Sick crew members evacuated from hantavirus cruise ship | First Thing

Medical evacuations from vessel as Spain gives permission to dock at Canary Islands. Plus: the Mexico City nightclub that charges Americans 90% more

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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.

What did Project Freedom achieve? The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said the US had successfully secured a path through the waterway and that hundreds of commercial ships were lining up to pass through. So far, however, only two merchant ships are known to have passed through, with hundreds more – carrying up to 23,000 crew members – bottled up in the Gulf.

What is the US end game? Rubio said that for peace to be achieved, Iran must agree to Trump’s demands on its nuclear program and to open the strait.

This is a developing story. Follow the live blog here.