Iran war energy crisis equal to 70s twin oil shocks and Ukraine invasion fallout, says IEA chief | First Thing

. UK edition

A white haired man in a suit and tie speaks on stage in front of a blue screen.
Fatih Birol said the growing crisis could be seriously compounded through interruptions to the ‘vital arteries of the global economy’. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Fatih Birol says effects on energy markets not initially understood by world leaders. Plus, feminist magazine reclaims Charlie Kirk-style campus tours

Good morning.

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.

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.

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.

In other news …

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.

Sign up

Sign up for the US morning briefing

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com