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Write about: ‘This is not another Covid,’ WHO chief tells Tenerife as hantavirus cruise ship heads to island – as it happened | Europe
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WHO chief tells Tenerife that risk from hantavirus-hit ship is ‘low’
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, published a direct message on Saturday to the people of Tenerife, where MV Hodius, the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, is set to dock early Sunday.
Here is his message in full:
My name is Tedros, and I serve as the director-general of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for global public health. It is not common for me to write directly to the people of a single community, but today I feel it is not only appropriate, it is necessary.
I want to speak to you directly, not through press releases or technical briefings, but as one human being to another, because you deserve that.
I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word “outbreak” and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment.
But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now.
The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus. It is serious. Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families. The risk to you, living your daily life in Tenerife, is low. This is the WHO’s assessment, and we do not make it lightly.
Right now, there are no symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO expert is on that ship. Medical supplies are in place. Spain’s authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them.
I also want to say something else, something that goes beyond the science.
I personally thanked prime minister (Pedro) Sanchez for Spain’s decision to receive this ship. I called it an act of solidarity and moral duty. Because that is what it is. I want you to know that the WHO’s request to Spain was not made arbitrarily. It was made in full accordance with the International Health Regulations, the legally binding framework that defines the rights and obligations of countries and the WHO when responding to public health events of international concern. Under those rules, the nearest port with sufficient medical capacity must be identified to ensure the safety and dignity of those on board. Tenerife met that standard. Spain honoured it. Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home. Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help them reach safety.
And because I believe that so deeply, I will be there myself. I intend to travel to Tenerife to observe this operation firsthand, to stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials who are making it happen, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from a distance.
As I have said many times: viruses do not care about politics, and they do not respect borders. The best immunity any of us has is solidarity.
Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity today. The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, crew and the company operating the vessel have shown exemplary collaboration at this challenging time. On behalf of the World Health Organization, and on behalf of those passengers and their families around the world, I thank the people of Tenerife and everyone else involved.
Please take care of yourselves and of each other. Trust in the preparations that have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you, and with every person on that ship, every step of the way.
Key events
Summary
-
Spain prepares for MV Hodius, the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, to dock early Sunday in the Canary Islands. Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands have confirmed they will send planes to repatriate nationals from their respective countries aboard the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak. The European Union is sending two more planes for the remaining European citizens, and the US and UK have also confirmed planes and contingency plans for non-EU citizens.
-
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization’s director-general, told the people of Tenerife that risk from hantavirus-hit ship is “low”. “The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment,” he wrote in a direct message. “But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid.”
-
A three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine kicked off today in time for Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular holiday. The ceasefire will include “a suspension of all “kinetic activity” and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country – but the Kremlin warned on Saturday that a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine was still “a very long way” off.
-
Vladimir Putin presided over a notably scaled-back Victory Day parade on Red Square on Saturday, with the ceremony lasting just 45 minutes – roughly half the length of previous years – as security fears and the realities of a grinding war in Ukraine cast a shadow over celebrations. Though Putin struck a defiant tone, the reality on the ground told a different story. The customary display of missiles and armoured vehicles was absent entirely, replaced by a video showcasing Russia’s drone capabilities and nuclear arsenal.
-
The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. Saturday’s ceremony – during which Magyar had invited people to join him to “write Hungarian history” together and “step through the gate of regime change” – comes a month after his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
Video: A scaled-down Victory Day parade in Russia’s Red Square
Russia held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years due to security concerns over Ukraine drone strikes. The parade on Red Square marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and was once an opportunity to show off Russia’s vast military hardware and nuclear missiles, but this year there were no tanks rolling over the cobbles of the Moscow square.
France has a record number of presidential hopefuls. Will any of them be able to hold back the far right?
Angelique Chrisafis
At a Paris meeting hall this week, hundreds of leftwing voters braved a rainstorm to gather chanting: “Unity! Unity!”
They were celebrating the 90th anniversary of France’s Popular Front, a leftwing alliance that was formed in the 1930s amid fears that the far right could take power. But their concerns were more immediate.
A year before the 2027 French presidential election, Marine Le Pen’s far-right the National Rally (RN) – already the biggest single opposition party in parliament – is high in the polls. The party is closer to power than it has ever been before, and the business community that once shunned it is now openly meeting with senior party figures.
“Voters on the left want unity – so let’s cut the bullshit and build it,” said Danielle Simonnet, a Paris MP for the leftwing party L’Après, who said divisions would allow the far right to cement its gains.
Peace with Ukraine still ‘a very long way’ off, Kremlin says
On the first day of three-day ceasefire, the Kremlin warned that a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine was still “a very long way” off, even with the US pushing for an agreement, Reuters reports.
“It is understandable that the American side is in a hurry,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television reporter Pavel Zarubin.
“But the issue of a Ukrainian settlement is far too complex, and reaching a peace agreement is a very long way with complex details,” Peskov said.
Donald Trump had announced on Friday that this three-day ceasefire would include “a suspension of all “kinetic activity” and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country. “Talks are continuing on ending this Major Conflict, the biggest since World War II, and we are getting closer and closer every day,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Péter Magyar sworn in, bringing an end to Hungary’s 16-year Orbán era
Ashifa Kassam
The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.
Saturday’s ceremony – during which Magyar had invited people to join him to “write Hungarian history” together and “step through the gate of regime change” – comes a month after his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
The result sparked jubilation in Budapest and beyond, as Orbán and his populist, nationalist movement had long been held up by the global far right as an example to emulate.
WHO chief tells Tenerife that risk from hantavirus-hit ship is ‘low’
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, published a direct message on Saturday to the people of Tenerife, where MV Hodius, the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, is set to dock early Sunday.
Here is his message in full:
My name is Tedros, and I serve as the director-general of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for global public health. It is not common for me to write directly to the people of a single community, but today I feel it is not only appropriate, it is necessary.
I want to speak to you directly, not through press releases or technical briefings, but as one human being to another, because you deserve that.
I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word “outbreak” and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment.
But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now.
The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus. It is serious. Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families. The risk to you, living your daily life in Tenerife, is low. This is the WHO’s assessment, and we do not make it lightly.
Right now, there are no symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO expert is on that ship. Medical supplies are in place. Spain’s authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them.
I also want to say something else, something that goes beyond the science.
I personally thanked prime minister (Pedro) Sanchez for Spain’s decision to receive this ship. I called it an act of solidarity and moral duty. Because that is what it is. I want you to know that the WHO’s request to Spain was not made arbitrarily. It was made in full accordance with the International Health Regulations, the legally binding framework that defines the rights and obligations of countries and the WHO when responding to public health events of international concern. Under those rules, the nearest port with sufficient medical capacity must be identified to ensure the safety and dignity of those on board. Tenerife met that standard. Spain honoured it. Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home. Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help them reach safety.
And because I believe that so deeply, I will be there myself. I intend to travel to Tenerife to observe this operation firsthand, to stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials who are making it happen, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from a distance.
As I have said many times: viruses do not care about politics, and they do not respect borders. The best immunity any of us has is solidarity.
Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity today. The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, crew and the company operating the vessel have shown exemplary collaboration at this challenging time. On behalf of the World Health Organization, and on behalf of those passengers and their families around the world, I thank the people of Tenerife and everyone else involved.
Please take care of yourselves and of each other. Trust in the preparations that have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you, and with every person on that ship, every step of the way.
Hngarians gather to watch Péter Magyar being sworn in as new PM
Flora Garamvolgyi
In Budapest, Hungarians from all over the country have gathered at Kossuth Square in front of the country’s neo-Gothic Parliament.
Many are sitting on the grass or in picnic chairs, eating hot dogs and lángos as they watch the speaker of the house being sworn in on a giant screen. The mood is ecstatic, with some weaving the Hungarian flag and wearing merch from the new governing party Tisza.
“This is the first time I feel like it’s good to be Hungarian,” said Erzsébet as she sits in a circle of her friends wearing Tisza t-shirts. “I feel like I could cry”
The crowd began clapping when it was announced that the European Union flag would be placed back in the Parliament – but also booed loudly when far-right party Mi Hazánk’s Dóra Dúró, who gained notoriety for publicly destroying a copy of a children’s book that featured LGBTQ+ characters, was voted deputy speaker of the house.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Europe wants to work to keep the NATO alliance functioning, despite differences with the US that the Iran war has exposed.
Tensions between Donald Trump’s administration and European NATO partners have raised questions about the future of NATO. Already high after US criticism of Europe over defence spending and issues like immigration policy, the tensions have increased after Germany and other European countries refused to support the US and Israeli war against Iran that began at the end of February.
At a press conference with Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson on Saturday, Merz said:
We are really willing to keep this alliance alive for the future.
He also said Sweden and Finland had strengthened the European pillar of the alliance.
We know that there are some differences. We know that we are seeing challenges, all of us, but our final goal is to bring this conflict to an end and to guarantee that Iran is not able to produce nuclear weapons.
And this goal is a common goal between America and Europe.
Ukrainians welcomed a three-day ceasefire as a much-needed break from years of attacks from Russia as it came into effect on Saturday, even though the Kremlin said a longer-term peace deal remained a long way off.
Ukraine’s air force said some drones had been detected along the more than 1,000 km (600-mile) front line across southeastern Ukraine in the morning, but it did not report any air alerts for missiles across the country overnight and into Saturday.
Kateryna Kizev, who fled the frontline city of Kherson in the south and now lives in Cherkasy in central Ukraine, told Reuters:
This is very good because, honestly, the sleepless nights have gotten a bit tiresome.
At least for a few days we will be able to sleep in peace and without the attacks.
Images from onboard the MV Hondius
Some images have been released of passengers and staff on the MV Hondius. You can see a selection here:
Spain’s interior minister has said passengers on the cruise ship will be allowed to take essential belongings with them but the remaining luggage, as well as the body of the deceased passenger onboard, will remain on the ship and be taken to the Netherlands where it will be disinfected.
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WHO chief tells Tenerife that risk from hantavirus-hit ship is ‘low’
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, published a direct message on Saturday to the people of Tenerife, where MV Hodius, the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, is set to dock early Sunday.
Here is his message in full:
My name is Tedros, and I serve as the director-general of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for global public health. It is not common for me to write directly to the people of a single community, but today I feel it is not only appropriate, it is necessary.
I want to speak to you directly, not through press releases or technical briefings, but as one human being to another, because you deserve that.
I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word “outbreak” and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment.
But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now.
The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus. It is serious. Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families. The risk to you, living your daily life in Tenerife, is low. This is the WHO’s assessment, and we do not make it lightly.
Right now, there are no symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO expert is on that ship. Medical supplies are in place. Spain’s authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them.
I also want to say something else, something that goes beyond the science.
I personally thanked prime minister (Pedro) Sanchez for Spain’s decision to receive this ship. I called it an act of solidarity and moral duty. Because that is what it is. I want you to know that the WHO’s request to Spain was not made arbitrarily. It was made in full accordance with the International Health Regulations, the legally binding framework that defines the rights and obligations of countries and the WHO when responding to public health events of international concern. Under those rules, the nearest port with sufficient medical capacity must be identified to ensure the safety and dignity of those on board. Tenerife met that standard. Spain honoured it. Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home. Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help them reach safety.
And because I believe that so deeply, I will be there myself. I intend to travel to Tenerife to observe this operation firsthand, to stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials who are making it happen, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from a distance.
As I have said many times: viruses do not care about politics, and they do not respect borders. The best immunity any of us has is solidarity.
Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity today. The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, crew and the company operating the vessel have shown exemplary collaboration at this challenging time. On behalf of the World Health Organization, and on behalf of those passengers and their families around the world, I thank the people of Tenerife and everyone else involved.
Please take care of yourselves and of each other. Trust in the preparations that have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you, and with every person on that ship, every step of the way.
Key events
Summary
-
Spain prepares for MV Hodius, the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, to dock early Sunday in the Canary Islands. Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands have confirmed they will send planes to repatriate nationals from their respective countries aboard the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak. The European Union is sending two more planes for the remaining European citizens, and the US and UK have also confirmed planes and contingency plans for non-EU citizens.
-
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization’s director-general, told the people of Tenerife that risk from hantavirus-hit ship is “low”. “The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment,” he wrote in a direct message. “But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid.”
-
A three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine kicked off today in time for Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular holiday. The ceasefire will include “a suspension of all “kinetic activity” and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country – but the Kremlin warned on Saturday that a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine was still “a very long way” off.
-
Vladimir Putin presided over a notably scaled-back Victory Day parade on Red Square on Saturday, with the ceremony lasting just 45 minutes – roughly half the length of previous years – as security fears and the realities of a grinding war in Ukraine cast a shadow over celebrations. Though Putin struck a defiant tone, the reality on the ground told a different story. The customary display of missiles and armoured vehicles was absent entirely, replaced by a video showcasing Russia’s drone capabilities and nuclear arsenal.
-
The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. Saturday’s ceremony – during which Magyar had invited people to join him to “write Hungarian history” together and “step through the gate of regime change” – comes a month after his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
Video: A scaled-down Victory Day parade in Russia’s Red Square
Russia held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years due to security concerns over Ukraine drone strikes. The parade on Red Square marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and was once an opportunity to show off Russia’s vast military hardware and nuclear missiles, but this year there were no tanks rolling over the cobbles of the Moscow square.
France has a record number of presidential hopefuls. Will any of them be able to hold back the far right?
Angelique Chrisafis
At a Paris meeting hall this week, hundreds of leftwing voters braved a rainstorm to gather chanting: “Unity! Unity!”
They were celebrating the 90th anniversary of France’s Popular Front, a leftwing alliance that was formed in the 1930s amid fears that the far right could take power. But their concerns were more immediate.
A year before the 2027 French presidential election, Marine Le Pen’s far-right the National Rally (RN) – already the biggest single opposition party in parliament – is high in the polls. The party is closer to power than it has ever been before, and the business community that once shunned it is now openly meeting with senior party figures.
“Voters on the left want unity – so let’s cut the bullshit and build it,” said Danielle Simonnet, a Paris MP for the leftwing party L’Après, who said divisions would allow the far right to cement its gains.
Peace with Ukraine still ‘a very long way’ off, Kremlin says
On the first day of three-day ceasefire, the Kremlin warned that a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine was still “a very long way” off, even with the US pushing for an agreement, Reuters reports.
“It is understandable that the American side is in a hurry,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television reporter Pavel Zarubin.
“But the issue of a Ukrainian settlement is far too complex, and reaching a peace agreement is a very long way with complex details,” Peskov said.
Donald Trump had announced on Friday that this three-day ceasefire would include “a suspension of all “kinetic activity” and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country. “Talks are continuing on ending this Major Conflict, the biggest since World War II, and we are getting closer and closer every day,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Péter Magyar sworn in, bringing an end to Hungary’s 16-year Orbán era
Ashifa Kassam
The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.
Saturday’s ceremony – during which Magyar had invited people to join him to “write Hungarian history” together and “step through the gate of regime change” – comes a month after his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
The result sparked jubilation in Budapest and beyond, as Orbán and his populist, nationalist movement had long been held up by the global far right as an example to emulate.
WHO chief tells Tenerife that risk from hantavirus-hit ship is ‘low’
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, published a direct message on Saturday to the people of Tenerife, where MV Hodius, the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, is set to dock early Sunday.
Here is his message in full:
My name is Tedros, and I serve as the director-general of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for global public health. It is not common for me to write directly to the people of a single community, but today I feel it is not only appropriate, it is necessary.
I want to speak to you directly, not through press releases or technical briefings, but as one human being to another, because you deserve that.
I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word “outbreak” and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment.
But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now.
The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus. It is serious. Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families. The risk to you, living your daily life in Tenerife, is low. This is the WHO’s assessment, and we do not make it lightly.
Right now, there are no symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO expert is on that ship. Medical supplies are in place. Spain’s authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them.
I also want to say something else, something that goes beyond the science.
I personally thanked prime minister (Pedro) Sanchez for Spain’s decision to receive this ship. I called it an act of solidarity and moral duty. Because that is what it is. I want you to know that the WHO’s request to Spain was not made arbitrarily. It was made in full accordance with the International Health Regulations, the legally binding framework that defines the rights and obligations of countries and the WHO when responding to public health events of international concern. Under those rules, the nearest port with sufficient medical capacity must be identified to ensure the safety and dignity of those on board. Tenerife met that standard. Spain honoured it. Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home. Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help them reach safety.
And because I believe that so deeply, I will be there myself. I intend to travel to Tenerife to observe this operation firsthand, to stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials who are making it happen, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from a distance.
As I have said many times: viruses do not care about politics, and they do not respect borders. The best immunity any of us has is solidarity.
Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity today. The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, crew and the company operating the vessel have shown exemplary collaboration at this challenging time. On behalf of the World Health Organization, and on behalf of those passengers and their families around the world, I thank the people of Tenerife and everyone else involved.
Please take care of yourselves and of each other. Trust in the preparations that have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you, and with every person on that ship, every step of the way.
Hngarians gather to watch Péter Magyar being sworn in as new PM
Flora Garamvolgyi
In Budapest, Hungarians from all over the country have gathered at Kossuth Square in front of the country’s neo-Gothic Parliament.
Many are sitting on the grass or in picnic chairs, eating hot dogs and lángos as they watch the speaker of the house being sworn in on a giant screen. The mood is ecstatic, with some weaving the Hungarian flag and wearing merch from the new governing party Tisza.
“This is the first time I feel like it’s good to be Hungarian,” said Erzsébet as she sits in a circle of her friends wearing Tisza t-shirts. “I feel like I could cry”
The crowd began clapping when it was announced that the European Union flag would be placed back in the Parliament – but also booed loudly when far-right party Mi Hazánk’s Dóra Dúró, who gained notoriety for publicly destroying a copy of a children’s book that featured LGBTQ+ characters, was voted deputy speaker of the house.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Europe wants to work to keep the NATO alliance functioning, despite differences with the US that the Iran war has exposed.
Tensions between Donald Trump’s administration and European NATO partners have raised questions about the future of NATO. Already high after US criticism of Europe over defence spending and issues like immigration policy, the tensions have increased after Germany and other European countries refused to support the US and Israeli war against Iran that began at the end of February.
At a press conference with Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson on Saturday, Merz said:
We are really willing to keep this alliance alive for the future.
He also said Sweden and Finland had strengthened the European pillar of the alliance.
We know that there are some differences. We know that we are seeing challenges, all of us, but our final goal is to bring this conflict to an end and to guarantee that Iran is not able to produce nuclear weapons.
And this goal is a common goal between America and Europe.
Ukrainians welcomed a three-day ceasefire as a much-needed break from years of attacks from Russia as it came into effect on Saturday, even though the Kremlin said a longer-term peace deal remained a long way off.
Ukraine’s air force said some drones had been detected along the more than 1,000 km (600-mile) front line across southeastern Ukraine in the morning, but it did not report any air alerts for missiles across the country overnight and into Saturday.
Kateryna Kizev, who fled the frontline city of Kherson in the south and now lives in Cherkasy in central Ukraine, told Reuters:
This is very good because, honestly, the sleepless nights have gotten a bit tiresome.
At least for a few days we will be able to sleep in peace and without the attacks.
Images from onboard the MV Hondius
Some images have been released of passengers and staff on the MV Hondius. You can see a selection here:
Spain’s interior minister has said passengers on the cruise ship will be allowed to take essential belongings with them but the remaining luggage, as well as the body of the deceased passenger onboard, will remain on the ship and be taken to the Netherlands where it will be disinfected.
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WHO chief tells Tenerife that risk from hantavirus-hit ship is ‘low’
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, published a direct message on Saturday to the people of Tenerife, where MV Hodius, the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, is set to dock early Sunday.
Here is his message in full:
My name is Tedros, and I serve as the director-general of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for global public health. It is not common for me to write directly to the people of a single community, but today I feel it is not only appropriate, it is necessary.
I want to speak to you directly, not through press releases or technical briefings, but as one human being to another, because you deserve that.
I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word “outbreak” and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment.
But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now.
The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus. It is serious. Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families. The risk to you, living your daily life in Tenerife, is low. This is the WHO’s assessment, and we do not make it lightly.
Right now, there are no symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO expert is on that ship. Medical supplies are in place. Spain’s authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them.
I also want to say something else, something that goes beyond the science.
I personally thanked prime minister (Pedro) Sanchez for Spain’s decision to receive this ship. I called it an act of solidarity and moral duty. Because that is what it is. I want you to know that the WHO’s request to Spain was not made arbitrarily. It was made in full accordance with the International Health Regulations, the legally binding framework that defines the rights and obligations of countries and the WHO when responding to public health events of international concern. Under those rules, the nearest port with sufficient medical capacity must be identified to ensure the safety and dignity of those on board. Tenerife met that standard. Spain honoured it. Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home. Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help them reach safety.
And because I believe that so deeply, I will be there myself. I intend to travel to Tenerife to observe this operation firsthand, to stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials who are making it happen, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from a distance.
As I have said many times: viruses do not care about politics, and they do not respect borders. The best immunity any of us has is solidarity.
Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity today. The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, crew and the company operating the vessel have shown exemplary collaboration at this challenging time. On behalf of the World Health Organization, and on behalf of those passengers and their families around the world, I thank the people of Tenerife and everyone else involved.
Please take care of yourselves and of each other. Trust in the preparations that have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you, and with every person on that ship, every step of the way.
Key events
Summary
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Spain prepares for MV Hodius, the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, to dock early Sunday in the Canary Islands. Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands have confirmed they will send planes to repatriate nationals from their respective countries aboard the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak. The European Union is sending two more planes for the remaining European citizens, and the US and UK have also confirmed planes and contingency plans for non-EU citizens.
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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization’s director-general, told the people of Tenerife that risk from hantavirus-hit ship is “low”. “The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment,” he wrote in a direct message. “But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid.”
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A three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine kicked off today in time for Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular holiday. The ceasefire will include “a suspension of all “kinetic activity” and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country – but the Kremlin warned on Saturday that a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine was still “a very long way” off.
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Vladimir Putin presided over a notably scaled-back Victory Day parade on Red Square on Saturday, with the ceremony lasting just 45 minutes – roughly half the length of previous years – as security fears and the realities of a grinding war in Ukraine cast a shadow over celebrations. Though Putin struck a defiant tone, the reality on the ground told a different story. The customary display of missiles and armoured vehicles was absent entirely, replaced by a video showcasing Russia’s drone capabilities and nuclear arsenal.
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The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. Saturday’s ceremony – during which Magyar had invited people to join him to “write Hungarian history” together and “step through the gate of regime change” – comes a month after his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
Video: A scaled-down Victory Day parade in Russia’s Red Square
Russia held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years due to security concerns over Ukraine drone strikes. The parade on Red Square marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and was once an opportunity to show off Russia’s vast military hardware and nuclear missiles, but this year there were no tanks rolling over the cobbles of the Moscow square.
France has a record number of presidential hopefuls. Will any of them be able to hold back the far right?
Angelique Chrisafis
At a Paris meeting hall this week, hundreds of leftwing voters braved a rainstorm to gather chanting: “Unity! Unity!”
They were celebrating the 90th anniversary of France’s Popular Front, a leftwing alliance that was formed in the 1930s amid fears that the far right could take power. But their concerns were more immediate.
A year before the 2027 French presidential election, Marine Le Pen’s far-right the National Rally (RN) – already the biggest single opposition party in parliament – is high in the polls. The party is closer to power than it has ever been before, and the business community that once shunned it is now openly meeting with senior party figures.
“Voters on the left want unity – so let’s cut the bullshit and build it,” said Danielle Simonnet, a Paris MP for the leftwing party L’Après, who said divisions would allow the far right to cement its gains.
Peace with Ukraine still ‘a very long way’ off, Kremlin says
On the first day of three-day ceasefire, the Kremlin warned that a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine was still “a very long way” off, even with the US pushing for an agreement, Reuters reports.
“It is understandable that the American side is in a hurry,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television reporter Pavel Zarubin.
“But the issue of a Ukrainian settlement is far too complex, and reaching a peace agreement is a very long way with complex details,” Peskov said.
Donald Trump had announced on Friday that this three-day ceasefire would include “a suspension of all “kinetic activity” and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country. “Talks are continuing on ending this Major Conflict, the biggest since World War II, and we are getting closer and closer every day,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Péter Magyar sworn in, bringing an end to Hungary’s 16-year Orbán era
Ashifa Kassam
The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.
Saturday’s ceremony – during which Magyar had invited people to join him to “write Hungarian history” together and “step through the gate of regime change” – comes a month after his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
The result sparked jubilation in Budapest and beyond, as Orbán and his populist, nationalist movement had long been held up by the global far right as an example to emulate.
WHO chief tells Tenerife that risk from hantavirus-hit ship is ‘low’
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, published a direct message on Saturday to the people of Tenerife, where MV Hodius, the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, is set to dock early Sunday.
Here is his message in full:
My name is Tedros, and I serve as the director-general of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency responsible for global public health. It is not common for me to write directly to the people of a single community, but today I feel it is not only appropriate, it is necessary.
I want to speak to you directly, not through press releases or technical briefings, but as one human being to another, because you deserve that.
I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word “outbreak” and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment.
But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now.
The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus. It is serious. Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families. The risk to you, living your daily life in Tenerife, is low. This is the WHO’s assessment, and we do not make it lightly.
Right now, there are no symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO expert is on that ship. Medical supplies are in place. Spain’s authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them.
I also want to say something else, something that goes beyond the science.
I personally thanked prime minister (Pedro) Sanchez for Spain’s decision to receive this ship. I called it an act of solidarity and moral duty. Because that is what it is. I want you to know that the WHO’s request to Spain was not made arbitrarily. It was made in full accordance with the International Health Regulations, the legally binding framework that defines the rights and obligations of countries and the WHO when responding to public health events of international concern. Under those rules, the nearest port with sufficient medical capacity must be identified to ensure the safety and dignity of those on board. Tenerife met that standard. Spain honoured it. Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home. Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help them reach safety.
And because I believe that so deeply, I will be there myself. I intend to travel to Tenerife to observe this operation firsthand, to stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials who are making it happen, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from a distance.
As I have said many times: viruses do not care about politics, and they do not respect borders. The best immunity any of us has is solidarity.
Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity today. The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, crew and the company operating the vessel have shown exemplary collaboration at this challenging time. On behalf of the World Health Organization, and on behalf of those passengers and their families around the world, I thank the people of Tenerife and everyone else involved.
Please take care of yourselves and of each other. Trust in the preparations that have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you, and with every person on that ship, every step of the way.
Hngarians gather to watch Péter Magyar being sworn in as new PM
Flora Garamvolgyi
In Budapest, Hungarians from all over the country have gathered at Kossuth Square in front of the country’s neo-Gothic Parliament.
Many are sitting on the grass or in picnic chairs, eating hot dogs and lángos as they watch the speaker of the house being sworn in on a giant screen. The mood is ecstatic, with some weaving the Hungarian flag and wearing merch from the new governing party Tisza.
“This is the first time I feel like it’s good to be Hungarian,” said Erzsébet as she sits in a circle of her friends wearing Tisza t-shirts. “I feel like I could cry”
The crowd began clapping when it was announced that the European Union flag would be placed back in the Parliament – but also booed loudly when far-right party Mi Hazánk’s Dóra Dúró, who gained notoriety for publicly destroying a copy of a children’s book that featured LGBTQ+ characters, was voted deputy speaker of the house.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Europe wants to work to keep the NATO alliance functioning, despite differences with the US that the Iran war has exposed.
Tensions between Donald Trump’s administration and European NATO partners have raised questions about the future of NATO. Already high after US criticism of Europe over defence spending and issues like immigration policy, the tensions have increased after Germany and other European countries refused to support the US and Israeli war against Iran that began at the end of February.
At a press conference with Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson on Saturday, Merz said:
We are really willing to keep this alliance alive for the future.
He also said Sweden and Finland had strengthened the European pillar of the alliance.
We know that there are some differences. We know that we are seeing challenges, all of us, but our final goal is to bring this conflict to an end and to guarantee that Iran is not able to produce nuclear weapons.
And this goal is a common goal between America and Europe.
Ukrainians welcomed a three-day ceasefire as a much-needed break from years of attacks from Russia as it came into effect on Saturday, even though the Kremlin said a longer-term peace deal remained a long way off.
Ukraine’s air force said some drones had been detected along the more than 1,000 km (600-mile) front line across southeastern Ukraine in the morning, but it did not report any air alerts for missiles across the country overnight and into Saturday.
Kateryna Kizev, who fled the frontline city of Kherson in the south and now lives in Cherkasy in central Ukraine, told Reuters:
This is very good because, honestly, the sleepless nights have gotten a bit tiresome.
At least for a few days we will be able to sleep in peace and without the attacks.
Images from onboard the MV Hondius
Some images have been released of passengers and staff on the MV Hondius. You can see a selection here:
Spain’s interior minister has said passengers on the cruise ship will be allowed to take essential belongings with them but the remaining luggage, as well as the body of the deceased passenger onboard, will remain on the ship and be taken to the Netherlands where it will be disinfected.
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