Hi! In case you missed it, the 98th Academy Awards took place yesterday evening — and while it was a great night for live-action short films, it was less triumphant for songwriter Diane Warren, who extended her losing streak to a record 17 nominations without a win, dating back to 1987. Today we’re exploring:

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Trump urges allies to help reopen Strait of Hormuz as tanker traffic vanishes

As attacks on vessels in the narrow transit corridor escalated last week, Bloomberg data shows daily ship traffic through the strait has plunged 98.5% over the past three weeks, from 67 vessels on February 22 to just one ship on March 16. The only maritime gateway between the Persian Gulf and the open ocean, the strait handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, with very few alternatives if closed.

Not all traffic has stopped, however. In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US is allowing Iranian oil tankers to transit the strait to keep global markets supplied, and that the administration expects a “natural opening” as Iran allows some vessels to pass.

The disruption has rattled global energy markets, with international benchmark Brent crude now trading above $100 per barrel. In the US, national average gasoline prices climbed 7% from a week ago to $3.72 a gallon, inching closer to the $4 threshold analysts have flagged should the disturbance continue.

While no countries have yet agreed to join a naval mission, in an acknowledgment of the supply crunch, Bessent noted during the same interview that the US is "fine" with some Indian, Chinese, and even Iranian ships passing through the strait. In any case, it’s hard to see oil prices coming down, without the line on the chart above going back up.

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Universal Pictures is giving theaters a longer minimum exclusive run

While Oscars buzz has dominated the world of film in recent days, the most consequential news for the industry may have been from Universal Pictures, which quietly announced on Thursday that it would guarantee a longer five-weekend exclusive playing period for theaters in 2026. The update ends a pandemic-era policy that capped the minimum at only three weekends, with the studio planning to extend this to seven weekends in 2027.

The decades-old 90-day standard has slipped out of the cinema playbook since COVID, leaving a jumble of generally shorter release windows and studio policies. Some, like Disney, have found success with more extended runs, with the House of Mouse’s theatrical window longer than any other major studio at 58 days on average, per data compiled by Screen Rant. Universal execs may have seen that strategy and thought it was worth borrowing. 

Indeed, the latest change is part of Universal’s efforts to squeeze as much juice out of its movies as possible before they go to streaming services, as studios are simply making fewer movies. For one, Universal produced some 33 films in 2016, per Letterboxd data, which dropped to less than half of that figure for both of the last two years.

One concession after another

Unsurprisingly, the move is an “extraordinarily beneficial” turn of events for theater operators like AMC, whose CEO told Variety that the move “strengthens the entire theatrical ecosystem." More people on seats means more ticket sales… but, importantly, it also means more opportunities to sell popcorn, hot dogs, and soda — the revenue stream that came with an eye-watering 81% gross profit margin last year for AMC.

AMC’s profitability never really fully recovered after the pandemic, despite avid cost-cutting and debt refinancing measures. Will longer theatrical runs help get it back into the black? Time will tell.

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With federal jobs at a 60-year low, the US government looks to grow its workforce again

Last year’s jobs reversal is stark, especially considering that, at the outset of DOGE, direct employment within the federal government had remained stable for decades.

In its report, Pew outlined that as ~348,000 people quit, retired, were laid off, or otherwise left federal employment in 2025, government hiring also fell more than 55% from the year prior, with the largest absolute department cuts observed for Veterans Affairs (~29,000 fewer employees) and the Treasury (~27,000 fewer) from 2024-25.

Grounds for hiring

Now, it seems the Trump administration is rolling out a hiring push to fill in the gaps left by last year’s restructuring, per The Washington Post. However, this time the government’s recruitment drive will be implemented with some new rules, seeing previous restrictions lifted and job classifications created “to hire employees aligned with the president’s priorities.”

For example, USAID — the independent agency worst affected by job cuts last year, shrinking some 92.4% — is now hiring again... for contractors that will close down remaining aid programs.

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Off the charts: Which tech giant is reportedly planning a 20% cut in its workforce, after touting AI-driven efficiency gains in its latest earnings call? [Answer below].

Answer here.

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