Macron and Trump rekindle Le Bromance — with a touch of tension

They hugged, they gripped hands, they touched knees and they backslapped. But they did not agree on everything.French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump rekindled the most touchy-feely bromance in world politics as they met on Monday for talks on Ukraine.The pair have a long history of public displays of affection dating back to Trump’s first term in power — and as Macron returned for Trump 2.0, it seemed like another lovefest.But as they met in the Oval Office, tensions over Trump’s sudden pivot to Russia over the Ukraine war bubbled up to the surface, even if Macron softened the blow with yet another physical gesture.The French president — unusually for any visitor to the Oval Office — interrupted his 78-year-old counterpart when Trump repeated a false claim that Europe was merely loaning Ukraine money and would get it back.”No, in fact, to be frank,” said Macron, touching his US counterpart’s arm to stop him mid-sentence, “We paid 60 percent of the total effort and it was — like the US — loans, guarantees, grants.”Trump smirked and said after Macron spoke: “If you believe that, it’s ok with me.”- ‘Smart customer’ -But while they don’t see eye to eye on Ukraine, they still only seem to have eyes for each other.”He’s a smart customer,” said Trump, tapping Macron affectionately on the upper arm after telling a story about a meeting in Paris, when he discovered that what the French leader had been saying in his native tongue about a trade deal was not what he had told him.Macron responded by gripping Trump’s hand and they laughed together, with the 47-year-old even appearing to wipe a tear of mirth from the corner of his eye.On the way into the West Wing, they shared an embrace and another crushing handshake.Then in their joint press conference, they broke off after their opening statements to share yet another grip and grin, before heaping compliments on each other.Macron hailed their “friendship from your first term” while Trump lavished praise on the Frenchman for the restoration of the fire-damaged Notre-Dame cathedral.”Say hello to your beautiful wife,” Trump said at the end of the press conference.International diplomacy is always heavy with symbolism, but Macron and Trump have always been unusually blatant in the way they use body language as a power play.Since they first met, Macron has appeared keen to resist Trump’s habit of using overbearing handshakes to put other world leaders — both literally and figuratively — off-balance.- ‘Friendly but firm’ -The mother of all handshakes came when they met for the first time in Brussels in 2017, the year they both started their first presidential terms.Grimacing with effort, the much younger Macron grabbed Trump’s hand until the US president was forced — twice — to release his grip.Photos showed white finger marks on Trump’s hands left by Macron’s intense palming.Their charm offensive continued a year later when Trump took Macron’s hand and practically dragged him into the Oval Office in 2018.But Macron’s bromantic overtures failed to persuade Trump to stay in the Paris climate agreement and an international deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program.The relationship cooled during Trump’s wilderness years, but Macron was quick to strike after his reelection in November 2024.Trump was delighted to be invited to attend the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral in December, an early reintroduction to the world stage.True to form, the leaders engaged in yet another muscular, awkward handshake — this time lasting a full 17 seconds.British journalist Piers Morgan, a long-term friend of Trump, said their latest display at the White House showed that Macron knew what he was doing.”No world leader handles Trump as well as Macron. Friendly but firm, respectful but not afraid to stand up to him when he thinks he’s wrong. And Trump respects him for it,” Morgan said on X.

Procès Le Scouarnec: sa personnalité et ses proches au coeur du deuxième jour d’audience

La deuxième journée du procès de Joël Le Scouarnec, jugé depuis lundi par la cour criminelle du Morbihan pour des viols et agressions sexuelles sur 299 victimes, va sonder mardi la personnalité de l’ex-chirurgien, avec notamment le témoignage attendu de son ex-épouse.Au lendemain d’une première journée essentiellement consacrée à des aspects techniques, la journée de mardi promet un premier temps fort du procès autour de la personnalité de l’ancien médecin. Défileront à la barre un enquêteur de personnalité mais surtout les trois enfants et l’ex-femme de Joël Le Scouarnec.Cette dernière affirme ne jamais avoir eu le moindre soupçon sur la pédocriminalité de son mari, malgré des écrits de ce dernier laissant penser le contraire, et une première condamnation du chirurgien pour détention d’images pédopornographiques en 2005, déjà à Vannes.”Je n’étais pas au courant de ses penchants, de ses poupées. Je n’ai eu connaissance de ses cahiers qu’après son interpellation”, assurait-elle début février dans une interview au quotidien Ouest-France.”C’est docteur Jekyll et mister Hyde. Je me suis demandé comment j’avais pu ne pas m’apercevoir de quoi que ce soit. C’est une trahison terrible qu’il nous a faite à moi et à mes enfants”, ajoutait-elle.En réaction à ces déclarations, trois nièces et la fille d’un couple ami de Joël Le Scouarnec, dont les faits pour deux des nièces ont été jugés à Saintes en 2020, ont demandé vendredi dans un communiqué transmis par leur avocate Me Nathalie Bucquet, à “rétablir la vérité dans cette affaire”, dénonçant le “silence” de l’ex-épouse.La Commission indépendante sur l’inceste et les violences sexuelles faites aux enfants (Ciivise) a aussi déploré dans un communiqué que “les premières violences (étaient) restées dans la famille et n'(avaient) pas fait l’objet de signalement: elles auraient dû être immédiatement transmises aux autorités judiciaires pour que le criminel soit arrêté”.Lundi, l’accusé, âgé de 74 ans, vêtu d’une veste noir, a pris la parole pour la première fois.”Si je comparais devant vous c’est qu’effectivement un jour, alors que pour la plupart ce n’étaient que des enfants, j’ai commis des actes odieux”, a-t-il déclaré en fin d’audience, d’une voix hésitante.”Je suis parfaitement conscient aujourd’hui que ces blessures sont ineffaçables, irréparables, je ne peux pas revenir en arrière”, a-t-il ajouté, disant vouloir “assumer la responsabilité” de ses actes et “des conséquences qu’ils ont pu avoir et qu’ils auront peut-être toute leur vie”.Au cours d’un propos liminaire, la présidente de la cour Aude Buresi a assuré à l’accusé que “devant cette cour, vous n’êtes ni un objet de curiosité, ni un sujet d’études, ni un débat de société. Mais un justiciable avec un certain nombre de droits”.- Longue litanie -Au terme du résumé de l’affaire, Mme Buresi a égréné les noms des 299 victimes, la plupart mineures au moment des faits.Lors de cette litanie de noms, “il a été très affecté, très abattu, très digne aussi, en tout cas à la hauteur des enjeux. Il n’y a pas du tout un souhait de se défausser, de minimiser, de se retrancher derrière son petit doigt”, a estimé l’avocat de l’accusé, Me Maxime Tessier.Pour l’une des victimes, Amélie Lévêque, 42 ans, “la liste des noms, j’avais l’impression d’être à la liste des noms du Bataclan. J’ai trouvé que c’était très émouvant, très lourd, très long. Et en même temps ça montre aussi qu’il y a énormément de victimes et ça montre l’ampleur de toute cette affaire”.Selon Me Cécile de Oliveira, qui défend d’autres victimes, Joël Le Scouarnec réagit “sur un ensemble de crimes et de délits qui lui sont reprochés, qui est une litanie extrêmement longue (…) et je dirais qu’il réagit d’une manière ultra adaptée, parce que je pense que c’est un homme qui sait s’adapter d’une façon exceptionnelle”.L’audience de lundi a été principalement occupée par des aspects techniques du procès. Elle a donné lieu à une passe d’armes entre avocats de parties civiles, certains dénonçant la constitution de parties civiles du Conseil national de l’Ordre des médecins (CNOM) et du Conseil départemental de l’Ordre des médecins du Morbihan, dont ils critiquent l’inaction.L’avocate Me Negar Haeri a rappelé que le CNOM “défend les intérêts collectifs de la profession, qui ont été salis par les agissements reprochés à Joël Le Scouarnec, la place du conseil est donc sur le banc des parties civiles aux côtés des victimes”.L’ancien chirurgien consignait méticuleusement dans des carnets et des fichiers le nom, l’âge et l’adresse de ses victimes ainsi que les violences infligées, souvent sous couvert de geste médical.Ses journaux intimes, et l’ampleur inédite de cette affaire, ont été découverts lors d’une perquisition à son domicile en 2017, après que sa voisine de six ans l’a dénoncé auprès de ses parents pour viol.Déjà condamné en 2020 à Saintes (Charente-Maritime) à 15 ans de prison pour viols et agressions sexuelles sur quatre enfants, dont deux nièces, l’ancien médecin est désormais jugé pour des actes perpétrés entre 1989 et 2014 dans des hôpitaux de l’ouest de la France.Au total, Joël Le Scouarnec, qui se revendique “pédophile” depuis des décennies dans ses carnets, sera jugé pour 111 viols et 189 agressions sexuelles, aggravés par le fait qu’il abusait de sa fonction de médecin et commis entre 1989 et 2014. Il encourt jusqu’à 20 ans de réclusion.Verdict attendu le 6 juin.

Procès Le Scouarnec: sa personnalité et ses proches au coeur du deuxième jour d’audience

La deuxième journée du procès de Joël Le Scouarnec, jugé depuis lundi par la cour criminelle du Morbihan pour des viols et agressions sexuelles sur 299 victimes, va sonder mardi la personnalité de l’ex-chirurgien, avec notamment le témoignage attendu de son ex-épouse.Au lendemain d’une première journée essentiellement consacrée à des aspects techniques, la journée de mardi promet un premier temps fort du procès autour de la personnalité de l’ancien médecin. Défileront à la barre un enquêteur de personnalité mais surtout les trois enfants et l’ex-femme de Joël Le Scouarnec.Cette dernière affirme ne jamais avoir eu le moindre soupçon sur la pédocriminalité de son mari, malgré des écrits de ce dernier laissant penser le contraire, et une première condamnation du chirurgien pour détention d’images pédopornographiques en 2005, déjà à Vannes.”Je n’étais pas au courant de ses penchants, de ses poupées. Je n’ai eu connaissance de ses cahiers qu’après son interpellation”, assurait-elle début février dans une interview au quotidien Ouest-France.”C’est docteur Jekyll et mister Hyde. Je me suis demandé comment j’avais pu ne pas m’apercevoir de quoi que ce soit. C’est une trahison terrible qu’il nous a faite à moi et à mes enfants”, ajoutait-elle.En réaction à ces déclarations, trois nièces et la fille d’un couple ami de Joël Le Scouarnec, dont les faits pour deux des nièces ont été jugés à Saintes en 2020, ont demandé vendredi dans un communiqué transmis par leur avocate Me Nathalie Bucquet, à “rétablir la vérité dans cette affaire”, dénonçant le “silence” de l’ex-épouse.La Commission indépendante sur l’inceste et les violences sexuelles faites aux enfants (Ciivise) a aussi déploré dans un communiqué que “les premières violences (étaient) restées dans la famille et n'(avaient) pas fait l’objet de signalement: elles auraient dû être immédiatement transmises aux autorités judiciaires pour que le criminel soit arrêté”.Lundi, l’accusé, âgé de 74 ans, vêtu d’une veste noir, a pris la parole pour la première fois.”Si je comparais devant vous c’est qu’effectivement un jour, alors que pour la plupart ce n’étaient que des enfants, j’ai commis des actes odieux”, a-t-il déclaré en fin d’audience, d’une voix hésitante.”Je suis parfaitement conscient aujourd’hui que ces blessures sont ineffaçables, irréparables, je ne peux pas revenir en arrière”, a-t-il ajouté, disant vouloir “assumer la responsabilité” de ses actes et “des conséquences qu’ils ont pu avoir et qu’ils auront peut-être toute leur vie”.Au cours d’un propos liminaire, la présidente de la cour Aude Buresi a assuré à l’accusé que “devant cette cour, vous n’êtes ni un objet de curiosité, ni un sujet d’études, ni un débat de société. Mais un justiciable avec un certain nombre de droits”.- Longue litanie -Au terme du résumé de l’affaire, Mme Buresi a égréné les noms des 299 victimes, la plupart mineures au moment des faits.Lors de cette litanie de noms, “il a été très affecté, très abattu, très digne aussi, en tout cas à la hauteur des enjeux. Il n’y a pas du tout un souhait de se défausser, de minimiser, de se retrancher derrière son petit doigt”, a estimé l’avocat de l’accusé, Me Maxime Tessier.Pour l’une des victimes, Amélie Lévêque, 42 ans, “la liste des noms, j’avais l’impression d’être à la liste des noms du Bataclan. J’ai trouvé que c’était très émouvant, très lourd, très long. Et en même temps ça montre aussi qu’il y a énormément de victimes et ça montre l’ampleur de toute cette affaire”.Selon Me Cécile de Oliveira, qui défend d’autres victimes, Joël Le Scouarnec réagit “sur un ensemble de crimes et de délits qui lui sont reprochés, qui est une litanie extrêmement longue (…) et je dirais qu’il réagit d’une manière ultra adaptée, parce que je pense que c’est un homme qui sait s’adapter d’une façon exceptionnelle”.L’audience de lundi a été principalement occupée par des aspects techniques du procès. Elle a donné lieu à une passe d’armes entre avocats de parties civiles, certains dénonçant la constitution de parties civiles du Conseil national de l’Ordre des médecins (CNOM) et du Conseil départemental de l’Ordre des médecins du Morbihan, dont ils critiquent l’inaction.L’avocate Me Negar Haeri a rappelé que le CNOM “défend les intérêts collectifs de la profession, qui ont été salis par les agissements reprochés à Joël Le Scouarnec, la place du conseil est donc sur le banc des parties civiles aux côtés des victimes”.L’ancien chirurgien consignait méticuleusement dans des carnets et des fichiers le nom, l’âge et l’adresse de ses victimes ainsi que les violences infligées, souvent sous couvert de geste médical.Ses journaux intimes, et l’ampleur inédite de cette affaire, ont été découverts lors d’une perquisition à son domicile en 2017, après que sa voisine de six ans l’a dénoncé auprès de ses parents pour viol.Déjà condamné en 2020 à Saintes (Charente-Maritime) à 15 ans de prison pour viols et agressions sexuelles sur quatre enfants, dont deux nièces, l’ancien médecin est désormais jugé pour des actes perpétrés entre 1989 et 2014 dans des hôpitaux de l’ouest de la France.Au total, Joël Le Scouarnec, qui se revendique “pédophile” depuis des décennies dans ses carnets, sera jugé pour 111 viols et 189 agressions sexuelles, aggravés par le fait qu’il abusait de sa fonction de médecin et commis entre 1989 et 2014. Il encourt jusqu’à 20 ans de réclusion.Verdict attendu le 6 juin.

Trump calls for revival of Keystone XL Pipeline project axed by Biden

US President Donald Trump on Monday called for the revival of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline project opposed by environmental activists that was blocked under his predecessor Joe Biden.Biden formally rescinded a permit for the pipeline — first proposed in 2008 — by executive order on his first day in office in January 2021 over environmental concerns, reversing course from Trump during his first term.While the project had long been backed by Canada, Keystone XL had been opposed by environmentalists and Indigenous groups, who organized rallies against it in Washington, Ottawa and in other affected areas.”The company building the Keystone XL Pipeline that was viciously jettisoned by the incompetent Biden Administration should come back to America, and get it built — NOW!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, referring to the Canadian company involved in the project.The company, TC Energy, had argued that bringing so much oil from friendly, neighboring Canada would reduce US dependence on oil from more adversarial countries.The 1,210-mile (1,950-kilometer) pipeline, part of which was completed, was to transport up to 830,000 barrels of oil per day from the Alberta oil sands to Nebraska, which then would travel through an existing system to refineries in coastal Texas.Canadian regulators approved the project in 2010, but it was then blocked by US president Barack Obama in 2015 due to environmental concerns — a decision that his successor Trump reversed in 2017.

Transgender religious order gets rare approval at India Hindu festival

Transgender activists often shunned by society say they have found rare acceptance at India’s Hindu Kumbh Mela festival by giving blessings to pilgrims attending the world’s largest religious gathering.Among the many millions who have attended the six-week-long Hindu celebration of prayer and bathing held every 12 years is a unique “akhada” — or religious order — a camp of transgender individuals.Surveying crowds from her lion throne, Vaishnavi Jagadamba Nand Giri showers blessings on pilgrims standing in long queues to her colourful tent.”It is very difficult to survive as a transgender person in society, since most people cannot understand how we feel,” Giri said, one of around 100 members of the group at the festival.”As visibility increases for us, the acceptance will also increase.”South Asia has a long history of people designated as male at birth but who identify as female — known as kinnar or hijra.In India’s last census in 2011, more than 487,000 people were members of the third gender.India recognised a third gender in 2014, but members still face severe discrimination.- ‘Very auspicious’ -The festival in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj, which ends Wednesday, is a sea of humanity.Enthusiastic officials say that more than 560 million Hindu devotees have attended — numbers impossible to verify independently.That includes naked naga sadhus, wandering monks who walked for weeks from the remote mountains and forests where they are usually devoted to meditation.It also includes the transgender Kinnar Akhada.Traditionally, Hinduism had only 13 religious akhada groups which only included men.The transgender Kinnar Akhada changed that when they were accepted as the 14th member in 2019.Hindus believe that those who immerse themselves in the river waters at the Kumbh Mela cleanse themselves of sin, breaking free from the cycle of rebirth and ultimately attaining salvation.After bathing, pilgrims come to the camps of religious orders seeking blessings.”A blessing from a kinnar is considered very auspicious,” said 38-year-old pilgrim Mangesh Sahu, queueing for a bead from the group.”I will tie the bead around my daughter’s neck to keep her protected from the evil eye — the kinnar prayers are powerful,” he said.But challenges to full acceptance still remain.”They seek blessings from a transgender person, but they will shun an individual like me in their family,” Giri said. 

Stuck in eternal drought, UAE turns to AI to make it rain

In the marbled halls of a luxury hotel, leading experts are discussing a new approach to an age-old problem: how to make it rain in the UAE, the wealthy Gulf state that lies in one of the world’s biggest deserts.Decades of work and millions of dollars have been ploughed into easing endless drought in the oil-rich UAE, whose mainly expatriate population is soaring undeterred by a dry, hostile climate and hairdryer summer heat.Despite the United Arab Emirates’ best efforts, rainfall remains rare.But at last month’s International Rain Enhancement Forum in Abu Dhabi officials held out a new hope: harnessing artificial intelligence to wring more moisture out of often cloudless skies.Among the initiatives is an AI system to improve cloud seeding, the practice of using planes to fire salt or other chemicals into clouds to increase rain.”It’s pretty much finished,” said Luca Delle Monache, deputy director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.”We’re doing the final touches.”However, Delle Monache conceded that AI was not a “silver bullet” for the UAE, which like other countries has pursued cloud seeding for decades.Cloud seeding works by increasing the size of droplets, which then fall as rain. It’s estimated to increase rainfall by 10-15 percent, Delle Monache said.But it only works with certain types of puffy, cumulus clouds, and can even suppress rainfall if not done properly.”You’ve got to do it in the right place at the right time. That’s why we use artificial intelligence,” he added.- Prayers, applause  -The three-year project, funded with $1.5 million from the UAE’s rain enhancement program, feeds satellite, radar and weather data into an algorithm that predicts where seedable clouds will form in the next six hours.It promises to advance the current method where cloud-seeding flights are directed by experts studying satellite images.Hundreds of such flights occur annually in the UAE. With only about 100 millimetres (3.9 inches) of annual rainfall, the UAE’s nearly 10 million people mainly rely on desalinated water, piped from plants that produce about 14 percent of the world’s total, according to official figures.The population is 90 percent foreign and has increased nearly 30-fold since the UAE’s founding in 1971. People are concentrated in the big cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, coast-hugging refuges from the vast Arabian Desert hinterland.However, the country still needs groundwater, replenished by rain and encouraged by a series of dams, for agriculture and industry. Although UAE officials say rain has increased, downpours remain so unusual that school children are known to burst into applause and rush to classroom windows for a better view.Rain, even the artificial variety, is exotic enough to be a leisure attraction: at Dubai’s Raining Street, visitors pay 300 dirhams ($81) to walk in fake drizzle. Ordering prayers for rain is a long-standing practice by the Gulf’s ruling families. The memorable exception was last April, when the heaviest rains on record shuttered Dubai’s major international air hub and flooded roads, paralysing the city for days. – ‘Very niche area’ -Searching for solutions, the UAE in 2017 started holding the rainfall forum, which has now seen seven editions. Its Rain Enhancement Program has handed out $22.5 million in grants over a decade.”When it comes to cloud-seeding this program here is the best in the world,” Delle Monache said at the forum, held near the presidential palace and next to the headquarters of ADNOC, the state oil firm.”It’s a very niche area in atmospheric science. There are few experts in the world and they’re pretty much all here now.”His team’s algorithm was not the only use of AI in discussion. Marouane Temimi, associate professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, outlined a US-developed system that uses machine learning to track the path and impact of storms in real time.However Temimi, like Delle Monache, was also cautious about AI solutions, warning there were clear limits. A lack of detailed data about cloud composition — a common problem, as monitoring equipment is expensive — hampers accurate predictions even with AI, Temimi said. “I would say we still have some work to do just because we have data, but not enough data to train models correctly,” he told AFP.Enthusiasm for AI was also tempered by Loic Fauchon, president of the World Water Council of government, commercial, UN and other groups. “Be careful. Try to find the right balance between artificial intelligence and human intelligence,” he told the conference.”Do not go too fast to artificial intelligence. Humankind is probably the best (option).” 

Fires, strikes, pandemic and AI: Hollywood workers can’t catch a break

Dutch Merrick isn’t really in a party mood for this year’s Oscars.As for many below-the-line Hollywood workers, life has been hard for the veteran prop master, and became even more difficult when he lost his home in the deadly fires that ravaged Los Angeles in January.The personal tragedy couldn’t have come at a worse time for Merrick.Between the historic twin strikes that paralyzed Hollywood for much of 2023, the upheavals linked to streaming and the exodus of production projects from California, he hasn’t had a big job in two years.”Work disappeared,” says Merrick, who specializes in supplying and ensuring the safe use of weaponry on sets.”I don’t think anyone in our generation could fathom that this workflow would just turn to a trickle.”He is now dependent on a food bank run by IATSE, the union for those working in Hollywood’s technical trades — editors, set designers, camera operators, costumers and makeup artists.Volunteers see about 40 families every week at their premises near the Warner Bros. studios, stocking up on fruits, vegetables and other necessities.Launched during the writers’ and actors’ strike in 2023, the initiative looks set to become a fixture, says union representative DeJon Ellis. “The industry is in a contraction period, and it’s slow compared to the past seven years,” with around a third fewer jobs available, says Ellis.”The fires compounded the problems.”- Streaming bubble bursts -Film and television built Los Angeles, and has for decades played a significant role in the city’s economy.But 2024 logged the lowest number of days of filming in the region since records began — with the exception of the pandemic standstill of 2020.The reasons are complicated but, Ellis says, the bursting of the streaming bubble was a significant contributing factor.Gone are the days when each studio tried to imitate Netflix, launching frequent glossy, high-budget TV series.Shareholders are now looking for a return on their investments and want profits, instead of just the promise of growth.As a result, studios are producing less and relocating what they do make — if Los Angeles isn’t losing out to other US destinations like New Mexico or Georgia, it’s facing competition from tax-efficient destinations like Thailand, Hungary and South Africa. “I think the very foundation of Hollywood has been shaken to the core,” says Merrick.”I honestly think tax incentives started the race to the bottom.”Much like departing automakers hollowed out Motor City, Merrick worries that Los Angeles could become a shell of its former self.”I’m originally from Detroit, Michigan, and we’ve seen this script play out before,” the armorer said.”We’ve seen an entire industry outsourced to other regions where they can get cheaper and cheaper labor.” – Artificial intelligence – Lawmakers under pressure to preserve a major industry are planning to double the tax credits available to companies filming in California.But Veronica Kahn doubts that this will be enough in the face of fundamental changes in the way the audience thinks.”People spend more time watching tons of 30-second videos on TikTok; they have less time to watch movies and series,” the 42-year-old sound engineer told AFP.And even very short productions are not being made the way they used to be.”For the Super Bowl this year… there was a lot of artificial intelligence, and a lot of animation. So our jobs are already disappearing,” she said.Strikes by actors and writers that crippled Hollywood were in part about protecting them from the use of artificial intelligence and to demand better pay.But Kahn says while the actors and the writers won, people like her lost.When filming resumed in early 2024, “I was told that with all this extra money that they had to pay to the writers and the actors, they couldn’t afford an additional person for sound.”Since then, “each time I’m meeting with producers, they tell me that it’s for work outside of Los Angeles,” she sighs.Despite having cut back on eating out and — ironically, perhaps — cancelled her streaming subscriptions, Kahn still finds herself short and is grateful for the IATSE food bank.”It really helps, any little bit helps,” she says, gesturing to a bag filled with lemons, avocados and eggs.Since the fires, studios have provided millions of dollars to help those affected, including the people who rely on them to make a living.But in his union hall, Ellis would prefer those studios do something else. “If you really want to help all the fire victims, make more movies and TV shows here in Los Angeles,” he says.