Airline nixes perk for flying lawmakers as DHS shutdown continues

French police stopped an apparent bomb attack outside a US bank in Paris early Saturday when they arrested a man about to set off a homemade explosive device, officials and sources close to the case told AFP.

The incident occurred around 3:30 am (0130 GMT) in front of a Bank of America building in the chic 8th arrondissement, a couple of streets from the Champs-Elysees.

Police grabbed the man just after he placed a device, made of five litres of liquid (1.3 gallons), believed to be fuel, and an ignition system, one of the sources said.

The ignition component had 650 grams (23 ounces) of explosive powder in it, according to an initial assessment. The whole device was taken to the Paris police's forensics lab for full analysis. 

France's counter-terrorism prosecutor's office told AFP it had immediately taken over the investigation, and confirmed the suspect caught was in police custody.

It said the probe it has launched was into "attempted damage by fire or other dangerous means in connection with a terrorist undertaking" and a "terrorist criminal conspiracy".

Both the Paris judicial police and France's domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), were involved in the probe, the office told AFP.

France's interior minister, Laurent Nunez, on X hailed the speedy action by the police officers, given "the current international situation", in which European countries have increased domestic vigilance because of the war in the Middle East.

Nunez said that, in France, "vigilance remains more than ever at a high level".

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(The Center Square) – Spending in U.S. senators office accounts spiked by 43% since 2020, with big jumps in 2022 and the last fiscal year for senators to pay their staff, travel and other expenses, an investigation by The Center Square found.

In 2020, the U.S. Senate office account was spending less than half a billion dollars, but that has since increased by nearly $200 million, an analysis of data provided by the American Governance Institute and other online data shows.

Overall Senate spending that includes the office accounts but also expenses for leadership, committees, security and operations was about $1.5 billion, increasing as much as 50% since 2020.

Included in the office account spending was at least $1 million a year for private jet flights and reimbursements for individual senators. The $1.5 billion overall spending included a litany of staff positions that government watchdogs questioned, such as a chaplain who has his own chief of staff and public relations person, dozens of door keepers, picture framers, telephone operators, barbers, wellness resources staff and furniture artisans.

David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said senators spending on themselves is out of control after The Center Square detailed the expenses in the Senate office accounts and the history of spending.

"In a time where we have a debt of $39 trillion, a deficit approaching $2 trillion, belt tightening needs to begin somewhere and that somewhere is in Congress, in the Senate, in the House of Representatives," Williams said. "And the Senate has to lead by example.

"We're not talking about small numbers or small increments," he added. "That is a significant jump, significant increase in expenditures, and it seemingly goes unchecked."

Inflation over those years was about 24%, but Williams discounted that as a justification for the Senate spending.

"This has nothing to do with inflation," he said, adding that this is just lawmakers wanting taxpayers to pay for perks to make their lives more comfortable.

"There were some big jumps to make up for huge cuts and operational needs," he wrote in an email exchange with The Center Square. "The number for personal offices ... is driven in part by formulas to deal with growth in the states."

Last year, The Center Square analyzed spending in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2019, finding an increase of 21 percent in just one year, perks like daycare and an on-call doctor, more than $130,000 in private jet travel, big bucks for mileage and luxury car leases and $50 million for mostly partisan caucus and committees.

The Center Square's House analysis was considerably easier because the staff provides sortable electronic data of their spending. The Senate, however, only posts PDFs every six months of spending, requiring The Center Square to spend months converting the data into a trackable format. 

Williams said that was intentional to make it difficult to understand what taxpayers are funding. 

"Taxpayers are paying their expenses," Williams said. "Taxpayers should know where their money is going and it should be an easy process."

Senate spends big

Each of the 100 U.S. Senators receives between $3.5 million and $5 million a year to run their Washington, D.C. and state offices. The amount depends on the cost of living in their states and how far they are from Washington, D.C.

Senators have wide discretion on how to spend the money and there is very little transparency except the PDF files the Senate posts twice a year. 

Digging into the U.S. Senate data once it was converted, The Center Square found millions of dollars going for private jet travel when there were commercial routes readily available. Nearly all of the senators who had taxpayers pay for private flights refused to explain the reasons to The Center Square or provide documentation – which they don't have to do because Congress has exempted itself from the Freedom of Information Act.

Some lawmakers also reimbursed themselves instead of using Senate credit cards, which Williams says could result in fraudulent reimbursements for expenses that never happened. It also allows lawmakers to keep points or miles for personal use instead of keeping them on their Senate credit cards to offset official spending. 

Williams also questioned some of the staff expenditures The Center Square found.

The Senate chaplain makes $223,800, which is $30,000 more than the majority leader, and he has a public relations person and chief of staff, who also make six figure salaries. Two wellness specialists and a wellness manager each make more than $100,000 a year, The Center Square found. 

No one in the Senate wanted to explain the large increases or why some of the spending was necessary.

Emails and calls to the staff and offices of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, who are the ranking members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration that oversees the office account spending, were not returned. McConnell was also majority or minority leader during most of the legislation to set the recent increases, but he is retiring in 2027 when his current term expires.

Williams lamented that few media organizations regularly write about the spending, adding it will take pressure from taxpayers to force senators to change their ways.

"I think if people found out about these expenses, they would be appalled to find out that Congress is spending so much money on themselves," he said.

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - Spring in Great Falls means it's time again for getting out of the house and enjoying some events around town.

Happening this weekend is the Home and Garden Show at the Montana Expo Park.

You can also get ready for the Easter Egg Hunt with Great Falls Park and Recreation at Lions Park on Saturday April 4, featuring 10,000 eggs, games, food trucks and more!

If you're looking to get out and enjoy some nice spring weather around the Electric City, you could take par in "The Great Buffalo Hunt" and find all the painted bison statues around town!

Check out the bison statues on the Visit Great Falls website here. 

(The Center Square) - Advocates are calling for justices on the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify federal laws regarding climate change lawsuits.

The Maryland Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a lawsuit from Baltimore, Annapolis and Anne Arundel County seeking large damages from fossil fuel companies. The government entities claimed the companies misled the public in its contributions to global climate change.

“No amount of creative pleading can masquerade the fact that the local governments are attempting to utilize state law to regulate global conduct that is purportedly causing global harm,” Justice Brynja Booth wrote in the court’s majority opinion.

A footnote in the opinion referenced a U.S. Supreme Court case, expected to come in the fall, that would focus on a similar case out of Colorado. Phil Goldberg, special counsel for the Manufactures’ Accountability Project, said this note will give justices on the high court a more pressing reason to address the merits of Colorado’s case.

“It certainly adds fuel to the need for the court to get to the substantive issues in the Boulder case,” Goldberg told The Center Square.

Justices on the court granted certiorari on the case out of Boulder, Colorado, but asked to be briefed on whether they could weigh in on the issues. Currently, the case is still going through the Colorado Supreme Court.

Officials in Boulder County, Colorado, filed a lawsuit against fossil fuel companies using nuisance law claims. The officials argued fossil fuel companies were liable for contributing to emissions that caused climate change.

Goldberg said state courts should not be responsible for regulating global climate change, and praised the Maryland Supreme Court for upholding that standard. He said lawsuits like this violate checks and balances and would leave energy consumers with far higher bills.

“What this litigation stands for is the idea that anybody can sue anybody in state court and try to have the same determination made outside the checks and balances of the legislature,” Goldberg said.

The Maryland court's decision marks a stark contrast to state Supreme Courts in Colorado and Hawaii that have found the lawsuits do not make an attempt to regulate overall emissions.

In a dissent from Maryland’s majority opinion, Justice Peter Killough said the court made a premature judgment on the case without fully considering the facts.

“The Majority’s conclusion that these cases are tantamount to emissions regulation is not a finding – it is a prediction about what discovery would show, dressed up as a legal conclusion and deployed to close the courthouse door before discovery could confirm or refute it,” Killough wrote.

Goldberg argued that these climate cases would lead to the discovery of a certain fact that validates all of the claims made throughout the lawsuit process. He said these cases get to the heart of energy production in the country and how it can be regulated.

“It’s about what’s the legal structure that applies to producing and promoting energy,” Goldberg said. “To use the energy we need and have access to affordable energy for everyday need.”

Goldberg warned these kinds of lawsuits would force people to change their reliance on typical energy sources for alternative “green energy.”

Goldberg urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Congress’ responsibility to regulate emissions and climate change issues.

“These are policy determinations for Congress and for the federal agencies, not liability issues for courts,” Goldberg said.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the fall over Boulder’s climate lawsuit case and will likely issue a decision in 2027.

Twenty-two migrants hoping to reach Europe from North Africa have died off the coast of Greece after six days at sea in a rubber boat, survivors told the Greek coastguard Saturday.

The coastguard late Friday said 26 people, including a woman and a minor, were rescued by a European border agency vessel off the island of Crete. 

The coastguard later told AFP that 21 Bangladeshis, four South Sudanese and a Chadian citizen had emerged from the ordeal alive. 

Survivors said the bodies of those who had died were thrown into the Mediterranean sea on the orders of one of the people smugglers aboard the ship.

Two survivors were taken to hospital in Heraklion on Crete, the coastguard said.

Based on survivor statements, the coastguard said the boat had left Tobruk, a port city in eastern Libya, on March 21, bound for Greece, the gateway for many migrants hoping for asylum in the European Union.

"During the journey, the passengers lost their bearings and remained at sea for six days without food or water," the coastguard stated.

The bodies of those who died "were thrown into the sea on the orders of one of the smugglers", it added.

The Greek authorities have arrested two South Sudanese men, aged 19 and 22, believed to be the smugglers.

They are now under investigation for "illegal entry into the country" and "negligent homicide".

The vessel carrying the group was 53 nautical miles south of Ierapetra, a town on southern Crete.

- Bad weather -

A coastguard spokesman told AFP that the craft had endured "unfavourable meteorological conditions" during their odyssey.

That, coupled with a shortage of food and water, had "led to the deaths through exhaustion of 22 people," the spokesman said.

"The bodies of these dead people were thrown into the sea on the orders of the two traffickers, who have been arrested, according to testimony by survivors," he added.

The number of migrants who have died trying to reach EU soil more than doubled in the first two months of 2026, compared with last year, the EU border agency Frontex said earlier this month.

"These tragedies highlight once more the urgency to intensify the work with partner countries along the migratory routes and redouble efforts in the fight against migrant smugglers, who are the ones responsible for these tragedies," an EU commission spokesperson said on Saturday.

According to data from the International Organization for Migration, 559 people died in the Mediterranean during January and February, compared with 287 for the same period last year.

In December, 17 migrants were found dead inside their boat, which was taking on water and had partially deflated, to the southwest of Crete.

Greek authorities found only two survivors, stating that a further 15 people had drowned.

Their bodies were never recovered.

In a bid to stem the crossings, the European Parliament on Thursday endorsed a major tightening of EU migration policy and approved the concept of "return hubs", designed to send migrants to non-EU third countries.

Those proposals have been criticised by rights groups as inhumane.

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Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Ukraine-Qatar deal -

Qatar and Ukraine signed a defence agreement including cooperation on countering threats from missiles and drones, the Gulf state's defence ministry said, as Iran pressed an aerial campaign against its neighbours.

"The agreement includes collaboration in technological fields, development of joint investments and the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems," the ministry said in a statement during a visit to Qatar by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

- Israel kills journalists -

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned an Israeli strike that killed three journalists, including one for Hezbollah's Al Manar TV and another for the pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen channel, in southern Lebanon as "a blatant crime".

The Israeli military said it believed the Al Manar journalist was a "terrorist in the intelligence unit of Hezbollah's Radwan Force".

A military source told AFP that the three were killed in an Israeli strike in Jezzine.

- Iran hails Pakistan mediation -

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian hailed mediation efforts by Pakistan, which is preparing to host foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey for talks on the Middle East war. 

- Kyiv denies UAE drone depot hit -

Kyiv denied Iran's claim that Tehran had targeted and destroyed a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot in the United Arab Emirates, calling it a "lie" and a "disinformation".

Iran's military said it had hit and destroyed the depot, which it said was used to assist US forces. 

- Jerusalem blasts -

AFP journalists reported two blasts heard over Jerusalem, after the Israeli military said it had detected incoming missiles launched from Iran.

The apparent attack came shortly after the Israeli military said it had completed a wave of strikes across the Iranian capital Tehran.

- Indonesia says tankers to pass Hormuz -

Indonesia is in talks with Iran to secure safe passage for its tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran responding favourably to Jakarta's diplomatic efforts, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

- Maersk halts Oman port ops -

Danish shipping giant Maersk said operations had been temporarily halted at Oman's port of Salalah after a drone attack injured a foreign worker and damaged a crane.

Maersk, whose subsidiary APM Terminals runs the port, said "it was immediately evacuated and operations across the facility were temporarily suspended", predicting it would remain closed for 48 hours.

Iran said it had targeted a US logistics vessel "at a considerable distance from the port".

- Iran says dozens killed -

Iranian media said US-Israeli strikes hit multiple residential areas, killing more than a dozen people overnight, though AFP was not able to independently verify any of these tolls.

Israel's military earlier said it launched strikes on Iranian "regime targets", as an AFP journalist in the capital Tehran reported hearing around 10 intense blasts and seeing a plume of black smoke.

- Bahrain denies Shia crackdown -

Bahrain denied it was cracking down on citizens based on their religion after activists reported a slew of arrests they said had mainly targeted Shias amid the Middle East war. 

Two Bahraini rights groups had told AFP that more than 200 people, the vast majority of them from the Shia community, had been arrested since the beginning of the war. Shia Islam is Iran's state religion, and also a major religious branch in Bahrain, alongside Sunni Islam.

- Kuwait airport damaged -

The radar system at Kuwait's international airport was heavily damaged in a drone attack, Kuwaiti authorities said.

The attack on the tiny Gulf country caused no casualties, a civil aviation spokesperson told Kuwait's official news agency

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(The Center Square) – Congress’ failure to reach an agreement to continue funding the Department of Homeland is not only impacting TSA workers, it’s also impacting local law enforcement agencies that rely on federal grants. 

Texas law enforcement officials argue that state lawmakers cannot rely on federal money and a long-term approach is needed to fund ongoing border security operations.  

DHS has experienced a partial shutdown since Feb. 14, with Democrats expressing outrage over how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations were run under former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Multiple agencies are impacted, including the Coast Guard, TSA, FEMA, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. 

Although March 28 marks day 46 for many DHS employees not receiving a paycheck, Border Patrol and ICE agents are still being paid due to provisions in the “Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law by President Donald Trump last July.

In Texas, TSA agents have been selling blood plasma to make ends meet, and major airports are operating with nearly 50% fewer TSA agents, The Center Square reported. 

Lack of federal funding is also impacting Texas law enforcement agencies that receive federal grants. They include port security, emergency preparedness and response, cybersecurity, ICE 287(g) programs and Operation Stonegarden, a vital resource for Texas border sheriffs. 

Texas law enforcement officers are entering their fifth year in Texas’ border security mission, Operation Lone Star, and the fourth year of a multiagency OLS Task Force initiative.

Due to a stipulation with the state’s OLS grant, recipients are required to use federal grants before they use OLS grants. But when federal grant money doesn’t come in, as it hasn’t for some in this case, OLS funds are used, and they’re already gone for some. 

Several Texas sheriffs have received emails stating their federal grant funding is being held up because of the partial DHS shutdown, including Jackson County Sheriff Rick Boone. 

“I was wondering when we are going to see the ripple effect. Here it is,” he told The Center Square. 

With no Stonegarden funds and no more OLS funds, Boone says his OLS deputies won’t be able to work overtime or prioritize interdiction. ICE 287(g) funds for those participating in all three programs also haven’t come in. Terrell County Sherriff Thad Cleveland says he hasn’t received his 287(g) funds. Lavaca County Sheriff Steve Greenwell said the previous shutdown impacted his grant funding. The sheriffs are OLS Task Force members.

In Kinney County, Sheriff Brad Coe had to let three deputies go to fund jail and transportation costs due to lack of OLS funding, The Center Square reported. 

With the Texas Department of Criminal Justice no longer housing OLS arrests and limited or no OLS funds, sheriffs find themselves “between a rock and hard place,” they told The Center Square. A lack of federal funds exacerbates the issue. 

Part of the problem is the state legislature’s and Congress’ “lack an understanding of the nature of the criminal justice system and what we do,” Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd told The Center Square. 

“We are fortunate because Gov. Greg Abbott has sustained funding. But you can’t fund operations for short periods of time and then quit funding. If that happens, we will never be able to complete investigations and tasks we set out to complete that we’ve encountered as a result of the OLS initiative. You can’t sporadically fund programs and turn them off. This doesn’t help law enforcement fight crime.” 

“Political decisions have real world implications for people out in the field doing the work,” he added. In 2020, the sheriff’s office handled 8,888 calls a year. In 2025, it handled 15,739 calls. “We almost doubled our call volume from 2020 to 2025 and we're not getting additional manpower,” he said.

If OLS funding were to dry up, Boyd said he’d lose one-third of his deputies and their criminal investigations and multijurisdictional operations would be grounded to a halt. 

“It doesn't matter whether the numbers drop at the border,” he added. “We still have cartel presence throughout Texas and the United States. There's still a lot of work to be done. There are still tens of millions of illegal aliens that are beholden to the cartels that are that are here. The only way for us to dismantle the cartel business model is to make a long hard push and that could take years. 

“The cartel has people in every community. It doesn't matter how small. It doesn't matter how large. They're still selling drugs like they've always sold drugs. Our interdiction efforts are still ongoing. Our intelligence efforts are still ongoing. Ongoing funds are needed to fund staff and resources to sustain this operation.”

Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez told The Center Square, “We like to work. We aren’t politicians. We know what’s in the best interest of defending the rule of law regardless of the politics and we cannot lose that.”

“We are looking at saving generations down the road: protecting them from drug and sex trafficking. The norm of society is changing but the rule of law doesn’t change. We need support to continue combatting crime and enforcing the rule of law.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that his country and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to cooperate on defence amid Iran's drone strikes across the Gulf, before heading to regional neighbour Qatar.

Zelensky has embarked on the previously unannounced tour across the Gulf, visiting Saudi Arabia earlier this week, as the region faces Iranian drones launched by Tehran in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes.

Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations and has deployed anti-drone experts to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.

After talks in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, where Zelensky announced a defence agreement with Riyadh, he held talks in the UAE with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

"We agreed to cooperate in the field of security and defence. Our teams will finalise the details," Zelensky said on social media. 

"For all normal states, it is important to ensure stability and protect lives amid today's threats. Ukraine has relevant expertise in this area," he said.

Also Saturday, Zelensky said on social media he had "arrived in Qatar. Real security is built on partnership –- we value everyone and remain open to supporting all those who are ready to work together for this goal."

The visit was confirmed by the Gulf nation's state news agency.

Ukraine touts its anti-drone defences as the best in the world.

It has proposed swapping its interceptors for vastly more expensive air-defence missiles that Gulf countries are using to down Iranian drones. Kyiv says it needs more of them to fend off near-daily Russian missile attacks.

"Protection must be sufficient everywhere. That is why we are open to joint work that, in a strategic perspective, will certainly strengthen our peoples and the protection of life in our countries," Zelensky said on Saturday.

In the UAE, Zelensky met with Ukrainian anti-drone experts, who "have been working here to help in protecting lives".

"Today, Ukraine not only needs assistance but is also ready to support those who support us," Zelensky said.

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The ability of Israel's highly sophisticated air defences to keep intercepting Iranian attacks is coming under scrutiny as the Middle East war drags on into a second month.

The military has dismissed reports that it is running low on the interceptors used to shoot down the steady stream of Iranian missiles and Hezbollah rockets fired at Israel.

However, some analysts suggest that the war against Iran has significantly drained allied resources, with long-range interceptors among the most severely depleted.

Israel has a multi-layered air defence array, with a variety of systems intercepting threats at different altitudes.

The top tier consists of the anti-ballistic missile Arrow systems, with Arrow 2 operating both within the Earth's atmosphere and in space and Arrow 3 intercepting above the Earth's atmosphere.

Below that sits David's Sling, which was created to target medium-range threats including drones, shorter-range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

Israel's famed Iron Dome system is the third tier and was originally designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells.

US systems also complement Israel's air defences with some THAAD anti-missile batteries reportedly in Israel.

"There is no area in Israel that is not under multi-layer defence," said reservist Brigadier General Pini Yungman, who played a key role in developing the country's air defences and is now president of defence company TSG.

But "there is no 100 percent in defence," he told AFP.

"To get the 92 percent that we are getting all together with all the systems, it's outstanding".

The Israeli military, which reveals few details about its air defences, says Iran has launched more than 400 ballistic missiles since the start of the war on February 28 -- sparked by US and Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.

Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani recently lauded the interception rate as "exceeding expectations".

Most damage in Israel has been caused by falling debris, but among the 19 civilians killed in the country since the start of the war, more than half died when Iranian missiles broke through.

- 'Nearing exhaustion' -

Around two weeks after the war began, news outlet Semafor first reported that Israel was "running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors", citing unnamed US officials.

An Israeli military source at the time denied the reports, saying there was no shortage "as of now" and that the military was "prepared for prolonged combat".

But analysis published by the London-based RUSI defence think tank on Tuesday indicates that the US, Israel and regional allies have burned through vast quantities of missiles and interceptors since the end of February.

Researchers estimated that in the first 16 days of conflict, allied forces expended 11,294 munitions costing roughly $26 billion.

Stockpiles of long-range interceptors and precision munition in particular, it said, were "nearing exhaustion".

"This basically means that if the war continues, coalition aircraft have to fly deeper into Iranian airspace -- and on the defensive side it means absorbing more Iranian missiles and drones," one of the co-authors, US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jahara Matisek, told AFP.

Long and costly production timelines make the depletion of high-end interceptors, like Israel's Arrows, particularly critical.

Each Arrow 2 interceptor costs an estimated $1.5 million, with Arrow 3s around $2 million.

"The bottleneck isn't just money. It's industrial physics", Matisek said, pointing to issues including capacity constraints at the supplier level.

These are "production lines that don't scale like an iPhone factory," he said. 

These are munitions "you save for the worst threats" he said, and the supply "is never going to be huge".

The RUSI analysis estimated that 81.33 percent of Israel's pre-war Arrow interceptor stocks had already been depleted, and that they would likely "be completely expended by the end of March".

- Accelerated production -

Yungman insisted that, taking into account all its air defence systems, Israel could produce interceptors faster than Iran could produce ballistic missiles.

He added that Israel accelerated its interceptor production after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack and upgraded its systems to deal with ballistic missiles.

The military confirmed on Monday that it was a malfunction in David's Sling that had allowed Iranian ballistic missiles to strike the southern towns of Dimona and Arad last week.

Dimona is widely believed to hold Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal.

Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist reported that the military had chosen to use David's Sling in a bid to preserve Arrow interceptor stocks.

Faced with the challenges posed by Iranian missiles, Israel has three options to conserve interceptor stocks, Jean-Loup Samaan, a senior researcher at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore, told AFP.

"Mixing the different missile systems in order to avoid massive shortages; not intercepting missiles or drones if they land in unpopulated areas; and increasing the pressure on the offensive campaign, hoping that they are able to degrade Iran's capabilities before the IDF's air defence resources run out".

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Pope Leo XIV on Saturday denounced the widening gap between the haves and have-nots as he visited Monaco, a millionaires' playground that is the surprise pick for the first western European trip of his papacy.

Arriving by helicopter from Rome, the pope was greeted by Monaco's ruler Prince Albert II and his wife, Princess Charlene, at Monte Carlo's heliport under radiant sunshine.

Just after his arrival at the tiny principality on the French Riviera, Leo condemned what he termed the widening "chasms between the poor and the rich." 

In an address in French from the balcony of the Prince's Palace, the American pope denounced "unjust configurations of power, structures of sin that dig chasms between poor and rich, between the privileged and the rejected, between friends and enemy."

He added wealth should serve "law and justice, especially at a historical moment when displays of force and the logic of omnipotence wound the world and jeopardise peace," in a clear reference to the growing number of conflicts across the globe.

- Bells peal -

Bells pealed across the principality to mark Leo's arrival in the microstate nestled on the Mediterranean between France and Italy.

Locals gathered outside the palace, many brandishing flags in the red and white of the principality and the yellow and white of the Vatican.

"I'm trembling - it's so emotional, and I'm so proud," says Alix Pearce, a 34-year-old sales representative who came with her family.

Along the route of the Popemobile on Rue Grimaldi, a major thoroughfare, shopkeepers had decked out their windows in the colours of both statelets to mark the occasion.

From the palace, the pope was to head to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to meet the Catholic community, then to the square in front of the Church of Saint Devota, dedicated to the patron saint of Monaco.

In the tiny city state's streets billboards showing the pontiff in his church regalia offered a stark contrast to gleaming sports cars and jostling crowds of tourists.

The highlight will be an open-air mass at the Louis II Stadium, expected to be attended by 15,000 people.

"The pope brings people together," said Eric Battaglia, a 64-year-old Monegasque artist and musician. "In a world that has been at war for the past few years, it's a blessing that there are people like him, trying to ensure that people remain human."

Pope Leo was slated to make speeches addressing environmental protection -- which is a cause close to Prince Albert’s heart -- Monaco's role in Europe and "the protection of life in all its forms", according to the Vatican’s press office director, Matteo Bruni.

That phrase encompasses opposition to abortion, banned in the principality, and euthanasia, but also serves as condemnation of all conflict, at a time of war in the Middle East which is destabilising the global economy.

Monaco is one of the few places in Europe where Catholicism remains the state religion, and it has long-standing diplomatic ties with the Holy See.

Though only around eight percent of citizens identify as practising Catholics, church pews are one of the few places where billionaires, cleaning ladies and construction workers mingle.

- 'Powerful sign' -

"This visit is a powerful sign testifying to the Principality’s importance within the Catholic Christian world," Prince Albert said in an interview with local daily Nice-Matin.

The prince added he shared with the Vatican common causes including international solidarity and "the promotion of peace through sport."

Though some locals professed indifference to the papal visit, Isabel Fissore, the 62-year-old owner of a small jewellery shop, had managed to secure invitations to attend meetings with the pontiff.

"It's historic: the two smallest states in the world coming together to spread a message of peace, light and love throughout the world. We may be a small nation, yet our hearts are big," Fissore told AFP.

Monaco Archbishop, Monsignor Dominique-Marie David, said the pope is reaching out to "other cultures, other countries, other backgrounds and other languages" in the principality, home to some 140 nationalities.

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