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.



Myanmar Quake Death Toll at 3,354, Junta Leader Returns from Summit

Rescue workers stand on the street next to a collapsed building in Mandalay on April 5, 2025, following the March 28 earthquake. (Photo by Zaw Htun / AFP)
Rescue workers stand on the street next to a collapsed building in Mandalay on April 5, 2025, following the March 28 earthquake. (Photo by Zaw Htun / AFP)
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Myanmar Quake Death Toll at 3,354, Junta Leader Returns from Summit

Rescue workers stand on the street next to a collapsed building in Mandalay on April 5, 2025, following the March 28 earthquake. (Photo by Zaw Htun / AFP)
Rescue workers stand on the street next to a collapsed building in Mandalay on April 5, 2025, following the March 28 earthquake. (Photo by Zaw Htun / AFP)

The death toll from Myanmar's devastating earthquake climbed to 3,354, with 4,850 injured and 220 missing, state media said on Saturday, as the visiting U.N. aid chief praised humanitarian and community groups for leading the aid response.
The leader of the military government, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, was back in the capital Naypyitaw after a rare foreign trip to attend a summit in Bangkok of South and Southeast Asian nations, where he also met separately with the leaders of Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and India.
Min Aung Hlaing reaffirmed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the junta's plans to hold "free and fair" elections in December, Reuters quoted Myanmar state media as saying.
Modi called for a post-quake ceasefire in Myanmar's civil war to be made permanent, and said the elections needed to be "inclusive and credible", an Indian foreign affairs spokesperson said on Friday.
Critics have derided the planned election as a sham to keep the generals in power through proxies.
Since overthrowing the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, the military has struggled to run Myanmar, leaving the economy and basic services, including healthcare, in tatters, a situation exacerbated by the March 28 quake.
The civil war that followed the coup has displaced more than 3 million people, with widespread food insecurity and more than a third of the population in need of humanitarian assistance, the UN says.
United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher spent Friday night in Myanmar's second-biggest city Mandalay, near the epicenter of the quake, posting on X that humanitarian and community groups had led the response to the quake with "courage, skill and determination".
"Many themselves lost everything, and yet kept heading out to support survivors," he said.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday the junta was restricting aid supplies to quake-hit areas where communities did not back its rule. The UN office said it was investigating 53 reported attacks by the junta against opponents, including airstrikes, of which 16 were after the ceasefire was declared on Wednesday.
A junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.