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France Bans Israeli Firms From Exhibiting at Naval Arms Show in Growing Dispute

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. Emmanuel Macron is traveling to Israel to show France's solidarity with the country and further work on the release of hostages who are being held in Gaza. - Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. Emmanuel Macron is traveling to Israel to show France's solidarity with the country and further work on the release of hostages who are being held in Gaza. - Reuters
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France Bans Israeli Firms From Exhibiting at Naval Arms Show in Growing Dispute

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. Emmanuel Macron is traveling to Israel to show France's solidarity with the country and further work on the release of hostages who are being held in Gaza. - Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with Israel's President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. Emmanuel Macron is traveling to Israel to show France's solidarity with the country and further work on the release of hostages who are being held in Gaza. - Reuters

France has banned Israeli firms from exhibiting in a naval arms trade show next month, the organizers said on Wednesday, the latest incident in a row fueled by the Macron government's unease over Israel's conduct in the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
The ban came after French efforts to secure a truce in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon foundered and as Israel carries out more airstrikes on targets in the country.
It is the second time this year that France has banned Israel firms from a major defense show, according to Reuters.
In May, France said the conditions were not right for them to take part in the Eurosatory military trade show when President Emmanuel Macron was calling for Israel to cease operations in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Euronaval, organizer of the event set to take place in Paris from Nov. 4-7, said in a statement that the French government had informed it that Israeli delegations were not allowed to exhibit stands or show equipment, but could attend the trade show.
The decision affected seven firms, it said.

For his part, Israel's defense minister on Wednesday called the decision "a disgrace".
"We will continue defending our nation against enemies on 7 different fronts, and fighting for our future - with or without France," Yoav Gallant posted on X. 
Israeli forces have carried out numerous airstrikes and a ground incursion targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, causing substantial civilian casualties and leading Western allies, including France, to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Diplomatic sparring between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron has increased in recent weeks after Paris had worked with Washington to secure a 21-day truce that would then open the door to negotiations on a long-term diplomatic solution.
Believing Israel had agreed the terms, France and the United States were caught by surprise when the next day Israel launched strikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Netanyahu has rejected a unilateral ceasefire that fails to stop Hezbollah rearming and regrouping.
Macron has irked Netanyahu several times in recent weeks, notably as United Nations' peacekeeping forces have been caught in Israeli crossfire in southern Lebanon.
He has called for an end to the supply to Israel of offensive weapons used in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed and a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in a year of warfare against Hamas militants.
On Tuesday, Macron told a cabinet meeting that Netanyahu should not forget that his country was created by a UN decision, according to a French official.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot sought to downplay the comments, saying they had been general remarks reminding Israel of the importance of respecting the UN charter.
But Netanyahu's office said in response that Israel was established through "the War of Independence with the blood of our heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors, including from the Vichy regime in France" - referring to the French government that had collaborated with Nazi Germany.

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Fire Tornadoes are a Risk Under California's Extreme Wildfire Conditions

The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” - The AP
The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” - The AP
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Fire Tornadoes are a Risk Under California's Extreme Wildfire Conditions

The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” - The AP
The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” - The AP

As if they aren’t already facing enough, firefighters in California also could encounter fire tornadoes — a rare but dangerous phenomenon in which wildfires create their own weather.

The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” in which any new fire could explode in size. The advisory, which runs into Wednesday, didn’t mention tornadoes, but meteorologist Todd Hall said they're possible given the extreme conditions.

 

A look at fire tornadoes according to The AP.

What is a fire tornado? Fire whirl, fire devil, fire tornado or even firenado — scientists, firefighters and regular folks use multiple terms to describe similar phenomena, and they don’t always agree on what’s what. Some say fire whirls are formed only by heat, while fire tornadoes involve clouds generated by the fire itself.

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s glossary of wildland fire terms doesn’t include an entry for fire tornado, but it defines a fire whirl as a “spinning vortex column of ascending hot air and gases rising from a fire and carrying aloft smoke, debris and flame,” and says large whirls “have the intensity of a small tornado.”

Wildfires with turbulent plumes can produce clouds that in turn can produce lightning or a vortex of ash, smoke and flames, said Leila Carvalho, professor of meteorology and climatology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“There is a rotation caused by very strong wind shear and a very hot, localized low-pressure system,” she said.

What is a fire tornado capable of? Fire tornadoes can make fires stronger by sucking up air, Carvalho said. “It creates a tornado track, and wherever this goes, the destruction is like any other tornado.”

In 2018, a fire tornado the size of three football fields killed a firefighter as it exploded in what already was a vast and devastating wildfire near near Redding, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of San Francisco in northern California. Scientists later described an ice-capped cloud that reached 7 miles (11 km) into the air and caused winds up to 143 mph (230 kph).

Research also suggests fire tornadoes can carry airborne embers, also called firebrands, over long distances, said James Urban, an assistant professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. They also can change the fire’s behavior, he said.

“That’s also something that is dangerous and scary for first responders, or really anyone,” he said. “It can change and maybe go in a different direction.”

The interaction between wind, the fire plume and topography determines whether a tornado will develop, he said. For example, sometimes a certain topography will restrict airflow in such a way that a spiral pattern develops.

Can you make one in a lab? Together with San José State University, Worcester Polytech is part of a Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center. In the lab in Worcester, researchers have created small fire tornadoes by putting up walls around a fire or arranging a bunch of little fires that together restrict airflow. But that’s on a much smaller scale than what’s happening with the wildfires.

“We’ve got the biggest fire lab in the US for a university, but we cannot get something the size of what’s been reported at these fires,” he said. “You can’t really bottle that and put it in a lab.”