Spanish nationals were the first to leave the MV Hondius, which remains anchored off Tenerife, the largest island in the Spanish archipelago off the coast of West Africa. The ship arrived hours earlier.

None of the more than 140 people on the Hondius has shown symptoms of the virus, Spain’s health ministry, the World Health Organization and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said.

Those disembarking and personnel working at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife were wearing protective gear during the evacuation process, including face masks, hazmat suits and respirators.

“The entire operation is proceeding normally,” Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said.

Passengers and some crew members from more than 20 nationalities on board will be evacuated throughout Sunday into Monday.

After reaching Madrid, those evacuated on the first plane will be under quarantine, Spanish health authorities say. Only the 14 Spanish nationals on board will quarantine in the country.

Authorities have said the passengers and crew members disembarking will be checked for symptoms, have no contact with the local population and will only be taken off the ship once evacuation flights are ready to fly them to their destinations. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Spain’s health and interior ministers are supervising the operation in Tenerife.

Pope Leo XIV thanked the Canary Islands for allowing the arrival of the Hondius.

Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness.

Passengers and crew members disembarking are leaving behind their luggage, and are allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, a 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 Rotterdam, Netherlands, where it will undergo disinfection, Spanish authorities said.

The expected sailing time to Rotterdam is around five days, the cruise company said.

Evacuation and quarantine plans

The U.S., the United Kingdom and the Netherlands will send planes to evacuate their citizens. Americans on board will be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska.

Twenty-nine people will be on board the Dutch charter flight, including Dutch nationals and people of other nationalities, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said.

Five French passengers will be repatriated Sunday, and will be hospitalized for 72 hours for monitoring, after which they will quarantine at home for 45 days, France's Foreign Ministry said.

U.K. passengers and crew will be hospitalized for observation once they are flown home, British authorities say.

Australia is sending a plane, expected to arrive on Monday, to evacuate its nationals and those from nearby countries such as New Zealand, García said. Its plane will be the last to leave Tenerife, she said.

Norway has sent an ambulance plane to Tenerife with personnel trained to transport patients with high-risk infections, its Directorate for Civil Protection told public broadcaster NRK.

The ambulance plane is owned by the European Union, but operated by Norway.

Countries monitor suspected cases

British Army medics have parachuted onto the remote South Atlantic territory of Tristan da Cunha, where one of the 221 residents has a suspected case of hantavirus.

The patient was a passenger on the MV Hondius and disembarked last month.

The U.K. defense ministry says a team of six paratroopers and two medical clinicians jumped Saturday from a Royal Air Force transport plane, which also dropped oxygen and medical equipment.

Tristan da Cunha is Britain’s most remote inhabited overseas territory, about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from the nearest inhabited island, St. Helena. The group of volcanic islands has no airstrip and is usually accessible only by boat on a six-day voyage from Cape Town, South Africa.

Meanwhile, a Spanish woman in the southeastern province of Alicante suspected of being infected tested negative for hantavirus, Spanish health authorities said Saturday.

The woman was a passenger on the same flight as the Dutch woman who died in Johannesburg after traveling on the cruise ship.

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Suman Naishadham reported from Madrid. Angela Charlton in Paris, Jill Lawless in London, and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.

But Beijing’s deep economic ties to Iran, as well as trade tensions over tariff threats stretching back to Trump’s first term, could crimp the good feelings when Trump flies to Beijing this week — even though the Republican president has for years effusively praised Xi, making it clear he sees China’s leader as a competitor strong enough to warrant his respect and admiration.

Trump isn't fond of long plane rides or extended stretches away from the White House or his properties in Florida and New Jersey. He is expected to only spend parts of three days on the ground in China.

There will be plenty of pomp, but the grandeur is not expected to rival Trump's first visit to China in 2017, which Beijing dubbed a “state visit-plus.”

“Even before this whole conflagration with Iran, they weren’t going to go state visit-plus like last time, just because things are tense,” said Jonathan Czin, a former director for China at the National Security Council during the Biden administration.

Xi's ‘better understanding’ of Trump

On Trump's first-term trip, China rolled out the red carpet for his arrival, with a band playing military music and children waving flags and chanting “Welcome.”

Xi offered a tour of the Forbidden City. Trump and first lady Melania Trump even had a private dinner there. Trump was the first foreign leader since the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949 to experience what was once reserved for emperors.

The following morning brought another welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People and featured a military parade. There also was a state banquet in Trump’s honor with video highlights from the Chinese leader’s previous visit to Florida and a clip of Trump’s granddaughter Arabella singing in Chinese.

Beijing does not offer this level of spectacle to most visiting foreign leaders. When British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the Forbidden City in January, Xi did not attend and the site remained open to the public. Starmer had to contend with tourists.

Ali Wyne, senior U.S.-China research and advocacy adviser for the Washington nonprofit the Crisis Group, said the “Chinese delegation will likely do its utmost to ensure that Trump leaves Beijing believing that he has just concluded the most extraordinary state visit of his two presidencies.”

But, he said, the “pomp and circumstance would serve a different role now than they did when he first visited Beijing” because “Xi has a much better understanding of Trump, and the administration’s own national security strategy and national defense strategy recognize China as a near-peer.”

Expectations for what gets accomplished could be lower this time, said Czin, now a fellow at the Brookings Institution. He predicted that the Chinese may not offer major breakthroughs on trade or anything else because they are “working backward from our midterm elections” with the theory that the closer they get to Election Day “the more leverage they are going to have.”

The GOP is focused on retaining control of Congress, even as polling shows most Americans are unhappy with Trump’s economic policies and believe that the United States went too far in Iran. Still, the White House argues that Trump's previous firm hand with Beijing on tariffs — which the Supreme Court subsequently struck down — means the U.S. will remain in a strong position.

“President Trump cares about results, not symbols," White House spokesman Anna Kelly said. “But even still, the president has a great relationship with President Xi, and the upcoming summit in Beijing will be both symbolically and substantively significant.”

Trump and Xi may see a lot of each other this year

Trump could meet with China's leader four times in eight months.

After his visit to Beijing, Trump plans to host Xi at the White House. Trump might also attend the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Shenzhen, China. And Xi could come to the Group of 20 summit the following month at Trump’s resort in Doral, Florida.

Czin noted that Xi also is not very fond of travel, meaning not all of the planned encounters may happen. He said China's leader also does not “do personal connections" like the kind Trump relishes, noting Xi led a Chinese military purge in January that included replacing officials with long-standing personal ties to his family.

Wyne, though, said Xi also “appreciates that he is unlikely to deal with another U.S. president who admires him as greatly and embraces as narrow a view of strategic competition.”

That means Xi may "attempt to pocket as many economic and security concessions from Trump as possible,” Wyne said.

Trump has long praised Xi

Trump told The Wall Street Journal's editorial board in 2024 that Xi “was actually a really good ... I don’t want to say ‘friend.’ I don’t want to act foolish. ‘He was my friend.’ But I got along with him great.”

Trump even suggested at the time that military force might not be required to ensure that Chinese troops do not encroach on Taiwan, simply because China’s leader "respects me,” despite Trump more recently discussing potentially selling arms to Taiwan.

Trump has continued to praise the bilateral relationship since returning to the White House, even after his Beijing visit, originally scheduled for March, was postponed due to the early stages of the Iran war.

He unsuccessfully prodded China to get involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian forces choked it off and disrupted global economies. But China did use its leverage as the largest purchaser of Iranian oil to encourage Iran to agree to what has been a fragile ceasefire.

Beijing has strong economic ties to Tehran, and the war could hurt its economy, which was already projected to grow more slowly. If China can help establish lasting peace, though, that might boost its standing in negotiations on trade issues with the Trump administration.

Trade issues a sticking point

During his 2017 visit, Trump announced $250 billion in nonbinding trade deals, some of which never materialized. A round of trade deals announced in 2020 and worth $200 billion mostly never came to fruition before Trump's first term ended.

More recently, Trump’s announcement last year of steep global tariffs prompted China to cut off purchases of U.S. soybeans and clamp down on exports of rare earth minerals needed by American factories.

Tensions have eased somewhat since the U.S. reached a trade truce last fall that has limited tariffs on both sides. The administration has continued to make reducing the U.S. trade deficit with China a priority, insisting it can do so while still working to encourage trade between the two countries.

“I expect great stability in the relationship," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. "But that doesn’t mean our trade deficit can’t continue dropping.”

Kelly, the White House spokeswoman, said Trump “doesn’t travel anywhere without bringing deliverables home to our country."

"Americans can expect the president to deliver more good deals for the United States while in China,” she said.

The UAE blamed Iran for the latest attack, the latest threat to a month-old ceasefire, which the Trump administration says remains in effect.

There were no casualties reported, and no one immediately claimed responsibility.

Iran and its armed allied groups possess a large fleet of drones and have used them to carry out hundreds of strikes since the war began. The events marked the latest threats to a month-old ceasefire, which the Trump administration says remains in effect.

The pause in fighting has faced difficulties, with Iran restricting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway key to the global flow of oil, and the U.S. imposing a blockade of Iranian ports.

Washington has been awaiting Iran’s response to a new proposal for a deal to end the war, reopen the strait to shipping and roll back Iran’s nuclear program. U.S. President Donald Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran doesn’t accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program. Iran has mostly blocked the waterway since joint strikes on Feb. 28 by the U.S. and Israel launched the war, which has caused a global spike in fuel prices and rattled world markets.

One of the main sticking points in the negotiations is the fate of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The U.N. nuclear agency says Iran has more than 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.

In an interview with Iranian state media, a spokesman for the Iranian military said that forces were on “full readiness” to protect nuclear sites where the uranium is stored.

“We considered it possible that they might intend to steal it through infiltration operations or heliborne operations,” Brig. Gen. Akrami Nia told the IRNA news agency late Saturday. He didn’t offer further details.

The majority of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely still at its Isfahan nuclear complex, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi told The Associated Press last month.

The Isfahan facility was bombarded by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war last year, and faced less intense attacks in this year’s war.

Drone attacks target Gulf Arab nations

The UAE's Defense Ministry said Sunday it shot down two drones, blaming the attack on Iran.

In Kuwait, Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al Otaibi said that hostile drones entered Kuwait’s airspace early Sunday, and that forces responded “in accordance with established procedures.” The ministry didn’t say where the drones originated from.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s defense ministry said that a drone targeted a commercial ship coming from Abu Dhabi into a southern port, setting a small fire that was extinguished. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said that the attack happened 23 nautical miles (43 kilometers) northeast of Qatar’s capital, Doha. It provided no details about the ship’s owner or origin, and there was no claim of responsibility.

There have been several attacks against ships in the Persian Gulf over the past week. On Friday, the U.S. struck two Iranian oil tankers after it said that the vessels were trying to breach its blockade of Iran’s ports.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy on Sunday reiterated its warning that any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” on one of the U.S. bases in the region and enemy ships.

Pakistan is continuing to mediate during the ceasefire. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Sunday that he received a call from his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, during which the two leaders discussed the evolving regional situation and reviewed ongoing peace efforts.

Sharif wrote on X that the countries shared "brotherly bonds" and said that he looked forward to an upcoming Qatari visit to Pakistan.

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Samy Magdy reported from Cairo. Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

The 53-year-old father of four fears the strain will worsen if the war drags on, saying long hours waiting for fuel have sharply cut his income and made it increasingly difficult to support his family in Dhaka, the nation's capital, including a daughter at university and a son in college.

“My family was managing fairly well through ride-sharing," he said. “But after the fuel shortage began, I would buy fuel one day and run the bike for two days. As a result, I had to sit idle for one day, which reduced my income.”

The strain in Islam's household reflects a broader squeeze in Bangladesh, heavily dependent on imported fuel, where energy shortages have disrupted daily life, slowed industrial output and raised concerns about economic growth as global tensions push up costs and strain supplies.

Conditions have eased slightly in recent days, with shorter queues at fuel stations after the government increased supplies, but concerns persist across sectors.

Across Asia, governments are facing similar strains as the war-driven surge in energy prices rattles economies dependent on imported oil and gas.

The continent is exposed because it relies on imported fuel, much of it passing through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint for about a fifth of global oil and natural gas trade.

Higher fuel costs are leading to inflation and squeezing household budgets, while industries from manufacturing to transport are facing rising operating costs and supply disruptions.

The Asian Development Bank in late April cut growth forecasts for developing Asia and the Pacific, warning that war-driven energy disruptions would slow economies and fuel inflation. It now expects growth of 4.7% in 2026, with inflation rising to 5.2% as oil prices climb and financial conditions tighten.

Many are hoping for a quick end to the conflict and a return to normal.

“If this situation continues, we will have to move back to our village and find some other way to earn a living,” Islam, the struggling father said. It is not possible to survive in Dhaka by doing ride-sharing under these conditions.”

Energy crunch weighs on Bangladesh’s economy

Rising energy prices are also expected to strain Bangladesh’s finances, with the government likely to spend an additional $1.07 billion on LNG subsidies in the April-June quarter alone if global prices remain high.

Bangladesh has sought supplies from its big neighbor India, which has responded positively as it has diversified sources, including Russia, of fuel.

Already, authorities have imposed austerity measures to manage the crisis as global lenders warn of slower growth in the nation of more than 170 million people. Gas and diesel shortages have triggered more frequent power cuts in industrial zones.

The government has also shut fertilizer factories to divert gas to power plants, restricted evening hours for shopping malls and introduced fuel rationing.

The World Bank said in April it expects growth in Bangladesh to slow to 3.9% in the fiscal year ending in June 2026, warning that a prolonged Middle East conflict could fuel inflation, widen the current account deficit and strain public finances through higher energy subsidies.

Jean Pesme, the World Bank’s division director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, said the economy already faced “pre-existing vulnerabilities and challenges, in particular on the economic and employment front.”

The rising costs now are “obviously making the fiscal situation more difficult.”

He also warned that authorities should be cautious in raising fuel prices, saying higher costs could hurt farmers and agriculture.

Bangladesh garment industry is hit as exports slow

The energy crunch is also driving up costs and threatening Bangladesh’s garment exports, the backbone of its economy, business leaders say.

Anwar-Ul Alam Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries, said exports to Europe and the U.S. could face a significant setback. Shipments have fallen between 5% and 13% in recent months, he said. He worries that customers could lose confidence in Bangladesh’s ability to deliver and that competitor nations such as India, Vietnam and Cambodia could gain market share if the crisis persists.

Chowdhury said factory output has dropped by 30% to 40% for various reasons and that the situation has worsened since the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran, while business costs have risen by about 35% to 40%.

Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest garment exporter after China, earns about $39 billion annually from the sector, which employs around 4 million workers, mostly women from rural areas.

Alvi Islam, director of Arrival Fashion Limited, said manufacturers are facing higher costs for petroleum-based materials such as sewing threads, poly bags — plastic bags used in packaging — and cartons, while spending more on diesel generators to cope with frequent power cuts.

His company, which exports products worth about $40 million annually, now runs generators at least four hours a day during production.

“For that reason, the cost of doing business for exporting garments has increased quite significantly in past one month,” he said.

Workers worry about livelihoods

Garment worker Mosammet Runa, 35, said she fears for her family’s future if the war continues.

“Millions of people like us depend on this industry. It is how we survive,” said Runa, who, along with her husband, earns about $400 a month to support their family of six.

She said a prolonged conflict could wipe out jobs and called for an end to the fighting.

“We are innocent people. The world should not make us victims," she said.

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AP journalist Al Emrun Garjon contributed to this report.

The Cote d’Azur spectacular will play host — starting on Tuesday — to some of the most anticipated movies of the year in a constant parade of red carpets and megawatt premieres. This year, Hollywood studios are mostly on the sidelines. But for more than 78 years, Cannes has been an unparalleled showcase, and sun-dappled circus, for some of the best in cinema.

Last year that included Oscar nominees like “Sentimental Value,” “The Secret Agent” and “It Was Just an Accident.” This year is just as likely to produce a crop of contenders. In recent years, movies like “Parasite” and “Anora” have launched at Cannes and gone on to win best picture at the Academy Awards.

Presiding over the jury deciding the Palme this year is South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook. At the opening ceremony Tuesday, Cannes will also bestow an honorary Palme d’Or on Peter Jackson. Later, Barbra Streisand will get one, too.

So there will be much to keep an eye on at this year’s Cannes, including “The White Lotus.” The HBO series has come to the Croisette — the Mediterranean city's famous promenade — to shoot its fourth season.

On the screen, these are some of the movies that should stir Cannes.

‘Hope’

Na Hong-jin isn’t as well known as some of his fellow Korean filmmakers, but he may be poised for a breakout moment this year. His latest is a long-gestating sci-fi thriller that Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux said “constantly changes genres.” The cast has both Korean and Hollywood stars, including Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Taylor Russell.

‘Paper Tiger’

Though not initially announced as part of the festival competition slate, James Gray’s latest Queens-set drama was subsequently added. And it instantly became one of the most anticipated and star-studded American films at the festival. Gray, the filmmaker of “Armageddon Time” and “The Immigrant,” tells a story about two brothers (Adam Driver, Miles Teller) who become mixed up with the Russian mafia. Scarlett Johansson co-stars.

'Fjord’

The Romanian director Cristian Mungiu is a heavyweight of European cinema because of films like the 2007 Palme d’Or winner “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” and 2022’s “R.M.N.” Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve star in his latest as a Romanian-Norwegian couple who move to the wife’s remote Norwegian hometown.

‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’

Jane Schoenbrun has quickly established themselves as a vital voice in contemporary American film with 2024’s “I Saw the TV Glow” and 2021’s “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.” Playing in the Un Certain Regard section, Schoenbrun’s new one stars Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson in a movie about the making of a slasher film.

‘Fatherland’

Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski is best known for a pair of black-and-white, powerfully succinct period dramas: “Ida” and “Cold War.” His latest makes it three. It stars Hanns Zischler as the German author Thomas Mann on a road trip following World War II. Accompanying him is his daughter, played by Sandra Hüller.

‘All of a Sudden’

The Japanese auteur Ryusuke Hamaguchi makes his French-language debut. Hamaguchi’s 2021 opus “Drive My Car” made history as the first Japanese film nominated for best picture. His 2023 follow-up, “Evil Does Not Exist,” was also acclaimed. “All of a Sudden,” starring Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, is about a nursing home director and a terminally ill Japanese playwright.

‘Sheep in the Box’

Long revered for his delicate humanism, the Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda will unveil his latest. Kore-eda has already won the Palme d’Or, for 2018’s “Shoplifters.” But his three decades of moviemaking have made him a never-to-be-missed filmmaker of exquisite tenderness. The sci-fi “Sheep in the Box” is about a couple, grieving the loss of their son, who adopt an infant humanoid robot.

‘The Man I Love’

Before Gray’s film entered the competition, Ira Sachs ’ “The Man I Love” was the sole American selection. Coming quickly on the heels of Sachs’ “Peter Hujar’s Day,” with Ben Whishaw, “The Man I Love”’ stars Rami Malek as a an actor with a life-threatening illness in 1980s New York, preparing for what could be his final performance.

‘The Unknown’

The French filmmaker Arthur Harari three years ago co-wrote the Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall” with his partner, Justine Triet. In “The Unknown,” Harari directs and cowrites a film about a photographer who, after photographing a woman at a party and then following her, wakes up in her body. Starring Léa Seydoux.

‘Minotaur’

The Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev has been behind some powerfully potent dramas, including 2014’s “Leviathan” and 2017’s “Loveless” — both of which were Oscar nominated. After a near-death experience during the pandemic, Zvyagintsev returns to Cannes with a business executive in crisis in rural Russia.

’John Lennon: The Last Interview’

Steven Soderbergh ’s documentary about John Lennon’s final interview, granted at the Dakota in New York just before he was killed, drew headlines after Soderbergh acknowledged using artificial intelligence to illustrate some of Lennon’s more philosophical musings. But the film, playing in Cannes as a special screening, promises to lend unparalleled intimacy with the great Beatle.

‘Bitter Christmas’

Pedro Almodovar is among the most regular filmmakers in Cannes. This festival, he'll debut “Bitter Christmas,” a multilayered melodrama about filmmaking, grief and aging. After making his English-language debut with “The Room Next Door,” starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, Almodovar is back in his native Spain with one of his most personal films yet.

The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, with more than 140 passengers and crew on board, is headed to Spain's Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa, and is expected to arrive at the island of Tenerife early Sunday.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, along with Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, arrived on the island Saturday to coordinate the disembarkation of passengers and some crew.

“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,” Tedros added.

The WHO, Spanish authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said nobody on the Hondius is currently showing symptoms of the virus.

Hantavirus can cause life-threatening illness. It usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus.

Some Tenerife residents say they don't want the ship there

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

“I tell you, I don’t like this very much,” said 69-year-old resident Simon Vidal. “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 empathized with the boat's passengers, but were still concerned.

“The truth is that it is very worrying,” said 27-year-old Venezuelan immigrant Samantha Aguero. She added: “We feel a bit unsafe, we don’t feel as there are 100% 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.”

Passengers can take only limited belongings and will be isolated

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

The ship will not dock but will remain at anchor, with people ferried off in small boats. 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, Garcia said during a news conference in Madrid. There are currently people of more than 20 different nationalities on board.

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 Kerkhove, said in a briefing Saturday.

Both the U.S. and the U.K. have agreed to send planes to evacuate their citizens. Americans are to be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska.

All Spanish passengers will be transferred to a medical facility and quarantined, Garcia said. Oceanwide has listed 13 Spanish passengers and one Spanish crew member on board.

Those disembarking will leave behind their luggage, Garcia said, and will be allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, 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 added.

A medical evacuation plane will be on standby

According to a letter sent by the Dutch foreign and health ministers to parliament late Friday, Spain has activated the EU civil protection mechanism for a medical evacuation plane equipped for infectious diseases to be on standby in case anyone on the ship becomes ill. That person would then be transported by air to the European mainland.

The Dutch government will work with Spanish authorities and the ship company to arrange repatriation of Dutch passengers and crew as soon as possible after arrival in Tenerife, subject to medical conditions and advice from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the letter said. Those without symptoms will go into home quarantine for six weeks and be monitored by local health services.

As the ship is Dutch-flagged, the Netherlands may also temporarily accommodate people of other nationalities and monitor them in quarantine, it said.

Countries scramble to track passengers who disembarked

Health authorities across four continents were tracking down and monitoring more than two dozen passengers who disembarked before the deadly outbreak was detected. They were also scrambling to trace others who may have come into contact with them.

On April 24, nearly two weeks after the first passenger had died on board, more than two dozen people from at least 12 different countries left the ship without contact tracing, Dutch officials and the ship’s operator have said.

It wasn’t until May 2 that health authorities first confirmed hantavirus in a passenger.

Dutch public health authorities have been monitoring people who were on a flight that was briefly boarded by a Dutch ship passenger who later died and was confirmed to have hantavirus. Three people who were on the flight and had symptoms have all tested negative for hantavirus, Dutch National Institute for Public Health spokesperson Harald Wychgel told The Associated Press on Saturday.

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Becatoros reported from Sparta, Greece. Associated Press reporters Angela Charlton in Paris and Helena Alves in Tenerife contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of the name for Maria Van Kerkhove, from Kerkove in earlier versions of the story.

The victims of the April 19 shooting in Shreveport included seven siblings who were shot by their father in an attack that also killed their cousin.

The service on Mother’s Day weekend at Summer Grove Baptist Church began with a long procession of mourners slowly filing past eight white caskets with large photos of the children next to them. Gold crowns and bouquets of white flowers were placed on top of the closed caskets. A choir behind the altar and individual singers performed throughout the service.

“In spite of how you may be feeling today, we still need to know that God is still good,” Bishop Bernard Kimble, senior pastor of the Mount Olive Baptist Church, said in opening remarks.

The funeral's pamphlet contained tributes to each of the children, who ranged in age from 3 to 11. Some of them had affectionate nicknames: 3-year-old Jayla Elkins was called “Jaybae”; Kayla Pugh, 6, was “K-Mae”; and Mar’Kaydon Pugh, 10, was “K-Bug.”

Six-year-old Khedarrion Snow had “a sweet and loving heart,” and “though his life on earth was short, his light was mighty,” according to the pamphlet. Layla Pugh, 7, was “bright, intelligent, bold, and full of love” and enjoyed making TikTok videos with her siblings and cousins.

Pastor and gospel singer Kim Burrell reminded family and community members trying to make sense of the shootings that “God is still on the throne.”

“To ask the question, 'Why is this fair, God? How could you, Lord?' He’s still God,” Burrell said. “The same God that healed you from the stuff that you don’t want to tell nobody about. But he is a God that doesn’t have to give us all the clues. Just know that he makes no mistakes.”

The children’s father, Shamar Elkins, used an assault-style weapon despite a 2019 felony firearms conviction. His wife, who was seeking a divorce, and another woman were wounded in the shooting that stretched across two houses in a Shreveport neighborhood.

Elkins died after fleeing and a police pursuit. It was not clear whether he was killed by officers who fired or from a self-inflicted gunshot, according to police.

An investigation remains ongoing into the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. in more than two years.

During the service, other speakers included Shreveport Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor, who acknowledged that “there are no words sufficient to ease this pain,” while Councilman James Green implored audience members to collectively “take off our funeral face” because “this is a celebration” of the children's lives.

Indeed, churchgoers often stood clapping their hands in response to singers and speakers. The children's names were read or shown several times throughout the service, where Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux expressed the city's condolences.

“May we honor them by carrying forward the gentleness, joy and love they so freely shared,” Arceneaux said.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry ordered U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff over the next week at the Capitol and state government buildings. A message read from Landry said the victims “were the light of their homes and the heart of their classrooms. They were full of promise and found joy in the simplest things, such as dancing, playing outside and sharing laughter with family and friends. Their futures were bright and held great promise.”

“It is incumbent upon us to honor the memory of those lost by standing together against such senseless violence.”

Among those in attendance was former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, whose political career was cut short by a 2011 assassination attempt.

“She just wanted to come and just let the family know that this pain is not just in Louisiana,” said U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Louisiana. “This pain is all across the nation.”

Buses were made available afterward to transport mourners to a graveside burial. At the conclusion of the church service, Kimble prayed for healing to begin.

“Help us as we move from this spot,” he said. “Because we know, oh God, grief is only temporary. And if we'll put our hands in your favor, you'll lead us through this.”

Cox died in Marietta, Georgia, according to the Atlanta Braves. He had a stroke in 2019 and heart issues that complicated his recovery.

“Bobby was the best manager to ever wear a Braves uniform. He led our team to 14 straight division titles, five National League pennants, and the unforgettable World Series title in 1995. His Braves managerial legacy will never be matched,” the Braves said in a statement.

Cox took over a last-place team in June 1990 and led the Braves to a worst-to-first finish in 1991, losing the World Series to the Minnesota Twins in seven games. That was the start of what was to become a record 14 consecutive division titles, a feat no professional team in any sport had accomplished.

He managed the Braves for 25 years and led Atlanta to its first World Series title in 1995, retired after the 2010 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

Cox ranks fourth all-time with 2,504 wins, fifth with 4,508 games, first with 15 division titles including a record 14 in a row, first with 16 playoff appearances and fourth with 67 playoff victories. Only Connie Mack, John McGraw and Tony La Russa had more regular-season wins than Cox.

“He was the first one to the park every day," Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said of Cox. "He’d have his spikes on at 12 o’clock. I never saw a manager wear spikes, but that was one of Bobby’s trademarks. He just loved the game. He loved the game, and he loved leading a group of men trying to win a championship.”

Cox also was first in being ejected from 158 regular-season games. Weiss, who called Cox instrumental in bringing him back to the Braves as a bench coach, was asked if he might get tossed in Cox's honor.

“It’s a different game now, you know, a very different era,” Weiss said. "Nobody can do it like Bobby, believe me.”

Cox's death came four days after that of fellow Atlanta icon Ted Turner, who as owner of Braves lured Cox back to the team in 1990.

The Braves retired Cox’s No. 6 jersey in 2011, when he joined the team’s Hall of Fame.

“RIP my second father,” Andruw Jones wrote on social media. The 10-time Gold Glove winner with Atlanta in July will become the sixth who played for Cox with the Braves to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Cox spent 29 seasons as a major league manager, including four with Toronto. He managed 16 postseason teams. He brought an old-school approach to the dugout. He always wore spikes and stirrups, and his fatherly demeanor inspired loyalty from his players.

Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux said players around the league always wanted to know what it was like playing for Bobby Cox: “The first word that comes to mind is respect. He had that from players. When Bobby talked, we listened. We wanted to play for him.”

Cox was the first NL manager to win at least 100 games in a season five times. He was Manager of the Year four times and the only one to win in consecutive years (2004, 2005). He also had close ties with his successors, Fredi González and Brian Snitker.

He regularly attended games and spring training before a stroke in 2019 that affected his speech and movement. Cox recovered enough to visit the Braves later that season, watching a game from the press box level. His wife, Pam, said in 2020 that heart trouble slowed his recovery from the stroke.

His long marriage survived a 1995 confrontation in which he was accused of hitting his wife in the face. He was charged with simple battery and in custody for an hour. The following day, Bobby and Pam appeared at a news conference and each denied he hit her in the face.

Cox said the couple would seek counseling. The charge was eventually dropped.

Despite all his regular-season success, Cox won only the one World Series title in five tries. He led the Braves to Atlanta’s first major professional sports championship in 1995, beating the Cleveland Indians in six games to win the World Series. Cox said critics usually focused on the World Series losses instead.

The Braves lost in 1992 to Toronto in six games and in 1996 in six to the New York Yankees before being swept by the Yankees in 1999.

“It’s a game of breaks when you get down to a four-game, must-win series,” Cox said. “We’ve played well. We’re proud of what we’ve done. They always ask that, though. It is irritating, to be honest with you.”

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 21, 1941, Cox graduated from Selma High School in California in 1959 and attended nearby Reedley Junior College before signing with the Dodgers for a $40,000 bonus.

He spent seven years in the Dodgers’ farm system before being traded to the Braves’ organization, playing one year at Richmond (1967). He was traded to the Yankees for Bob Tillman and Dale Roberts and played third base for his only two seasons in the majors (1968-69) before bad knees forced him to retire at age 30.

Cox began the first of six years as a minor league manager in 1971. He returned to the majors in 1977 as a first base coach for the Yankees, who went on to win the World Series.

His first major league managerial job came with the Braves in 1978. The best season of his first stint in Atlanta was an 81-80 finish in 1980, and he went 266-323 in four seasons.

The Toronto Blue Jays hired Cox in 1982, and he led them to their first American League East championship in 1985, in his fourth and final year there. He was lured back to the Braves as general manager by Turner, their outrageous owner and visionary media mogul, in 1986.

As GM, his Atlanta teams never had a winning season. Cox did develop players key to the Braves’ success in the ’90s: Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Jeff Blauser, Mark Lemke, Dave Justice, Javy Lopez and Ron Gant. He also had two No. 1 draft picks who excelled, Steve Avery and Chipper Jones.

Cox returned as field manager on June 22, 1990, after Russ Nixon was fired.

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman played the first 12 seasons of his career with the Braves. He recalled Cox giving him 80 plate appearances in spring training when he was 19. Freeman has a jersey signed from Cox saying, “To Freddie, keep on hitting.”

“He lived a great life,” Freeman said. "Everyone loved him in baseball. Braves country loved him.”

Cox usually shied away from the limelight and was uncomfortable when talking about himself.

“Honestly, I’m just doing my job. I let everything else fall where it may,” he said.

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AP freelance writer Dan Greenspan contributed from Los Angeles.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

About 1.6 million Virginians voted “yes” on the referendum, while approximately 1.5 million voted “no.” Despite the narrow margin, the court ruled the vote does not count, saying lawmakers failed to follow the steps required by the Virginia Constitution to place the amendment on the ballot.

As a result, Virginia’s congressional maps will remain unchanged, maintaining its current 6-5 split.

Residents weigh in

Reactions among Virginia residents have been divided. Demetrius Lockley, a Charlottesville resident and Democrat, said the ruling felt wrong.

“I think it’s unfair, unjust,” Lockley said.

John Benson, a Christiansburg resident and Republican, saw the ruling differently.

“Whatever the courts decided is probably best for everybody,” Benson said.

Benson: Ruling protects rural Virginia’s voice

Benson said he supports the ruling, arguing the current maps give Southwest Virginia a stronger voice in state politics.

“We always have a disadvantage on this part of the state anyway because I guess the high population on the northern end of the state,” Benson said. “It seems like we can vote one way here and they vote a different way up there and they always win.”

Benson also said he viewed the referendum itself with skepticism.

“Democrats were trying to pull a shady one there and that way they don’t get their agenda as easy as they normally would have,” Benson said.

Lockley: Ruling silences minority communities

Lockley said she was disappointed by the decision, arguing it silences minority communities.

“The Republicans, even though I’m a Democrat, they’re able to do whatever they want to do and I believe it’s just not right because they’re able to take over all the states and it’s basically being that all the Black minorities is being pushed out,” Lockley said.

Lockley also said she remains hopeful for the future of American democracy.

“I thought America was better than that,” Lockley said. “I hope America gets back to what it needs to be and that’s one for all.”

What comes next

With the court’s decision now final, the redistricting plan voters weighed in on last month will not move forward, at least for now.

However, the broader national debate over redistricting continues — with multiple states looking to redraw congressional maps ahead of midterm elections.

Temperatures will be seasonal today and on Mother’s Day, actually, a couple of degrees above average! We will switch up to a much cooler pattern for the start of next work week in the wake of a cold front.

Hour by hour, we have a quick warm-up into the upper 70s today. It will actually feel a bit warmer than the actual air temperatures because of the abundant sunshine!

Futurecast shows just how sparse the Mother’s Day afternoon showers will be. If you have outdoor plans with Mom, the best plan will be to bump those to the later morning and early afternoon hours, as the hit or miss showers will mainly move in after 5 PM.

Although we love the dry weather and sunshine, we need the rain badly. The drought is now severe and extreme across Southwest Virginia.

Below is the amount of rainfall we need within the next month to break us out of the drought status. Any way you cut it, we will likely not be drought-free by the end of the month.

The mostly dry weather continues this weekend, with the next best chance of shower and storm activity arriving Monday and Wednesday of next week.