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Hantavirus cruise ship arrives in Canary Islands as passengers await evacuation

The cruise ship struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak has arrived in Tenerife, where it will ​anchor for the evacuation of the passengers and some of the crew.

Footage taken by Reuters shows the MV Hondius at anchor near the Port of Granadilla in the Spanish territory on Sunday. The vessel has not been permitted to dock.

The ‌passengers, including four Australian citizens, have not displayed signs of infection. They'll be tested by Spanish health workers to ensure they remain asymptomatic and then taken to land in small boats, according to local officials.

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However, they will be under strict protocols, including only being able to take limited belongings with them when they disembark the ship.

Everyone disembarking will be checked for symptoms and won't be taken off the ship until a flight is already in Tenerife waiting for them.

After setting foot on the ground, the passengers will be taken in sealed-off buses the Spanish island's ​main airport about 10 minutes away, where they will board planes ⁠heading to their respective countries.

Europe's public health agency said late on ​Saturday all passengers are considered high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure.

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A member of the Guardia Civil finishes erecting a tent at an expected reception point for passengers from the MV Hondius at the Granadilla Port.Workers prepare the area where passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship are expected to arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Friday, May 8, 2026.

Earlier, Spain's Health Minister Monica Garcia during a news conference in Madrid, where she and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus looked to reassure the local community on the Canary Islands that there would be no outbreak on land.

"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," Tedros said in a statement to the people of Tenerife.

"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."

Garcia said passengers and some crew would disembark in Tenerife "under maximum safety conditions".

There are more than 140 people from more than 20 different countries on board, including four Australian citizens and one permanent resident.

Three people have died.

Authorities are aiming to complete the evacuation flights on Sunday and Monday, the director of the WHO's Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, Maria Van Kerkove, said in a briefing.

Those disembarking will leave behind their luggage, Garcia said, and will be allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a mobile phone, charger and documentation.

Some crew, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to the Netherlands, where it will undergo disinfection, the minister said.

Operation could be delayed as residents express concern

The operation to let passengers leave the stricken ship could be delayed, with Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo claiming some of the repatriation flights that were to take passengers back to their home countries had not arrived on time.

In an impromptu press conference held this morning, he claimed he was looking to cancel the operation due to the health risks it would pose to his community.

He is not the only one who is concerned.

Some on Tenerife say they are worried, on board the cruise ship, some Spanish passengers have voiced concern about being stigmatised.

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The MV Hondius cruise ship departs the port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

"I tell you, I don't like this very much," 69-year-old resident Simon Vidal said.

"Anyone can say what they want. Why did they have to bring a boat from another country here? Why not anywhere else, why bring it to the Canary Islands?"

Others said they empathised with the boat's passengers, but were still concerned.

"The truth is that it is very worrying," 27-year-old Venezuelan immigrant Samantha Aguero said.

"We feel a bit unsafe, we don't feel as there are 100 per cent security measures in place to welcome it.

"This is a virus after all and we have lived this during the pandemic. But we also need to have empathy."

Reported with Associated Press.

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Top Liberal hints he’s open to One Nation joining Coalition after byelection triumph

A leading Liberal front bencher has refused to rule out the Coalition forming minority government with One Nation, in the wake of the populist party's stunning victory in Farrer.

David Farley won the byelection in resounding fashion for One Nation, the first time the minor party had won a seat in the federal House of Representatives, and broke the Coalition's 77-year stronghold on the rural New South Wales seat that was vacated by former Liberal leader Sussan Ley.

Speaking with the ABC today, Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson hinted he was open to the idea of One Nation joining the Coalition.

"My objective is to make sure that the Liberal Party is in a position to govern as strongly as possible," he said.

"Of course we traditionally form a coalition with the National Party, but it's up to the Australian people to decide who they want to vote for.

"But I can tell you quite clearly my objective is to make sure that Liberals beat One Nation candidates."

The Coalition has existential questions to face after being smashed at the Farrer byelection by One Nation and an independent candidate.

Speaking on Weekend Today, Nationals MP and former leader David Littleproud admitted the result wasn't pretty for the Coalition.

FARRER BY-ELECTION: 'A bomb going off in Canberra': What now for One Nation and the Coalition?

David Littleproud admitted it was a tough night for the Coalition, saying voters had sent a strong message.

"It's a good old-fashioned flogging, that's the reality of it," he said.

"You've got to face into it, and understand that the people of Farrer are sending a message."

Littleproud claimed it was a protest vote not just against the Liberal Party, but also against the Albanese government, and said the Coalition needed to unite behind values after deserting them following last year's landslide election defeat.

"The Coalition wanted to walk away from all its policies, and we stood for nothing," he said.

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"What happened is Pauline Hanson, a canny politician for 30 years, walked in and took up that space, and stood for much of the values we fight for."

The Liberal Party recorded 12.6 per cent of the vote in the Farrar byelection with the Nationals getting just 9.76 per cent as of Sunday morning, with One Nation leading the two-party preferred vote against Independent Michelle Milthorpe by a margin of 7.3 per cent.

Nine News political editor Charles Croucher said the decimation of the Liberal Party vote was a sign it was losing more and more of Australia, after losing urban areas in large numbers at the two previous federal elections.

"They are running out of places to start winning seats," he said.

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"It was going to be the party of the outer suburbs it clearly can't be the party of the bush anymore if that's the result that's coming in."

Croucher said the party was stuck between a rock and a hard place as forces on the left and right of politics continue to take voters the Liberal Party used to rely on for decades.

"What we're seeing is the Liberal party being stuck between this surge of One Nation on the right, the climate-minded independent, and Labor who are winning in the cities," he said.

"It's squeezing the Liberal Party, the party of Menzies, Howard, what was naturally the party of government, out of contention at all."

Treasurer Jim Chalmers made a bold prediction about the future of the Coalition, calling last night's result a "bloodbath".

"What it shows is the Coalition can't beat One Nation, so they will have to join them," he said on Today.

"It's hard to imagine a future coalition government that doesn't have One Nation in it."

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True crime podcast fuels probe into student’s murder

Authorities did not find the remains of Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old college student who went missing in 1996, officials said on Saturday after finishing a search of a home tied to the man convicted of killing her.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office said it completed a search of Susan Flores' property in the Central Coast town of Arroyo Grande, more than 240 kilometres north west of Los Angeles.

Paul Flores, her son, was convicted in 2022 of killing Smart, whose body has never been found.

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Missing California student Kristin Smart

Authorities declined to provide additional information.

Authorities said this week that evidence suggested human remains were present at the home and scientists specialising in human decomposition and soil took samples from the ground.

“The Sheriff’s Office remains fully committed to finding Kristin and bringing her home to her family,” the agency said in a statement.

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Smart went missing from California Polytechnic State University in May 1996. Prosecutors alleged that she was killed during an attempted rape and that the last person she was seen with was Paul Flores, a fellow student.

She was declared legally dead in 2002.

Flores was convicted in October 2022 of Smart’s murder and sentenced the following year to 25 years to life.

The decades-old case has captivated the public, fuelled in part by a podcaster who helped investigators by bringing forward additional witnesses.

Chris Lambert of the Your Own Backyard podcast first reported the search of the home.