The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed cases linked to the hantavirus-hit cruise ship have risen

Global health officials have said the number of hantavirus cases linked to a cruise ship have risen, with more cases ‘possible’.

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday (May 7) there are now five confirmed cases of hantavirus in the outbreak linked to the Dutch-flagged cruise ship, MV Hondius – up from two confirmed cases on May 4.

A total of eight cases of the virus have been reported, with five cases confirmed and three suspected, Tedros Ghebreyesus told reporters.

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He added that it is ‘possible’ that more cases may be confirmed due to the long incubation period of the virus, which can be ‘up to six weeks’.

He said: “WHO is aware of reports of other people with symptoms who may have had contact with one of the passengers. In each case, we are in close contact with the relevant authorities.

“Given the incubation period of the Andes virus, which can be up to six weeks, it’s possible that more cases may be reported.”

The strain involved in the outbreak is called the Andes virus – the only known hantavirus strain capable of spreading between humans. It is most likely to be transmitted between household members, intimate partners and people providing medical care, Dr Ghebreyesus said.

Three passengers have died amid the outbreak, while four others have been medically evacuated from the ship for treatment. Two British passengers who were medically evacuated from the ship are improving, global health officials have said.

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, director of the department of epidemic and pandemic threat management at the WHO said two patients, including one Brit, remain in hospital in the Netherlands, while a British passenger is in intensive care in South Africa.

She told a WHO press briefing: “And I am very happy to say the patient in South Africa is doing better, and the two patients in the Netherlands we hear are stable. So that is actually very good news.”

Is hantavirus the ‘new Covid pandemic’?

The WHO said in a previous update that there was growing evidence of limited human-to-human transmission among close contacts on board MV Hondius, which is rare for hantaviruses.

Hantaviruses are usually spread by rodents, particularly rats. People can become infected with direct contact with rodent urine, saliva or droppings.

But unlike more contagious viruses like Covid-19 and flu, which spread more easily, hantavirus is rarely infectious

In an update on Thursday, Dr Van Kerkhove stressed it was not the start of a pandemic, saying: “This is not coronavirus. This is a very different virus. We know this virus, hantaviruses have been around for quite a while…But I want to be unequivocal here – this is not SARS-CoV-2; this is not the start of a Covid pandemic.”

The WHO’s Abdirahman Sheikh Mahamud described the outbreak is ‘a cluster in a confined space with close contact’.

He said: “We don’t anticipate a large epidemic with experience our member states have and the actions they have taken. We believe that this will not lead to subsequent chain of transmission.”

While experts stress the infection is ‘serious’, the virus is typically only spread with close and sustained contact.

As Prof Ellen Brooks Pollock, Professor in Infectious Disease Modelling, University of Bristol, explained: “Clusters of Hantavirus usually involve a limited number of people, but as we’ve seen, infection is serious.

“Where person-to-person transmission has been documented, it is usually with sustained and close contact, so the risk to the general population is low.

“However, symptoms can take weeks to appear, so it’s important that the individuals that have returned to the UK refrain from close contact with others for a period of weeks.”

Emergency services flooded the area on Thursday morning

A baby has died following an incident at a home in south Manchester. A large emergency services presence was reported on Platt Lane in Fallowfield on Thursday morning (May 7).

The air ambulance was seen landing nearby. Neighbours reported seeing ambulances and police cars at the scene, close to the junction with Yew Tree Road.

One person said she saw a paramedic run out of a property with a baby. “It was terrifying,” she said. “Very scary.”

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Another neighbour said: “There was a lot of police and two ambulances. I heard one of them mention a child.”

Detectives and forensic crime scene investigation (CSI) officers were seen as an investigation began.

“I didn’t see or hear anything until a police officer knocked on my door,” a neighbour told the Manchester Evening News.

“There was one in uniform and one in plain clothes. The one in plain clothes just said there had been an incident and asked if I’d heard anything. He didn’t say any more.”

The Manchester Evening News understands a baby died at the scene. It is not yet known if the child’s death is being treated as suspicious.

The North West Ambulance Service confirmed paramedics attended an incident at a private address, but declined to give further details.

If you’re of the opinion that Thursday is not the new Friday and you’d rather skip after-work drinks for a cosy night in, Netflix has helpfully compiled its weekly top TV shows to show you what you should be watching.

From Sex Education’s Asa Butterfield in a harrowing cult thriller to Kate Hudson ending up in charge of a basketball team, here are the streaming platform’s top five shows causing a stir right now.

5. Running Point: Season 2 – 6,700,000 views

Season two of Running Point is proving just as popular as the first, with Kate Hudson back as Isla Gordon, still trying to prove she’s the right person to run the LA Waves basketball outfit.

This time, it’s less about settling in and more about holding everything together as her brother Cam reappears, stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

Light-hearted and a bit kooky, this season so far has been pretty well received over on Rotten Tomatoes with a 90% rating, and that popularity continues on Netflix, with 6,700,000 views.

4. If Wishes Could Kill – 7,500,000 views

Netflix’s first Korean young adult horror series follows a mysterious app that promises to grant wishes — then starts a countdown to death. As a group of teens becomes entangled, they must break the deadly chain to survive.

With only eight episodes ranging mostly from 35-45 minutes, this will be a quick binge that might leave you up late at night…but it does have 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, so the lack of sleep might be worth it.

3. Unchosen: Season 1 – 8,800,000 views

Unchosen gives the BAFTA-winning Molly Windsor plenty to get her teeth into as Rosie, a young woman who drifts into a tight-knit group that quickly stops feeling quite so friendly and a little more stifling.

Inspired by the real cults that exist in the UK, Unchosen will ‘send shivers down your spine’ and received a 4-star review from Metro’s Sabrina Barr.

This might be your next must-watch, especially as the thriller has come out in the same release window Netflix used for Baby Reindeer and Adolescence. And they didn’t do too badly, did they?

Perhaps a second week in the charts is just the beginning for this series.

2. Should I Marry A Murderer? – 10,600,000 views

While the answer to this question may seem fairly straightforward, this limited series is less so.

With twists and turns galore, this documentary series follows a fiancée turned key witness who reveals how she stayed engaged to a man accused of murder while gathering evidence against him.

It has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes — although it has only just been released, so maybe you need to try it yourself to see if this is one you should stream.

1. Man on Fire – 11,000,000 views

It’s safe to say that the refashioned Man on Fire has been a hit, as the seven-parter has already racked up 11 million views in its first four days on the streamer.

Both the TV show and film are based on A.J. Quinnell’s 1980 novel of the same name. The show has swapped out Denzel Washington as the fearsome yet fragile bodyguard John Creasy for The Watchmen’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen ll. 

So far, the show has amassed a 62 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is an uptick from the original film at 39 per cent, with critics praising Abdul-Mateen’s performance.

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A Colorado man pleaded guilty to state charges including murder on Thursday for a fatal 2025 firebombing attack on a group of Jewish marchers.

The June attack in Boulder targeted a group of elderly activists advocating on behalf of Israeli hostages in Gaza, ultimately leaving one dead and a dozen people injured.

“Guilty,” Mohamed Soliman reportedly told a state court through an Arabic interpreter.

Soliman, 46, still faces federal charges related to the attack, in which he used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to ambush the marchers. Originally from Egypt, Soliman disguised himself as a gardener and shouted “Free Palestine!” during the attack.

He faces life in prison without parole.

About a month after the attack, Karen Diamond, 82, died of injuries she sustained in the firebombing.

Soliman has pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges against him.

The 46-year-old came to the U.S. with his family from Kuwait in 2022 and applied for asylum, though federal officials say he was living in the U.S. illegally at the time of the attack.

After his arrest, Soliman told police he had planned the attack for a year and would do it again if could, according to federal officials. He also allegedly told police he wanted to “to kill all Zionist people.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.

In a statement, the NIO said: “We welcome the clarity provided today by the Supreme Court, which has confirmed that the ICRIR is fully equipped to deliver human rights-compliant investigations, and reaffirms the Government’s position on the interpretation and application of Article 2 of the Windsor Framework.

Netflix’s The Crown actor Ben Miles has landed a role in an upcoming series on ITV

The Crown’s Ben Miles is to star in ITV‘s “suspenseful” new space thriller about a woman who vanishes during a lunar mission.

The actor, who played British Royal Air Force officer Peter Townsend in the royal drama, joins Adolescence star Ashley Walters in six-part series First Woman.

Ashley plays Ben Reith, who wakes up one morning to discover his wife Claire (Andrea Riseborough) has disappeared. It marks the beginning of an international news story “because Claire is an astronaut crewing the UK’s first moonbase and she’s disappeared into the long lunar night”, according to the broadcaster‘s synopsis.

It adds: “Claire is the first woman to set foot on the moon.

“A biologist taking part in a groundbreaking research project, her disappearance throws suspicion on her fellow astronauts and China’s rival base.

“With hundreds of thousands of miles between them, can Ben uncover the truth behind his wife’s disappearance?”

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The cast also includes Pride and Prejudice star Jennifer Ehle and Alex Hassell, who will soon be seen reprising the role of Rupert Campbell-Black in the second series of steamy Disney+ hit Rivals.

Ben, who is also known for conspiracy thriller The Capture, is joining the cast of First Woman alongside The Tower’s Jimmy Akingbola, Fra Fee from Unchosen, You’s Kathryn Gallagher, Nautilus’ Shazad Latif and Neuromancer’s Christian Ochoa Lavernia.

Sharing the cast update on Instagram, ITV teased: “A groundbreaking project. A missing biologist. A mystery that reaches across the stars.”

Polly Hill, ITV’s director of drama, said the series would take viewers on “an incredible journey”, adding: “I wanted ITV to make this the moment I read it.

“The team that has come on board on and off screen is incredible, and a testament to the wonderful and original scripts.”

When the series was announced, creator Lydia Yeoman said: “Set in the exciting (and as-yet-unexplored) world of private space travel, First Woman is a thriller unlike anything else we’ve seen.

“This is the story of a marriage put through the ultimate test. It’s rare that you get given the opportunity to tell a story with such ambition and scope, and we’re eternally grateful to Polly at ITV and Alcon for allowing us to do that.”

A CPR trainer suffered a real heart attack while demonstrating the signs of a cardiac arrest in Canada.

Karl Arps and his students had the fright of their lives when the 72-year-old first aid instructor went into a cardiac arrest during a training session.

Arps was showing his students how to spot the symptoms of one when he suffered a medical emergency in March.

He ended up being rushed to the hospital for an emergency triple bypass surgery following the incident.

Students said they first thought he was pretending before realising it was real.

Arps was feeling dizzy in the moments before the attack, while hearing his students around him saying he didn’t look well.

Next time he came around was in the back of an ambulance.

He told As It Happens: ‘From what I was told, they did everything like we told them to do in CPR class.

‘Thank you does not seem enough. They saved my life, period.’

The students jumped into action when Arp’s hands curled outward, his face contorted and he started to snore, Logan Lehrer, a firefighter learning first aid at the Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, said.

Another instructor tried to wake up Arps before realising he wasn’t fooling around.

He told CBC: ‘That’s immediately when we started responding to the situation.’

Lehrer alerted the emergency services, while five other students performed CPR and used a defibrillator on the 72-year-old.

Arps said after his bypass surgery that he is lucky to be alive as many heart attack cases he has been involved with end up passing away even after successful CPR.

He CBC: ‘I’ve been in practice for a quarter of a century, and I can count the number of CPR saves that I’ve had on one hand.

‘[Sometimes] we get a pulse back in the ambulance or on scene, but the person ends up passing away two or three days later in the hospital.’

An ambulance chief, Nick Romenesko, said the students’ early recognition and the immediate actions ‘directly contributed to Mr Arp’s positive outcome.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Graham Norton almost said no to The Neighbourhood, which has proven to be a bit of a miss in terms of viewing figures, before ITV’s brand new game series went to air

Graham Norton almost said no to The Neighbourhood before the series went to air. The presenter, 63, is front and centre on the broadcaster’s new gameshow format in which real-life households have gathered in a purpose-built neighbourhood to be in with a chance of winning a £250,000 cash prize.

There were clearly high hopes for the series as it premiered in between both segments of the explosive I’m A Celebrity…South Africa final on April 24, and has been airing at 9pm on Thursdays and Fridays ever since, where it has managed to pull in just half a million viewers.

Just hours after the sudden schedule change was confirmed, comments made by the talk show host have emerged, where he admitted that he can be “very lazy” with work and only agreed to fully commit to the project once he heard producers explain it in depth to him.

READ MORE: Why has Graham Norton’s show been pulled from ITV primetime slot?READ MORE: Graham Norton’s big budget ITV show The Neighbourhood pulled from prime time and replaced

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Speaking before the series launched, Graham told an audience in the Lake District, where the show is filmed: “You are the first people in the world to get a sneak peek at The Neighbourhood, and it’s a show that I’m really excited to be at the helm.

“Anyone that knows me will know that as much as I enjoy my job, I’m also very lazy, so when the brilliant teams from Lifted Entertainment and The Garden asked me in for the pitch, I thought, well I’ll do that but then I’ll say no. And then as I was sitting there, I thought, ‘Oh, this is really good. I have to say yes to this,’ so here I am!”

Despite Graham’s optimistic outlook on the whole thing from the start, the programme will now air at 10.45pm which takes it away from the coveted slot it was initially given, implying that it has not lived up to expectations in terms of viewing figures.

This Thursday, viewers tuning in at 9pm will instead see a repeat of Davina McCall’s Long Lost Family, and an episode of Beat The Chasers: Celebrity Special, which was initially aired in 2021, will be shown instead. A spokesperson for ITV confirmed the schedule shift as they said said: “The full box set of The Neighbourhood is now available to stream on ITVX. Additionally, the show will continue to air in an evening slot on ITV.”

But sources have claimed that whilst the broadcaster pulled out all the stops to make the programme into a hit, it just hasn’t gone that way in the end. An insider told The Sun : “They threw everything at The Neighbourhood to make it a big success, but it’s ended up a bit of a damp squib.”

The six households competing are The Bradons, The Kandolas & Samra, The Lozman-Sturrocks, The Pescuds, The Scouse Haus and The Uni Boys. Challenges put every neighbour to the limit as they try and eliminate one another without becoming unpopular enough to get the axe themselves.

Opening up on his first reaction when he saw the entirety of the set, Graham said: “Arriving in Derbyshire and seeing the set, I’d seen pictures but I didn’t quite understand the scale of it. It really is like being on a movie set, except it’s 360 – everywhere you look, it’s real.

“The art department did an extraordinary job of building up that town square where we do the removals, the pub, the cafe, the interiors of the houses. It really took my breath away!

The Neighbourhood is available to watch on ITVX. Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads

Until recently, AI’s role in research felt like having a useful assistant. It could summarise a paper, clean up a dataset or draft an abstract. Researchers were still in charge of the thinking.

That changed in late 2025 when cutting-edge “frontier” AI models became capable of reasoning and planning reliably by themselves. A key feature of these models is “tool calling” – the ability to interact with external tools in order to act on the world, not just describe it.

This marks the rise of agentic AI: systems that do not just respond to instructions but can independently plan, execute and iterate. In science as in other fields, chatbots have become coworkers that can autonomously complete real work, end to end.

An example of this is Tokyo-based Sakana AI’s The AI Scientist. Unveiled in mid-2025 and now in its second iteration, the Japanese tech company bills this as “the first comprehensive system for fully automatic scientific discovery”.

The AI Scientist scans existing literature, generates hypotheses, writes and executes code, analyses results and produces a full research paper – largely without human involvement. It reasons, fails and revises, just as a junior scientist would.

The proof? An AI Scientist academic paper describing “a pipeline for automating the entire scientific process end to end” was accepted by the International Conference on Learning Representations and published in the scientific journal Nature in March 2026, following peer review.

This represents something genuinely new: an autonomous AI system passing a milder version of the Turing test by demonstrating scientific quality, if not (yet) machine intelligence.

Other significant achievements include Singapore-based startup Analemma carrying out a live demonstration of its Fully Automated Research System (Fars) in February. It produced 166 complete machine-learning research papers in roughly 417 hours for around US$1,100 (£810). That’s one academic paper every 2.5 hours at a cost that would sustain a research assistant for a couple of weeks.

And Google Cloud AI Research recently unveiled PaperOrchestra, which takes a researcher’s raw experimental logs and rough notes and converts them into a submission-ready manuscript, with figures and verified citations. In blind evaluations by 11 AI researchers, it easily outperformed existing autonomous systems in this area.

Having spent two decades researching disruptive technological innovations, I believe a significant threshold has been crossed. While there is a way to go before AI systems match the very best human-produced work, the era of fully automated research has arrived.

Implications for academia

The arrival of autonomous research systems lands on an academic system under severe strain in many countries. Over the last decade, the number of papers submitted to academic journals has grown much faster than the pool of qualified peer reviewers, leading to suggestions that the science publication system is being “overwhelmed”.

If systems like Fars can produce thousands of papers per year, the publication infrastructure of science faces a volume it was never designed to handle. Some academic reviews have already been identified as using AI-generated content. As submission numbers continue to rise, this may alter the role of a published academic paper as a definitive signal of the quality and skills of human researchers.

An optimistic take is that AI may shift academia away from its strong reliance on quantity-based metrics, in favour of how influential or innovative publications are. This is a reform critics of the current system have long called for.

Less optimistically, as AI research scales up, an academic system designed for coherent, methodologically defensible contributions may inflate the proportion of incremental, rather than radically novel, scientific contributions. Both the quality and originality of research could suffer as a result.

Science has always needed its heretics to advance. Italian astronomer Galileo, the “father of modern science”, was forced to recant his defence of heliocentrism before the Catholic Church’s Inquisition. Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis died in a psychiatric institution having failed to convince his colleagues that handwashing could save lives.

Yet historically, the ability of scientific institutions to encourage radical approaches has also been a mainstaple of how science has progressed. To sustain this, AI systems will need to be trained to maximise novelty and transformation, rather than plausibility and incremental progress.

AI’s impact on creative industries

The transformative effects of this new breeed of AI extend well beyond scientific research. A striking example is The Epstein Files. This fully AI-generated podcast reached number one the UK Apple Podcasts and Spotify charts in early 2026, drawing 700,000 downloads in its first week.

Music is further along and more conflicted. By mid-2025, the fully AI-generated band The Velvet Sundown had amassed over a million monthly Spotify listeners. In 2026, the platform was forced to introduce artist-protection features after AI tracks began displacing human music on popular playlists, while Deezer, facing roughly 50,000 AI-generated uploads daily, began excluding them from curated lists.

Ownership remains the elephant in the room. US courts have ruled that AI-generated works cannot be copyrighted, since human authorship remains a legal requirement. AI can produce at industrial scale, but no one can own the output legally.

This matters far beyond intellectual property law. In creative industries, it threatens the royalty streams, licensing deals and catalogue valuations on which artists, labels and publishers have built their entire business models for generations.

In science, meanwhile, it is destabilising the entire incentive architecture, which rests on the foundational assumption that knowledge is both generated and owned by humans. When that assumption dissolves, so does much of the institutional logic that has governed how we produce, reward and trust expertise.

The question, across all these fields, is no longer whether AI can produce the work. Rather, it is whether sufficient thought has gone into what we will gain and lose when it does.