US war latest: Germany responds to Trump’s decision to withdraw 5,000 troops as dispute deepens

It comes after Trump said he is withdrawing 5,000 troops from Nato ally Germany after Pentagon calls out 'inappropriate and unhelpful' comments
Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius has said it was “foreseeable” that the US would withdraw troops from Europe , as the transatlantic rift over the Iran war deepens.

"It was foreseeable that the US would withdraw troops from Europe, including Germany," Mr Pistorius said in response to the decision.

The US president announced he was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Nato ally Germany following a war of words which erupted when German chancellor Friedrich Merz said the US was being “humiliated” by Iran and questioned its exit strategy from the war.

On Thursday, Mr Trump said his German counterpart has been “totally ineffective” in helping end the Ukraine war and should focus on “fixing his broken Country”.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has declared he is “not satisfied” by the peace deals offered by Iran.

The Iranians are “trying to make a good deal [for them] and we’re not going to let that happen,” he added.

“They've got to make a bad deal.

Maybe we're better off not making a deal at all”.

Three killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanese town
Three more people have been killed in Israel in airstrikes on a southern Lebanese town, as Israeli bombardment continues despite a temporary ceasefire agreed weeks ago.

According to Lebanon’s state media, at least three were killed in an Israeli attack on the town of Choukine, in the Nabatieh district.

Al Jazeera reports that this brings the death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon to 10.

Iran war shows value of Ukraine as ally, says Sunak
Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, has written in The Times about the UK’s relationship with Ukraine, and how it has been impacted by the ongoing war in Iran.

“The Iran conflict has confirmed that the nature of warfare has changed, and Ukraine is the western-aligned nation that knows best how to fight in this new way,” Mr Sunak wrote.

“This is why so many Gulf states have rushed to sign defence deals with Kyiv since the Iranian attacks started.”
The former prime minister says that Kyiv’s defence tech prowess is what makes it such a valuable partner to the UK.

Air India cuts nearly 100 flights after Iran war sends fuel prices soaring
Air India is cutting nearly 100 flights as soaring jet fuel costs take a toll on the struggling flag carrier, deepening the fallout on the aviation sector of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

CEO Campbell Wilson said the airline had already reduced overseas operations for May as increasing fuel costs and airspace restrictions in India’s neighbourhood were making its overseas routes way too expensive to operate.

Given the situation appeared unlikely to improve, especially as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continued to disrupt fuel supplies, the airline was making additional cuts for June and July.

“We have reduced some flying for April and May,” the CEO noted in a message to staff.

“Massive rise in jet fuel prices, which together with airspace closures and longer flying routes, have caused many of our international flights to become unprofitable to operate.”
His statement came days after leading Indian airlines warned that the aviation sector was under grave financial strain due to rising fuel prices and continued airspace restrictions.

“The airline industry in India is under extreme stress and is on the verge of closing down or of stopping its operations,” the Federation of Indian Airlines said in a letter to the government.

Read Arpan Rai’s full report here.

Spirit Airlines appears closer to a shutdown as time dwindles for a government bailout
Cash-strapped Spirit Airlines appeared closer to a shutdown after Friday came and went without a needed government bailout.

President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration had given the budget carrier a “final proposal” for a taxpayer-funded takeover to keep it from going under, but the absence of a deal put the airline's future in doubt.

A person familiar with the matter said preparations were being made for a Saturday shutdown.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose confidential information.

There was no immediate word from Spirit Airlines or the Trump administration.

US Treasury warns shippers not to pay Hormuz tolls, even in form of charity
Any shippers paying ​tolls to Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, including charitable donations to organisations such as the Iranian Red Crescent Society, are ⁠at risk of punitive sanctions, the US Treasury warned on Friday.

Tehran has proposed fees or tolls on vessels ⁠passing through the Strait, as part of proposals ​to ⁠end the war with ‌Israel and the United States.

The advisory, from Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the US is ‌aware of Iranian threats to ‌shipping and demands for payments to receive safe passage through the Strait.

The warning came as Iran sent its latest proposal for negotiations ⁠with the US to Pakistani mediators, a move that could improve prospects for breaking an impasse in efforts to end the Iran war.

OFAC said demands may include several payment options, including fiat currency, digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments, ‌such as nominally charitable donations made to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Bonyad Mostazafan, or ‌Iranian embassy accounts.

“OFAC is ⁠issuing this alert to warn US and ⁠non-US persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or ‌soliciting guarantees ​from, the Iranian regime ‌for safe passage," it said.

"These ​risks exist regardless of payment method."
New report claims majority of US bases in the Middle East were damaged by Iran
A new report released by CNN on Friday found that at least 16 of the 19 U.S.

military installations across the Middle East have been damaged in Iranian retaliatory strikes.

A source speaking to CNN said that they’d “never seen anything like this before.”
“These are rapid, targeted strikes with [advanced] technology,” the source reportedly told the network.

Watch: Trump says Iran can play world cup after Fifa confirmation
Trump and Hegseth argue Iran war ceasefire stops the clock on 60-day deadline for congressional war powers approval
Just hours before a crucial deadline, the Trump administration argued the war in Iran has been effectively “terminated” under the ongoing ceasefire, which, the claim also stops the clock on a crucial deadline for congressional approval of ongoing actions in the conflict.

Under the War Powers Resolution, President Donald Trump faced a 60-day clock — expiring Friday, May 1 — to either end the war in Iran or secure congressional approval to continue.

Now, a senior administration official tells the Associated Press the U.S.

and Iran haven’t exchanged fire since April 7, and that the hostilities have been “terminated.”
A U.S.

official also told Reuters: "For War Powers Resolution purposes, the hostilities that began on Saturday, February ​28, have terminated.”
Trump administration argues Iran war effectively ‘terminated’
Bulk carrier reports suspicious approach off coast of Yemen, UKMTO says
A bulk carrier reported a suspicious approach by a skiff accompanied by a fishing vessel on Saturday, 84 nautical miles southwest of the port of Mukalla on the southern coast of Yemen, Britain's maritime security agency UKMTO reported.

We’ll bring you more on the incident as it comes in.

Iranian peace proposal would open Strait of Hormuz and end US blockade, says official
An Iranian proposal so far rejected by Donald Trump would open shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and end the US blockade of Iran, a senior Iranian official said on Saturday.

It would leave talks on Iran's nuclear programme for later, they added/
Four weeks since the United States and Israel suspended their bombing campaign against Iran, no deal has been reached to end a war that has caused the biggest disruption ever to global energy supplies.

Iran has been blocking nearly all shipping from the Gulf apart from its own for more than two months.

Last month the US imposed its own blockade of ships from Iranian ports.

Trump said on Friday he was "not satisfied" with Iran's latest proposal, without spelling out in detail which elements he opposes.

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