Countries across South Asia are imposing emergency measures like rationing energy, closing universities, cutting short workweeks and even changing the way crematoriums work to deal with the fallout from the Iran war.

Why it matters: Yes, the war is raising gas prices for Americans and causing a political headache for President Donald Trump — but it's also creating a deeper crisis abroad that governments and businesses are scrambling to manage.

The big picture: It's the latest global economic shock in a turbulent decade.

• The 2020s have seen a pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting inflation, and, more recently, Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, which rocked markets and panicked some countries.

Between the lines: The laws of supply and demand make the math fairly straightforward here: 20% of the world's oil and other energy products go through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has effectively shuttered traffic.

• When supply drops sharply and demand doesn't change, prices go up and shortages result.
• Governments do what they can to manage both supply (tapping oil reserves or restricting exports), as well as demand — price controls, restrictions on working hours and even shutting down businesses to conserve energy.
• The disruption isn't only about oil. Other crucial related products pass through the strait, including diesel, jet fuel and liquefied petroleum gas, used for heating and cooking.

By the numbers: More than 80% of the oil and petroleum products moving through the strait went to Asia in 2024.

• By the end of this week, "we expect crude supply cuts to approach 12 million barrels a day, making the deficit highly visible across physical markets," JPMorgan commodities analysts wrote in a note last week. The only way markets can deal with this shortfall is a "comparable reduction in consumption."

Here are some of the steps being taken now:

• Bangladesh closed public and private universities.
• South Korea capped gas prices for the first time in nearly three decades.
• Thailand is encouraging work from home.
• Some local governments in the Philippines ordered civil servants to work four days a week.
• Pakistan has shut schools, mandated a four-day workweek for some government offices and raised gas prices, the Financial Times reports.

Zoom out: The countries and regions that rely on imports for energy are in the tightest spots.

• While Asia's impacts are most acute, Europe is also facing the prospect of rising gas prices, which would raise electricity costs. The EU is considering a gas price cap and other measures.
• Japan this week started its largest-ever oil release from its national reserves — and effectively capped prices.

Yes, but: Iran does appear to be letting some ships headed for Asia through the strait.

The intrigue: China might benefit from this crisis long-term. It has a huge oil reserve and can shift to using coal for some production.

• High oil prices, meanwhile, will be a boon for its renewable energy industry.

The bottom line: "We are victims of a war that is not of our choosing," Philippines President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said in a statement last week.

• When America sneezes, the world catches the flu.

--Rebecca Falconer contributed reporting.

Corporate executives in charge of human resources, legal operations and technology are increasingly among the highest-paid employees inside public companies, according to an analysis out today from The Conference Board.

The latest: Researchers looked at the five highest-paid job functions inside publicly traded companies — named executive officers in public filings — a useful way of understanding what roles companies most value.

• These days there's more emphasis inside companies on risks associated with technology, talent and regulation, the group said in its report. These are no longer simply viewed as support functions.

Zoom out: Public companies are required to disclose their highest-paid officers — that almost always means the chief executive and usually the chief financial and chief operating officers.

• Outside of those roles, the mix in the C-suite can change.

Zoom in: Chief technology officers, chief legal officers and chief human resources officers appeared more frequently as named officers last year.

• The number of CTOs named in public filings increased 61% in 2025 from 2021 among Russell 3000 firms. Chief human resources officers increased 55%.
• Median pay for these jobs is up, too. CHROs at Russell 3000 companies earned a median $2.1 million in 2025, up from $1.7 million in 2022.

Flashback: Some roles get trendy, then disappear. Three companies named chief diversity officers on their lists of highest-paid officers in 2023.

• Now, none do.

A scoop of AI is serving a Texas ice cream business by helping it drive down the cost of business, its owner tells Axios.

Why it matters: Much of the attention on how AI is reshaping companies and work focuses on the largest employers, but for small businesses it can be equally transformative.

Zoom out: About three-quarters of small business owners are now using AI, though a far smaller share have fully integrated it into their operations, according to a survey out this morning from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Voices, the firm's small-business advocacy initiative.

By the numbers: The firm tapped Babson College and David Binder Research to survey 1,256 owners who participated in Goldman's 10,000 Businesses program, which offers training and support to companies.

• 76% said they're using AI, with 93% of those companies saying results have been positive for their business.
• 67% said they expect AI to increase revenue, and 87% see it as a tool to enhance, not replace their workforce.
• Still, only 14% are "fully integrating AI into core operations."

Zoom in: The Desi Creamery and Milwaukee Joe's Artisan Ice Creams, two Dallas businesses owned by Anal Desai, are now using AI to cut costs, he tells Axios.

• Instead of purchasing dairy, almonds and other ingredients on a regular schedule, AI helps time purchases when costs of certain commodities drop.
• "We're deploying AI for almost every ingredient at this point," Desai says.
• He's using off-the-shelf stuff like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
• AI also suggested that the businesses start offering a tasting panel of ice creams, to help offset the cost of free samples (a non-negotiable offering at most scoop shops).

The bottom line: There's some evidence that AI can help even the playing field for smaller competitors.