Lauren Baer

The MV Hondias is still anchored off the coast of Cape Verde as world governments squabble over how to extract the passengers safely.

At least eight people are believed to have been infected with hantavirus, and three of them have died.

Three more sick patients were removed from the ship this morning, but most of the 150 passengers and crew remain on the small ship, sequestered in cabins to avoid infection.

The current plan is for the ship to sail three days to the Canary Islands, but the Spanish government is still sparring with local authorities over the decision.

As with Cape Verde, the Canary Islands are refusing to take the passengers.

Hantavirus is an extremely deadly rodent-borne illness that kills almost half of those infected.

Authorities have not yet ruled out a known strain that can pass from human to human, but fortunately, it is not easily spread.

Just in case, efforts are underway to trace the contacts of known infected individuals.

Crews have been deployed to sanitize the ship and deliver meals, and no rodents have been found on board.

The 21-year-old, whose identity has not been disclosed due to Austrian privacy law, planned to detonate a homemade explosive outside Vienna's Ernst Hoppel Stadium as Swift performed.

U.S.

intelligence services shared information with Austrian authorities, who were then able to apprehend the would-be bomber one day before the concert.

The defendant was allegedly in contact with members of the Islamic State prior to the plot, discussing bomb-making techniques and the possibility of purchasing weapons.

Following the guilty plea, defense attorneys say that their client is deeply regretful, stating, quote, he says it was the biggest mistake of his life.

Under Austrian law, the defendant now faces up to 20 years in prison.

The First Lady released a brief statement from the White House Thursday morning and denounced any connection to Epstein, despite having replied once by email to Ghislaine Maxwell, which Melania called a, quote, polite reply and trivial note.

Trump also called for action to bring victim testimony into the open and into the congressional record.

A federal judge sentenced Jasmeen Sangha to 15 years in prison for supplying the ketamine that killed Matthew Perry in 2023, making her the third of five defendants to be sentenced and the only one to admit direct responsibility for his death.

In court, Senga said she carries her shame, quote, like a jacket and sought a reduced sentence.

Her lawyers even argued the time she had spent in jail up until the sentencing should suffice.