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Bakeries are central to the French way of life. Now they’re fighting for survival

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Bakeries are central to the French way of life. Now they’re fighting for survival

Élodie Chavret places bread on cabinets early within the morning earlier than her bakery opens. She has managed L’Épi de Blé for 18 years and is now battling the rising value of its electrical energy payments.

In Millery, a small city in southeastern France, Élodie Chavret runs a bakery to make a residing for herself and her two daughters. The 39-year-old can also be a part-time firefighter however, she says, this isn’t the work that scares her.

Her worry? Not having the ability to pay the bakery’s electrical energy invoice on the finish of the month.

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The invoice skyrocketed from €900 ($978) in December to €7,500 ($8,146) in January as Chavret renewed her contract. With a authorities subsidy, her invoice would drop to €4,500 ($4,888) per thirty days. That’s nonetheless an “unmanageable” enhance, she mentioned.

The brand new price is “insufferable,” Chavret instructed CNN, and can all however obliterate her earnings, already squeezed by rising uncooked materials and gasoline prices, and better wages for her six workers.

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Chavret prepares bread earlier than placing it within the oven. The baker’s electrical energy payments have elevated to “insufferable” ranges regardless of her always switching off lights and preserving the heating off except severely chilly.

Bread bakes at Chavret’s bakery in Millery, a small city close to Lyon in southeastern France.

Chavret greets clients. France’s bakeries are the lifeblood of a lot of its cities and villages.

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In November, the United Nations Instructional Scientific and Cultural Group, or UNESCO, designated the French baguette as a part of “intangible cultural heritage,” owing to the particular data and strategies wanted to supply it, in addition to the central position it performs in French each day life.

However, regardless of their cherished standing, many bakeries are struggling — and a few are on the point of closure — as vitality costs and the prices of their components have spiked.

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“Every part has gone up,” mentioned Nicolas Amaté, who owns a bakery in jap France along with his spouse Nadège.

“If this continues, we’ll all shut,” he instructed CNN.


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Nicolas and Nadège Amaté work at their bakery in Lons-le-Saunier, a city in jap France. The price of their butter has doubled in two years, whereas flour costs have tripled through the previous 12 months.

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An individual walks by the streets of Lons-le-Saunier earlier than coming into the Amatés’ bakery. Nicolas Amaté mentioned his clients perceive the difficulties his bakery faces and why he has raised a few of his costs.

Worth shocks

French industrial producer costs — the costs suppliers of home-grown items and companies cost companies — rocketed 13% year-over-year in February, after a fair increased rise in January, in keeping with official information.

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Enter costs in French manufacturing, which covers bakeries, have additionally been rising, though inflation has slowed since hitting an 11-year excessive in April final yr, in keeping with PMI surveys compiled by S&P International.

Two years in the past, Amaté purchased butter for €6 ($6.52) a kilo. Now it prices €12 ($13). Flour costs have risen thrice in a single yr. Eggs, milk and cream are additionally far more costly.

However it’s inflation in vitality costs that’s been notably painful for a lot of companies because of the pace of value will increase when electrical energy contracts are renewed.

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Numerous breads are on show on the Amatés’ bakery. If enter prices hold rising for France’s bakeries, they “will all shut,” Nicolas Amaté instructed CNN.

Nicolas and certainly one of his workers put together chocolate croissants.

Nadège locations pastries in her bakery’s show case.

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despatched European pure gasoline costs zooming to file ranges final yr. Energy costs adopted.

Power costs had been additionally pushed increased in France by a shutdown of almost half of its nuclear energy crops in 2022 for upkeep work, which minimize off the supply of as much as 70% of the nation’s electrical energy provide.

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French energy costs have fallen again from the file excessive reached in August however are nonetheless almost thrice their common pre-invasion ranges for March, in keeping with information from the European Power Alternate.

And following a December spike in energy costs to €465 ($505) per megawatt hour, companies that needed to renew, or signal new, vitality contracts late final yr are smarting.

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A baker working at La Maillardise bakery in Levallois-Perret, close to Paris, takes bread out of the oven.

Authorities assist is on the market to bakers, however many say the measures fall in need of what’s wanted.

A “shock absorber” cost was launched on January 1 to cowl as much as 20% of the annual electrical energy prices of a bakery if it employs between 10 and 250 folks.

Bakeries with fewer than 10 workers can entry a “tariff protect” that limits the rise of their annual electrical energy invoice to fifteen%. A few of these smaller companies are additionally eligible for a mean €280 ($304) per megawatt hour cap on their annual electrical energy contract.

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Thierry Maillard, who owns a bakery northwest of Paris along with his spouse Catherine, factors out {that a} 20% discount from the “shock absorber” wouldn’t have been sufficient to cowl the five hundred% enhance in his electrical energy prices he was dealing with.

A poster exhibits the value of bread at La Maillardise. Proprietor Thierry Maillard has upped the value of his baguettes twice up to now yr.

Thierry Maillard stands in entrance of his bakery.

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Maillard is making an attempt to barter a contract with a special provider, although he nonetheless expects his electrical energy prices to nearly double.

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Frédéric Roy, a baker in Good, has taken extra drastic motion. In October, he co-founded a marketing campaign group for bakers on Fb, which now counts 2,100 members. They staged their first road protest in Paris in January, demanding will increase to the 20% invoice subsidy, and that the “tariff protect” cowl extra bakeries.

Elevating their very own costs is one other means for bakers to take care of spiralling prices and it is likely one of the steps really helpful by Dominique Anract, president of the Nationwide Confederation of French Bakeries, which represents the nation’s 33,000 artisanal bakeries.

“If [bakers] have adopted our steerage on vitality moderation, if they’ve elevated their costs, and so they use the [government] assist, bakeries are usually not threatened,” Anract mentioned.

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Chavret carries a bag of salt on her shoulder at her bakery in Millery. She is anxious that clients will desert small bakeries like hers for bigger shops that may afford to cost decrease costs for his or her merchandise.

However mountaineering costs is less complicated mentioned than completed, bakers instructed CNN.

Take Chavret’s bakery. Final yr, she offered baguettes for €1.05 ($1.14) apiece. Now she prices €1.20 ($1.30), a rise of 14%.

She must enhance the costs of a lot of her merchandise to make any revenue. The value of a traditional baguette would wish to roughly triple.

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“Let me let you know that French persons are not able to pay €3 a baguette,” Chavret mentioned.

Fellow baker Maillard makes the identical level. He has upped the value of his baguettes twice up to now yr from €1.10 ($1.19) to €1.30 ($1.41).

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Maillard seems to be at payments and paperwork in his workplace. His daughter, left, additionally works on the bakery. If bakeries shut, Maillard instructed CNN, will probably be the “loss of life of villages” as a result of they play such an vital position in civic life.

Thierry compares final yr’s vitality prices to a brand new value listing he acquired for January. Power payments can fluctuate significantly between bakeries in France relying on the date they’re contracted.

Sizzling croissants are taken out of the oven at La Maillardise. The bakery’s payments are anticipated to double when it strikes to a brand new provider.

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However the value rises have to date helped cowl solely the upper prices of uncooked supplies like eggs and butter, he mentioned, and elevating costs additional shouldn’t be possible as clients would balk.

As for conserving vitality, Chavret and her workers are always switching off lights and preserving the heating off except it’s bitterly chilly, however the bakery’s payments are nonetheless by far the very best they’ve ever been.

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‘Very vital scenario’

In latest months, hundreds of French bakers have joined on-line marketing campaign teams that push for extra authorities assist — comparable to that co-founded by Roy in Good — and a few have taken half in road protests.

It was the “very, very vital scenario” in vitality prices that prompted Roy to behave, he instructed CNN.


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Uncooked supplies comparable to eggs, seen right here within the Amatés’ bakery, have elevated in value.

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A baker at Chavret’s bakery pours a bag of flour to make dough. Flour costs have continued to rise.

“I’ve been within the enterprise for 35 years now. I’ve by no means had a scenario like this. I’ve by no means demonstrated in my life,” Roy mentioned.

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“Lots of my fellow bakers have needed to lay off workers as a result of they can not pay for every little thing,” he added, noting that some bakeries “have closed completely.”

Within the survival of their companies, there may be greater than bakers’ livelihoods that’s at stake.

France’s bakeries are the lifeblood of a lot of its cities and villages, serving as uncommon public areas the place neighbors recurrently cross paths. The incidental chit-chat that always comes with it retains folks linked, Chavret mentioned.

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Nicolas Amaté serves a consumer at his bakery.

“If the bakeries closed, we’d lose that human aspect, that aspect of communication, of mutual support,” she mentioned. “It’s not in department shops that folks take the time to speak.”

Maillard points a starker warning.

“In a village or a neighborhood, if the bakery disappears, the opposite companies round will disappear… [It would be] the loss of life of villages and sure districts,” he mentioned.

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“The bakery is the lifetime of the neighborhood, it’s the lifetime of the village.”


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A person walks by La Maillardise in Levallois-Perret.
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Microsoft hires DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman to run new consumer AI unit

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Microsoft hires DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman to run new consumer AI unit

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Microsoft has hired Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder of Google’s DeepMind and chief executive of artificial intelligence start-up Inflection, to run a new consumer AI unit.

Suleyman, a British entrepreneur who co-founded DeepMind in London in 2010, will report to Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, the company announced on Tuesday. He will launch a division of Microsoft that brings consumer-facing products including Microsoft’s Copilot, Bing, Edge and GenAI under one team called Microsoft AI.

It is the latest move by Microsoft to capitalise on the boom in generative AI. It has invested $13bn in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and rapidly integrated its technology into Microsoft products.

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Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI has given it an early lead in Silicon Valley’s race to deploy AI, leaving its biggest rival, Google, struggling to catch up. It also has invested in other AI start-ups, including French developer Mistral.

It has been rolling out an AI assistant in its products such as Windows, Office software and cyber security tools. Suleyman’s unit will work on projects including integrating an AI version of Copilot into its Windows operating system and enhancing the use of generative AI in its Bing search engine.

Nadella said in a statement on Tuesday: “I’ve known Mustafa for several years and have greatly admired him as a founder of both DeepMind and Inflection, and as a visionary, product maker and builder of pioneering teams that go after bold missions.”

DeepMind was acquired by Google in 2014 for $500mn, one of the first large bets by a big tech company on a start-up AI lab. The company faced controversy a few years later over some of its projects, including its work for the UK healthcare sector, which was found by a government watchdog to have been granted inappropriate access to patient records.

Suleyman, who was the main public face for the company, was placed on leave in 2019. DeepMind workers had complained that he had an overly aggressive management style. Addressing staff complaints at the time, Suleyman said: “I really screwed up. I was very demanding and pretty relentless.”

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He moved to Google months later, where he led AI product management. In 2022 he joined Silicon Valley venture capital firm Greylock and launched Inflection later that year.

Microsoft will also hire most of Inflection’s staff, including Karén Simonyan, co-founder and chief scientist of Inflection, who will be chief scientist of the AI group. Microsoft did not clarify the number of employees moving over but said it included AI engineers, researchers and large language model builders who have designed and co-authored “many of the most important contributions in advancing AI over the last five years”.

Inflection, a rival to OpenAI, will switch its focus from its consumer chatbot, Pi, and instead move to sell enterprise AI software to businesses, according to a statement on its website. Sean White, who has held various technology roles, has joined as its new chief executive.

Inflection’s third co-founder, Reid Hoffman, the founder and executive chair of LinkedIn, will remain on Inflection’s board. Inflection had raised $1.3bn in June, valuing the group at about $4bn, in one of the largest fundraisings by an AI start-up amid an explosion of interest in the sector.

The new unit marks a big organisational shift at Microsoft. Mikhail Parakhin, its president of web services, will move along with his entire team to report to Suleyman.

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“We have a real shot to build technology that was once thought impossible and that lives up to our mission to ensure the benefits of AI reach every person and organisation on the planet, safely and responsibly,” Nadella said.

Competition regulators in the US and Europe have been scrutinising the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI amid a broader inquiry into AI investments.

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Threats, debt and Trump's advances: 'Stormy' doc examines the life of Stormy Daniels

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Threats, debt and Trump's advances: 'Stormy' doc examines the life of Stormy Daniels

Stormy Daniels from the Peacock documentary Stormy.

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Stormy Daniels from the Peacock documentary Stormy.

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The new documentary Stormy begins in 2023 — around the time former President Donald Trump was indicted over hush-money payments made during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Stormy Daniels, who was paid by Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen to keep quiet about their alleged previous affair, watches the news unfold on TV and then says, “Let’s go,” before she walks off screen.

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Stormy chronicles Daniels’ life from her childhood in Baton Rouge, La., to her rise as an adult film actor and then, in the opinion of some, a feminist hero. It also gives viewers a glimpse into how she went from friend to foe of a celebrity businessman who became president of the United States.

“I am here today to tell my story and even if I just change a few people’s minds, it’s fine. If not, at least my daughter can look back on this and know the truth,” she said in the film.

Trump’s criminal trial over the hush-money payments has been delayed until mid-April. He faces 34 felony counts, alleging he falsified New York business records to conceal damaging information before the 2016 presidential election. Trump denies the allegations that he had an affair with Daniels and has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

On Monday, a judge rejected Trump’s bid to block Cohen and Daniels — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — from testifying. The trial date will be set at a hearing on March 25.

The film, released Monday on Peacock, mainly captures Daniels’ life between 2018 and 2023. Here are the main takeaways from the documentary:

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1. Daniels explains why she didn’t say no to Trump’s advances back in 2006

Daniels alleged that she was abused by a neighbor in Louisiana when she was 9 years old. She did not go into further detail except to say that the man, whom she did not name, had abused other young girls and has since died.

Later in the film, as Daniels explained why she did not refuse Trump’s advances when the two met in 2006, she said, “I didn’t say no because I just, I was 9 years old again.” At the time, Daniels was in her 20s and Trump was 60.

Though she described the alleged affair as consensual, Daniels said she did not want to have sex with Trump.

“To this day, I blame myself and I have not forgiven myself because I didn’t shut his a** down in that moment, so maybe make him pause before he tried it with someone else,” she said. “The hardest part about all of this is I feel like I am partially responsible for every woman that could have come after me.”

2. Threats against Daniels have become more disturbing

Throughout the film, Daniels is forced to navigate insults and threats hurled at her and her family.

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But she described herself as having thick skin. In one scene from 2018, Daniels joked that she was disappointed she could not find any hate comments on Twitter after she had received a key to West Hollywood from the city’s mayor.

Fast forward to this past year, after Trump’s indictment, Daniels said the hate comments had become more intense and disturbing.

“Back in 2018, there was stuff like ‘liar, s***, gold digger,’ ” she said. “This time around, it is very different. It is direct threats. It is ‘I’m going to come to your house and slit your throat.’ “

Daniels added that she did not feel protected by the justice system, and accused it of ignoring her concerns about her safety.

3. Daniels says her ‘soul is so tired’ but she is willing to testify against Trump

Amid the six-year conflict with Trump, Daniels’ marriage ended, her relationship with her daughter became strained, and she felt her safety was constantly jeopardized.

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But with Trump about to go on trial, Daniels said she’s willing to testify in court against the former president.

“I’m more prepared with my legal knowledge but I’m also tired. Like, my soul is so tired,” she said. “I won’t give up because I’m telling the truth. And I kind of don’t even know if it matters anymore.”

4. Daniels owes Trump over $600,000 in attorney fees

Near the end of the documentary, it’s clear that Daniels also suffered financially as a result of her years-long legal battle against Trump.

In 2018, Daniels sued Trump for defamation. The suit was based on a tweet Trump wrote that year, which suggested Daniels had lied about being threatened in 2011 to not speak out about her alleged previous affair with Trump.

A federal judge later dismissed the suit and ordered Daniels to pay the then-president’s legal fees.

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Daniels appealed but lost. She now owes Trump over $600,000 in attorney fees. The film asserts that Daniels is afraid she may lose her home.

5. Seth Rogen and Jimmy Kimmel speak on Daniels’ behalf

Among the people who appeared in the documentary were actor Seth Rogen and late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel.

Rogen, who worked with Daniels on the 2007 film Knocked Up, recalled talking with her about Trump. At the time, Daniels said she was communicating with Trump about possibly being on his former reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice.

“She didn’t realize she would one day be at the center of this giant thing as she was messing around with some game show host,” Rogen said. “She’s someone who made an enemy of the most powerful guy on the planet and didn’t, like, cower.”

Kimmel invited Daniels to his show in 2018, when Daniels’ nondisclosure agreement about her previous affair with Trump was still in effect.

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Kimmel described Daniels as having a good sense of humor but also afraid of violating her NDA. He nodded to this during their interview, in which he brought out puppets to reenact her interactions with Trump.

“She told the truth and she paid a price for that,” Kimmel said in the film. “It’s not something that just goes away.”

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Calpers to invest more than $30bn in private markets

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Calpers to invest more than $30bn in private markets

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Calpers, the US’s biggest public pension plan, is to increase its holdings in private markets by more than $30bn and reduce its allocation to stock markets and bonds in an effort to improve returns.

A proposal to increase the $483bn fund’s positions in assets such as private equity and private credit from 33 per cent of the plan to 40 per cent was approved on Monday, according to an announcement by the fund and notes from its board meeting. 

The formal approval comes two years after Calpers admitted that a decision to put its private equity programme on hold for 10 years had cost it up to $18bn in returns.

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However, a review of its investment policy found that, despite the gains it had already missed, private equity was still the asset class with the highest expected long-term total return.

“Strong and ongoing growth in private equity returns is behind this measured and appropriate increase,” said Calpers trustee David Miller, chair of the investment committee. 

“Market conditions are evolving and the investment team needs latitude to deploy capital intelligently to keep the fund on track for sustainable returns.”

According to analysis published by Calpers alongside its board notes, private equity was the top-performing asset class in the decade to June 30 2023, with annualised returns of 11.8 per cent. That compares with 8.9 per cent from public equities and 2.4 per cent from fixed income. The documents did not disclose if the figures took account of fees.

The portfolio shake-up, which was confirmed after a scheduled asset allocation review, will bring the California-based plan into line with other big retirement systems in the US, including Calstrs, which has just over 40 per cent of its portfolio in private markets.

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As part of the move, Calpers will increase its bet on private equity from 13 per cent to 17 per cent of its portfolio, although this could potentially rise as high as 22 per cent.

At the same time, it is pulling back from investing in stock markets, with its allocation to equities set to fall from 42 per cent to 37 per cent of its portfolio. It will also trim its allocation to fixed income from 30 per cent to 28 per cent.

In 2021, Calpers’ board approved an expansion into private assets including private equity, real assets and private debt, from 21 per cent to 33 per cent of the portfolio, and also gave itself the ability to borrow money to invest in assets that would help diversify its holdings.

Last year the Financial Times reported that Calpers was planning a multibillion-dollar move into international venture capital, as the fund moved towards investing in riskier assets to drive returns.

The fund also reported a return of 10.3 per cent last year. It is yet to announce a replacement for chief investment officer Nicole Musicco, who resigned last year after 18 months in the role.

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