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The global energy crisis caused by the war in Iran is equivalent to the combined force of the twin oil shocks of the 1970s and the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the head of the International Energy Agency has said.
Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said the growing crisis could be seriously compounded through interruptions to the “vital arteries of the global economy”, including petrochemicals, fertilisers, sulphur and helium. He said the depth of the problems had not initially been properly understood by world leaders.
Meanwhile, global stock markets dropped sharply today after Donald Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless the strait of Hormuz was opened.
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Why is the ex-CIA chief Leon Panetta in the news? He has spoken out about Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, telling the Guardian the US president is “sending a message of weakness” to the world.
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What’s the latest in Iran? Its government is threatening to lay mines across entire Gulf if its coasts are attacked.
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This is a developing story. Follow our liveblog here.
Pilot and co-pilot killed after Air Canada jet collision at LaGuardia airport
The pilot and co-pilot of an Air Canada Express regional jet have been killed after the plane collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia, in an incident that closed the airport.
Other were seriously injured, with nine people in hospital. The collision happened as a firefighting vehicle was responding to a separate incident.
The CRJ-900 plane, which was operated by Air Canada’s partner Jazz Aviation, was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members from Montreal, according to a preliminary passenger list. Jazz is owned by Chorus Aviation.
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What happened? The aircraft hit the fire truck while travelling at about 24mph, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24. In the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard giving clearance to a fire vehicle to cross part of the runway, then trying to stop it. The controller can then be heard quickly diverting incoming aircraft from landing.
Arkansas police arrest Kendra Duggar on child abuse charges
Arkansas police have arrested Kendra Duggar, the wife of reality TV personality Joseph Duggar, on misdemeanor child abuse charges, in the latest scandal to envelop the family featured on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting.
Kendra Duggar faces four counts each of endangering the welfare of a minor and second-degree false imprisonment, according to the Washington county sheriff’s office.
Her arrest came days after Joseph Duggar was arrested on charges in Florida. He is accused of molesting a girl when she was nine years old during a family trip to Panama City Beach.
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Why are they famous? The 19 Kids and Counting series portrayed the lives of parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their children, all of whose names began with the letter J. The show was canceled in 2015 after the Duggar’s eldest son, Joshua, faced allegations of molesting four of his sisters as a teenager. He is in prison for possessing child sexual abuse images. Joseph and Kendra Duggar were also stars of the spinoff Counting On.
In other news …
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Donald Trump’s nomination of the Republican senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to be the next head of homeland security advanced towards confirmation yesterday after the US Senate voted 54-37 to limit debate on the appointment.
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The Oscar-nominated actor Barry Keoghan has said online abuse about his appearance is affecting his life to such an extent that he now does “not want to go outside”.
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Trump’s so-called border czar, Tom Homan, confirmed that ICE agents will be sent to US airports from today to assist with security amid extremely long lines.
Stat of the day: Only 1% of excess heat is felt by humans as Earth’s energy imbalance hits record high
Our home planet is struggling with a record energy imbalance, which is heating oceans to unprecedented levels, the World Meteorological Organization has said. The rising temperature experienced by humans on the surface was only 1% of the faster-accumulating heat in the wider Earth system.
Building power: Say gay – feminist magazine reclaims Charlie Kirk-style campus tours after Florida DEI cuts
With speakers from activist organisations such as 50501, one of the groups behind the No Kings protests, Lux Magazine is on a multicity college tour in states with academic bans around race, gender and sexuality and restrictions around bodily autonomy. The magazine wants to show Black, brown, queer, feminist and trans students that they still have a safe space on campuses.
Don’t miss this: ‘In 20 years most of the world could be racist dictatorships’ – Ibram X Kendi on book bans and far-right fearmongering
How have the rich and powerful convinced so many voters that the reason they are struggling is the poor and powerless? The US historian, whose books have been banned at least 50 times by multiple US school districts, talks about the weaponising of divisiveness.
… or this: ‘There’s no ceasefire’ – Gaza paramedic and father of two killed as civilian death toll since October passes 650
Despite the supposed end of the fighting last year, casualties in the Palestinian territory continue to rise, with Abed Elrahman Hamdouna, a volunteer ambulance driver, joining the long list of those killed by Israeli forces. His death is a shocking reality-check on the large numbers of civilians that continue to die in Gaza despite the supposed end of the fighting last year.
Climate check: US weather extremes bear ‘fingerprint’ of the climate crisis, experts say
The US is experiencing a striking mix of weather extremes this March. Flooding rains in Hawaii, rare snow in Alabama, flip-flopping temperatures in the north-east and, perhaps most concerning, a severe heatwave affecting the west coast are raising questions about how strange these patterns really are and what role the climate crisis is playing.
Last Thing: Inside the strangely soothing world of fragrance TikTok
TikTok is awash in perfume-inspired image carousels that assign scent profiles to abstract concepts, many of them accompanied with a slowed-down version of Robert Miles’s Eurodance hit Children. The age of 18, for example, has a scent profile of sweat, vodka, lip gloss, musk and lace. Looking at old photos too long? That smells like paper, iris, amber, musk and cedar. The first time passing a joint includes grass, fog, smoke, lip gloss and (obviously) marijuana. The majority focus on adolescent nostalgia, but they possess such universal relatability that any generation can get in on the action, writes Eleanor Burnard.
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