Crew members on hantavirus cruise ship to be evacuated | First Thing

Good morning. Three people, including two crew members, on the MV Hondius have been medically evacuated to the Netherlands following a suspected hantavirus outbreak that is believed to have killed at least three passengers. The evacuation means the ship, with close to 150 people onboard, can now continue on its three-day journey to the Canary Islands after Spanish authorities gave permission for the vessel to dock. What is hantavirus? It is a rare disease that is usually spread from infected rodents, typically through urine, droppings and saliva. What is the plan for the ship? It is sailing to Spain’s Canary Islands, where the Spanish health ministry will work alongside the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and World Health Organization to examine and treat the crew and passengers before repatriating them to their respective countries. On Wednesday, the Canary Islands government said it opposed the plan and was requesting a meeting with the Spanish prime minister. Trump puts ‘Project Freedom’ on hold just one day after its launch The Iran-flagged container vessel Hamouna anchored in the strait of Hormuz. Photograph: Amirhossein Khorgooei/ISNA/AFP/ Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said on Tuesday that though the Iran conflict was not resolved, the initial major US military operation against Iran had concluded . Soon after, Donald Trump said he was pausing “Project Freedom”, the US plan to guide vessels out of the strait of Hormuz. …