Latest News
Spain starts evacuating virus-hit cruise ship in Tenerife
Spain has started evacuating passengers from a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship anchored near Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Health Minister Mónica García said the operation was “proceeding normally” and that all passengers on board the MS Hondius were still asymptomatic.
They will be divided into groups by nationality and ferried to the coast in small boats. Charter planes will be on the tarmac at the local airport, ready to repatriate them to their home countries.
Fourteen Spanish nationals will be the first to disembark, then those flown out by the Netherlands, including Dutch, Greek and German passengers, and part of the crew.
Other flights are poised to leave after that, including to the UK and US. The last evacuation flight is expected to leave on Monday to Australia.
With a long camera lens, passengers could be seen wandering around on the deck of the ship, or at the windows, all in white medical face masks, as the first evacuation took place.
Several sat socially distanced on the small evacuation boat, filming and taking photos as they approached land, where they were met by officials in white protective suits.
The Hondius pulled into the port of Granadilla before dawn on Sunday, a month after the first passenger died on board.
The sun then rose to reveal it anchored offshore, with military police boats on patrol and a major operation unfolding on land to help more than 100 passengers and crew disembark.
At about 07:00 (06:00 GMT) on Sunday, medical teams went on board to check everyone for signs of the virus.
There have been meticulous preparations to receive the ship, which won’t be permitted to reach shore: a security perimeter of one nautical mile was enforced around it as it approached the island.
Dozens of intensive care specialists are on stand-by at the Candelaria hospital in Tenerife in case anyone from the Hondius becomes seriously ill during the transfer. A strict isolation facility has one bed fully equipped to deal with infectious diseases, complete with testing kit and a ventilator.
“We are absolutely ready,” chief intensive care doctor Mar Martin told me on the unit, where large numbers of protective suits, masks and gloves are already piled up for staff.
“We’ve never seen [hantavirus] before – but it’s a virus, with some complications, just like we manage every day. We are fully trained for that.”
The complex operation to prevent the rare Andes strain of this virus spreading is described by Spain’s health minister as “unprecedented”.
On Saturday, she stressed that the risk of contagion for the general population was low. “We believe that alarmism, misinformation and confusion are contrary to the basic principles of preserving public health.”
Security measures in the port, an industrial facility in the south of Tenerife, increased notably on Saturday. Spain’s military police and disaster response teams have both set up large reception tents and access to the waterfront is restricted.
Spanish nationals leaving the ship will be flown to Madrid, where they face a mandatory quarantine in the Gomez Ulla military hospital. Complete isolation would be gruelling – the virus has an incubation period of up to nine weeks – and it is not clear how long people in Spain or elsewhere will be quarantined.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, now in Tenerife to oversee the disembarking, has praised the authorities for their “solid and effective response” to this outbreak.
It has been linked to a landfill site in the southernmost tip of Argentina, popular with birdwatchers. The virus is carried there by rodents, and it’s rare for it to pass between people, but three cruise passengers have died.
The WHO boss has urged nervous Spaniards to trust those in charge of the evacuation.
“Your concern is legitimate, because of the experience of Covid: that trauma is still in our minds,” he acknowledged. But he added that the risk of wider contagion now was low “because of how the virus works, and because of how the Spanish government has prepared to avoid any problem”.
There was some anger here when people learned the Hondius was being diverted to their island.
On Friday, a group of port workers gathered outside the local parliament in noisy protest, concerned that safety measures were not strong enough.
Then very late last night, all the carefully laid plans were briefly thrown into chaos when the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said he would refuse to permit the ship into port as the disembarkation could not be done in a day. The central government in Madrid had to intervene.
Clavijo then claimed on TV that a rat carrying the hantavirus might “get off the ship in the middle of the night and endanger the people of the Canary Islands”. The health secretary had to come out and insist that such a scenario was “not a risk”.
In general, people on the island seem reassured that the risk is low.
“The virus is dangerous, of course. But they say you need to have very close contact to get it,” a woman named Jennifer told me, out walking with her child in Tenerife’s capital Santa Cruz.
“If we’re careful, we hope it’s not too serious.”
Not everyone will disembark in Tenerife from the Hondius: some 30 crew members will stay on board to take the cruise ship back to the Netherlands. But for most, there is at last an end in sight to weeks of fear and uncertainty at sea.
Now come the long weeks of quarantine.
[BBC]
Latest News
Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Central, and North-western provinces and in Anuradhapura district.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 14 OCTOBER 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 14 October 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
Due to a low-level atmospheric disturbance persisting in the Bay of Bengal near Sri Lanka, cloudy skies and increased rainfall are expected to continue over the island.
Misty conditions can be expected at some places in the Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces during the early hours of the morning.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western provinces. Showers or thundershowers will occur in other parts of the island after 1.00 p.m.
Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Central, and North-western provinces and in Anuradhapura district while fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in other areas of the island.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Missiles and drones have been intercepted over Riyadh after the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen struck a fuel depot near the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, its spokesperson says.
Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki said several projectiles targeting the Saudi capital and other cities were intercepted after the coalition carried out a strike on the Yemen Petroleum Company’s al-Sabaha facility on Tuesday night.
The Houthis warned they would target the airport and Aramco refinery in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, and Aramco’s headquarters in the eastern city of Dammam.
Al-Maliki later said missiles targeting cities including Dammam had been intercepted, while shrapnel had fallen in a residential area in Dhahran.
It came as the Saudi cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said the Iran-backed group would “bear the consequences” of its recent deadly attacks on the kingdom.
Thirteen people were killed when a missile hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, while another person was killed in a similar attack there the following day.
On Tuesday, the coalition said its forces had destroyed three drones north of Riyadh.
The Houthis have said they are targeting airports, oil and gas facilities, and military bases in Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones in response to deadly Saudi strikes on territory that they control in western Yemen, including Sanaa.
The Saudi-led coalition has been providing air support for Yemeni pro-government forces mounting an offensive on Yemen’s Red Sea coast and several other front lines.
A correspondent for AFP news agency reported that queues formed at petrol stations in Sanaa on Tuesday afternoon following the coalition’s warning of an impending operation against the al-Sabaha oil facility, with many residents worried about shortages.
The Yemen Petroleum Company, which is run by the Houthis, issued a statement that sought to reassure them, saying the facility “does not contain any stock of petroleum products”.
The company also said it had “taken all necessary precautionary measures to address any emergency, ensuring the stability of the supply situation and the continued meeting of citizens’ needs in a normal manner”.
After al-Maliki confirmed the strike, first reported by Houthi media, explosions were heard over Riyadh and other Saudi cities, with al-Maliki reporting four missiles and two drones had been intercepted near the capital.
Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally-recognised government from Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened in an attempt to restore the government’s rule.
A four-year-old informal ceasefire began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
The Houthis said they were retaliating for what they call a Saudi blockade of their territory, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on the kingdom.
The conflict escalated in September after the Houthis seized part of Yemen’s south-western Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a chokepoint for global shipping. Their advance contributed to a rise in oil prices following six months of war between the US, Israel and Iran.
US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday the Houthis were “behaving very badly… and purposefully trying to drive up Oil Prices”.
Speaking to reporters, he did not answer a question on whether he’d made a decision to help the Saudis retaliate against them, but said he “might” ask Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to intervene.
Last week, pro-government forces said they had regained control of territory overlooking Bab al-Mandab after launching a major counter-offensive with the support of Saudi air strikes.
Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed in Yemen since August. The UN’s human rights office says they include at least 54 civilians, half of them children.
More than 216,000 people have also been displaced across the country, and suspected cholera cases have tripled in three weeks, rising from 217 to 647, according to the UN.
[BBC]
Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer but had successful surgery to remove a lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican has said in a medical bulletin.
The 71-year-old underwent a 90 minute surgery on Tuesday at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and was subsequently diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma.
“After the operation, the Pope awoke normally and returned after a brief period of observation to his room on the 10th floor,” the Vatican said in a statement.
The lump was first detected during what the Vatican has described as “routine checks”.
Earlier, large crowds gathered outside the hospital to greet the Pope, with some waiting for several hours.
They cheered greetings and well wishes as he passed, while he waved and smiled back through the lowered back window of his car.
He was then met by staff on the hospital steps. “I’m sorry,” one of them commiserated, to which the Pope gave a smile and a shrug. “We’re here for you,” he was assured.
In its statement, the Vatican said the whole lower lobe of the Pope’s right lung was removed “to ensure the procedure was radical”.
A Vatican source told Agence France-Presse news agency further tests were being carried out to see if there was any sign the cancer had spread.
It was Leo XIV himself who on Sunday announced news of his operation to the world, speaking from the balcony in St Peter’s Square after delivering the traditional Angelus blessing.
He said the nodule, or growth, on his lung was “contained” and had been found “at a very early stage”, but that doctors had advised him to have it removed.
Gemelli’s thoracic surgery team operated on the Pope, whose schedule has already been cleared until 20 October to give him time to recover.
Nodules are quite common and not necessarily cancerous, but after it was examined the medical team confirmed it was pulmonary adenocarcinoma, “as suspected by pre-operative tests”, the Vatican said.
The Vatican has stressed that the pontiff, who is generally thought to be fit, had no symptoms of infection or illness.
Cardinal Kikuchi Tarcisio Isao of Tokyo wrote on social media that he’d had an audience with Pope Leo on Monday, and said the pontiff felt “nothing wrong” physically.
He said the Pope had decided to check in for surgery as soon as possible because he was due to travel to Latin America in early November, and was keen to stick to that plan.
The trip is particularly significant because it includes a visit to Peru, where the pontiff was a missionary and then a Bishop for many years.
Despite all the reassurances, the news has shaken Catholics all over the world.
“Am I worried? Yes, because I certainly wasn’t expecting anything like this,” Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin told journalists on Tuesday.
He agreed that the news was like a “bolt from the blue”, but said the cardinals had been struck by the Pope’s “serenity” and were confident in his recovery.
Outside Gemelli Hospital, which has treated several popes and is home to a large statue of John Paul II, a few Catholics lingered after the pontiff was admitted.
Carla had come specially, wanting to be close.
“He seems calm, so we are calm too – even though illness is always unpleasant,” she told the BBC. “We will wait here and pray.”
[BBC]
Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Central, and North-western provinces and in Anuradhapura district.
Sri Lanka, India caught in US-Iran ship crisis
Namal further remanded
IMF projects Lankan economic growth to moderate amidst mounting global uncertainties
Major Gen Pushpakumara assumes command of 56 Infantry Division
Dickwella axed, Bandara earns maiden Test call up
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Features7 days agoThe Sri Lankan who made Scottish history
-
Sports7 days agoNissanka absence opens door for Sri Lanka’s young guns
-
News6 days agoNDB fraud Rs 60mn more than reported
-
News6 days agoRemoving monk’s robes matter for Sangha to decide: Mahanayake Theras
-
News7 days agoShiranthi R remanded until 13 Oct.
-
News4 days agoSri Lanka escalates anti-graft drive with Shiranthi’s jailing
-
Features7 days agoFuture of Sri Lanka’s state university system: Should it be shut down and reopened?
-
News5 days agoNPP govt. reminded of its responsibilities as US warship leaves Colombo