Summary
Spain prepares for MV Hodius, the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, to dock early Sunday in the Canary Islands. Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands have confirmed they will send planes to repatriate nationals from their respective countries aboard the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak. The European Union is sending two more planes for the remaining European citizens, and the US and UK have also confirmed planes and contingency plans for non-EU citizens.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization’s director-general, told the people of Tenerife that risk from hantavirus-hit ship is “low”. “The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment,” he wrote in a direct message. “But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid.”
A three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine kicked off today in time for Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular holiday. The ceasefire will include “a suspension of all “kinetic activity” and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country – but the Kremlin warned on Saturday that a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine was still “a very long way” off.
Vladimir Putin presided over a notably scaled-back Victory Day parade on Red Square on Saturday, with the ceremony lasting just 45 minutes - roughly half the length of previous years - as security fears and the realities of a grinding war in Ukraine cast a shadow over celebrations. Though Putin struck a defiant tone, the reality on the ground told a different story. The customary display of missiles and armoured vehicles was absent entirely, replaced by a video showcasing Russia’s drone capabilities and nuclear arsenal.
The pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. Saturday’s ceremony – during which Magyar had invited people to join him to “write Hungarian history” together and “step through the gate of regime change” – comes a month after his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
Video: A scaled-down Victory Day parade in Russia's Red Square
Russia held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years due to security concerns over Ukraine drone strikes. The parade on Red Square marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and was once an opportunity to show off Russia’s vast military hardware and nuclear missiles, but this year there were no tanks rolling over the cobbles of the Moscow square.
