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Wade Halliburton

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Waste not, red-style?
LES ECHOS

Green Fashion? When Clothing Industry Decides Ecology Is In

The fashion industry sees that protection of the environment is a hot selling point, and maybe also a long-term trend.

PARIS — An organic cotton Claudie Pierlot sweater, washed out denim Pepe Jeans without chemicals, ecological nylon Stella McCartney windproof jackets. This past autumn, the capital's landmark Galeries Lafayette​ department store organized "Go for Good," where more than 400 brands (Carven, Patagonia, Louis Vuitton, Le Coq Sportif…) offered products that "don't claim perfection in all aspects, but which constitute significant advances to making the fashion industry more sustainable," says Guillaume Houze, communication chief for the Parisian store.

This project is meant to raise awareness among customers, and to put fashion on the right side of the issue. "The industry has become aware of the state of the planet, of the cost of the raw materials, and of the environmental mess," Houze said.

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An Arctic view of the Northern Lights
Green Or Gone

Russia And China Lead New Rush To The Arctic

With the melting of the ice, maritime traffic is growing, which means new economic opportunities, but also some cold and hard questions.

TROMSO — On the maps we all studied in school, the Arctic appears as a huge white spot separating Asia from the Americas — wild, untouched, impassable. But is that still an accurate representation?

The area is changing, and changing quickly, says Ole Arve Misund, director of the Norwegian Polar Institute. "In 20 or 30 years, probably, there will be no more ice at the North Pole during the summer, and the Arctic Ocean will become accessible," he says.

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Nils Muller
food / travel

Meet The Former Vegetarian Who Slaughters Cows Humanely

This bio-friendly cattle rancher doesn't win many friends among either vegetarians or traditional ranchers. But those who eat his 'no-stress' beef can taste the difference.

ZURICH — They are small but stocky oxen, hornless with red or black coats and a friendly air. This Scottish cattle breed is known as Aberdeen Angus. Once a month, at dawn, Nils Müller arrives with his 22-caliber rifle. He lets these beautiful creatures into a pen measuring 10 square meters, from the field where they usually graze. He climbs upon a wooden cabin, above the flock, takes aim and fires a single shot.

"I do not choose which of them I will kill, I leave it to chance," he explains. It's the first one who faces him for an extended period of time. The animal collapses, having been struck right between the eyes.

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On the set of Justice League
food / travel

The Coolest Set, A Local Eye On Hollywood's Iceland Invasion

DJUPAVIK — About a century ago, farmers from the remote region of Arneshreppur didn't know the value of money. In general, bartering was still the only source of survival in this northwestern region, largely cut off from the rest of the island nation. Then, in 1934, a herring factory was opened in the small village of Djupavik.

Eventually more than 300 more people settled in the area over the subsequent ten years, before the fish became scarce, and the factory's inevitable closing in 1954 that sank the fjord region back into despair.

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A file photo at a 2015 Catalan independence rally in Barcelona
Spain

Catalonia Like Quebec? Spain Should Be As Cool As Canada

PARIS — What is France to do, as neighbors, and we Europeans, as fellow citizens, faced with the declaration of independence of Catalonia? It undermines a large European democracy on our border, Spain, and places us in the face of an unprecedented challenge. Within what right do we say "yes' or "no" when the nationalism that is expressed is democratic — it is based on votes — respectful of individual freedom and even open to foreigners?

I was faced with the Catalan independence movement at the beginning of the year 2000 in unusual circumstances. Invited to Barcelona by the French Institute for a conference on immigration and Europe, I received an invitation to meet Jordi Pujol, then President of the "Generality" and figure of the independence movement. The next morning, when I arrived at his office, my first surprise was not only to find Mr Pujol there, but also a part of his government, responsible for its administration and the head of the Catalan police force in uniform.

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