Free Republic

The owner of a vast tract of virgin forest land in north-central Norway is in big trouble after chopping down trees on his own property. Newspaper Aftenposten reported Tuesday that the 54-year-old forest owner has been sentenced to six months in jail for chopping down the trees on his land in Flatanger, Nord-Trøndelag. The trees he chopped were in an area that was part of an officially designated nature preserve. An appeals court in Nord-Trøndelag ruled that the forest owner intentionally launched the logging operation, in the hopes that the area would thus lose its nature preserve status. Illegal logging...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German woman and a male friend face prosecution for human trafficking after they put the woman's daughter up for auction on the Internet at a starting price of one euro ($1.18), authorities said on Wednesday. A photograph of the 8-year-old child was posted by the man, from the Bavarian town of Traunstein, who later told police he had placed the offer to test the online auction system. The senior state prosecutor investigating the case said both the man, 35, and mother, 41, faced charges of attempted child trafficking. "Three people made offers for the child and...