Robbing the Rain Forest

Promising little more than trinkets -- bicycles, a few bars of soap, some bottles of beer -- foreign logging companies working in Congo often broker deals with village chiefs, which allow them to cut down huge swaths of the world's second-largest rain forest. The trees they fell are worth millions of dollars on the international market and are essential to maintaining the planet's climate, said experts. In addition to small gifts, companies sometimes agree to build schools or hospitals for...Full Story