025 and expand to around $712 billion by 2050 as internet adoption, digital services and mobile innovation accelerate. Part of the coalition's strategy involves working with governments and regulators to ensure that taxes do not make smartphones more expensive for consumers. Wamola pointed to South Africa as an example where policy changes helped lower device prices. In March 2025 the country removed luxury taxes on smartphones costing R2,500 or less following lobbying efforts led by communications minister Solly Malatsi and mobile operators. The decision led to a decline in smartphone prices and improved access for consumers. However, the effort to deliver ultra low cost smartphones is also facing pressure from rising component prices and supply constraints in the global electronics market. Prices are really escalating, even though vendors have committed to doing their best to bring the devices at that price point. We need this to get started because the momentum will bring us scale and that scale will help us get to that $20 price point,” said Wamola. Industry leaders say expanding smartphone access will be essential if Africa is to keep pace with rapid global technological shifts and ensure millions more people can participate in the digital economy.