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BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
President Trump has said the United States will withdraw many more than 5,000 troops from Germany, saying numbers will be "cut way down." The withdrawal of 5,000 soldiers was announced on Friday, leading to criticism from within Mr. Trump's Republican Party, including from the chairmen of the two U.S. Congressional Armed Services Committees. Peter Bowes is in Washington. This is a significant rebuke of the Pentagon by two high-profile chairmen of the respective Armed Services Committees in the House and the Senate speaking with one voice here saying that they are concerned about this move which the Pentagon says will take place in the next six to twelve months. They say it sends the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin and by that they mean it sends a signal of weakness. President Trump has said he's reviewing a new Iranian peace proposal but warned that he couldn't imagine it would be acceptable. He said, without elaborating, that the Iranian government hadn't paid a big enough price for what it had done to humanity and the world over 47 years. Earlier Iranian state media said Tehran has sent a 14-point proposal via Pakistan in response to a nine-point plan proposed by the U.S. At least seven people have been killed in southern Lebanon in Israeli strikes despite the ceasefire. The Israeli army is continuing to destroy buildings in the south. A Catholic convent in a border village was among the latest to be bulldozed. The IDF said Hezbollah had used the compound to launch rockets towards Israel, a claim dismissed by the Catholic Church in Lebanon. Spain has condemned the detention of one of its citizens by Israel, one of two pro-Palestinian activists still held from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla intercepted off the Greek coast. The pair were detained in international waters by Israeli forces and taken to Israel for questioning. Spain's foreign minister called the detentions illegal. Wyre Davies is in Jerusalem. Still a great deal of international concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. There's starvation, thousands of people living in absolute poverty, people still being killed and of course is that Israeli blockade which is preventing a lot of aid getting into Gaza and that's why over the last few months we've seen these international flotillas of various boats from various countries trying to get aid into Gaza and this latest flotilla was stopped on Thursday. As many as 50 boats in this flotilla, 22 of them were stopped by the Israeli Navy. At least five people have been killed in a drone strike in Sudan's capital, Khartoum. Witnesses say the drone hit a civilian vehicle on Saturday. It's the second such attack in the city this week. World news from the BBC. Passengers have been left stranded at U.S. airports after the low-cost Spirit Airlines was forced out of business by rising fuel prices caused by the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. Several other U.S. airlines have offered discounted prices on previous Spirit routes. Temesghen Debesai reports. Air travelers across the United States have voiced frustration after Spirit Airlines suddenly ceased operations, with many saying the budget carrier's closure removes a key low-cost option. The airline said rising fuel prices had made it unsustainable to continue operating. On Saturday it confirmed last-minute talks with creditors had collapsed. Despite reports, the Trump administration had been considering a bailout. Other airlines have stepped in to provide stranded passengers with discounted flights home and pledged preferential hiring for the company's 17,000 former employees. The British government is allowing airlines more freedom to reduce flight schedules over concerns about the impact of fuel shortages caused by the Iran war. The move will see firms maintain valuable take-off and landing slots at busy airports even if they are used less than 80 percent of the time. It is designed to help airlines plan schedules in advance and [*advoid] avoid last-minute cancellations. A manufacturer of the United States' most widely used abortion pill has asked the Supreme Court to allow postal deliveries of the medication a day after a lower court halted them. On Friday, an appeals court temporarily blocked postal delivery of Miffy Pristone. The new chief executive of the U.S. conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, Greg Abel, has sought to assure shareholders that he will invest thoughtfully and challenge bureaucracy as he presided over his first annual meeting. He took over from the long-time leader Warren Buffett in January. BBC News. |