Astronomers Discover Fifth Planet Orbiting Distant Star

By Art Chimes
Washington, DC
07 November 2007

Astronomers Tuesday announced the discovery of another planet

orbiting a distant star, making it the most crowded planetary system
outside our own. VOA's Art Chimes reports.

More than 260 planets have been identified outside our solar system. The
most recently discovered exoplanet, as they're called, orbits a star in the
constellation Cancer.
Artist's concept illustrates two planetary
systems, with blue lines showing the orbits of
According to Geoff Marcy of the University of California, one of the planets, including the dwarf planet Pluto in the
authors of a new paper announcing the discovery, astronomers already solar system
knew the star had four planets.

"We've been observing a sunlike star called 55 Cancri, star 55 in the constellation Cancer, for 19 years, and we watch
the wobble of this star as it's yanked on by the planets orbiting it," he said. "And we're just now announcing the
discovery of the fifth planet, the first planetary system with five full planets orbiting a sunlike star."

Our solar system has eight planets.

Astronomers estimate the newly-found planet is about 45 times more massive than Earth, and has a year lasting 260
Earth days. Lead author Debra Fischer says the planet may resemble Saturn in some ways.

"This planet, we think, is likely to have a fairly substantial atmosphere," she said. "It's very massive. It might not be
the sort of place that, at least life as we know it, would find to be a comfortable environment. However, this planet, in
fact, orbits in what we call the habitable zone."

Planets in the habitable zone have a range of temperatures that might support life, if not on the planet itself, then
possibly on a moon, if the planet has any moons.

Exoplanets are generally discovered indirectly by detecting changes in the light coming from a star as its orbit is
affected by nearby planets. Sometimes it can take years to sort out these Doppler observations.

The more massive the planet, the easier it is to detect. But Debra Fischer, of San Francisco State University, says the
growing sophistication of the technique increases the chances of finding planets more like our own.

"So what we're doing right now with our observational technique, the Doppler technique, is taking really the very
first steps to finding Earth-like planets. You know, we'll basically give NASA the addresses, the names and
addresses, of the most likely candidates for Earth-like planets."

Debra Fischer and her colleagues will publish their findings in an upcoming edition of Astrophysical Journal.

British Police Crack Down on Human Trafficking

By Mandy Clark
London
13 November 2007

Britain is cracking down on human trafficking. In their latest drive to stop the crime, police say they are
targeting gang leaders and their trade routes. Authorities say Britain is a main destination in the international
human trafficking market and many victims get trapped in it with the promise of a good job. VOA's Mandy
Clark reports from London.
 Joanne is not her real name. She wants to remain anonymous. She says she
thought that when she left the war in Rwanda, her life would get better. "It felt
like a new chapter, a new life, a new beginning and I was desperate for that."

The man who smuggled her into Britain had other plans. Joanne recalls the
events. "He forced himself on me, then he started bringing different people to
gang rape (me). He'll be paid in the process."

Joanne says her entire family died in Rwanda and she did not have anyone to
help her. "My first thought was to escape, but to where? I wanted to kill myself
but didn't have the means to do that. I wish I had died with my family."

The Helen Bamber Foundation is an anti-trafficking organization that is

"Joanne," a victim of human trafficking
helping Joanne come to terms with her trauma.

A video plays: "Elena used to cry. Maria doesn't feel anything anymore." To raise public awareness, the trust has
come out with a powerful campaign featuring actress Emma Thompson.

British government research suggests that 4,000 women involved in the illegal sex trade may have been brought to
the country for that purpose -- and the number may be twice that. Authorities call their new crackdown Pentameter
Two and plan to surpass the results of a previous crackdown. That operation last year freed 84 women and teenage
girls from brothels and massage parlors and led to 232 arrests.

Detective Chief Superintendent Nick Kinsella runs Britain's Human

Trafficking Center. He says, "We need to make this, the U.K., a hostile
environment for traffickers where, if they are involved in trafficking activity,
it's a high-risk, low-profit crime."

Joanne says she was freed after 11 months because her health began to fail and
she was no longer of use to her trafficker. She says he let her go, but gave her
devastating news. "He said, 'I have HIV and I'm pretty sure I have infected
you.' I went to a clinic and found out I was HIV positive which leads to AIDS
and I totally lost my mind."

Sister Patricia Mulhall is a Roman

Catholic nun who works with the
Nick Kinsella United Nations in developing
legislation to stop the trade in humans. "It's 21st century human slavery. A
drug is sold -- it's gone. But a woman and a girl can be sold over and over and
over again,'" she said.

Sister Mulhall says the message has to get to the men who pay for sex. "I think
we have to tackle the situation head-on. Look at the demanders and challenge
the social behavior."

She says if the demand stops, the trade could cease to exist, but Joanne says
she is not hopeful. "It's happening, it's still happening and it's not going to end Sister Patricia Mulhall
with me," Joanne said.

New Bird Flu Outbreak Strikes Britain

By Tom Rivers
London
13 November 2007

Authorities in Britain have ordered the culling of thousand of turkeys and other birds at a farm northeast of
London where a deadly strain of avian flu has been detected. For VOA, Tom Rivers reports from the British
capital.

Having successfully dealt with a previous outbreak in February, Britain is again

coping with bird flu and as British government lab results now show, it is the
deadly form of the virus, H5 N1.

That was confirmed Tuesday by the country's deputy chief veterinary officer Fred
Landeg.

"It is of the Asian lineage and it is closely related to strains of highly pathogenic
avian influenza found this summer in the Czech republic and in Germany," he
said.

A three-kilometer protection zone rings the poultry farm in eastern England

Bird Flu Virus
where this outbreak has occurred and beyond that, a ten-kilometer surveillance
zone encircles the area in northern Suffolk country.

On that farm itself, Landeg says culling is underway.

"There are 5,000 turkeys, approximately on the site, over 1,000 ducks and nearly 500 geese," he added. "These birds
are free-range, but of course they are brought in at night and when the premises was brought under restriction, the
birds were housed."

Given the similarity to the strains found this summer in the Czech republic and in Germany, one theory is that a wild
bird might have brought it in, but right now, nothing is being ruled in or out.

"At this stage, we are keeping an open mind as to the origin of and as I have said, all potential sources of the origin
will be investigated and that includes movements of people, vehicles and things onto the premises and the
investigation clearly will cover whether there is any existing disease elsewhere in the immediate area," he explained.

Roughly nine months ago, an outbreak of the virus on another poultry farm from the same general region led to the
slaughter of 160,000 turkeys.

Since it first emerged in Asian poultry stocks, it is believed that just over 200 people have died of the disease
worldwide although it remains difficult for humans to catch.

McDonald's Garbage Heats and Lights Buildings in British City

By Mandy Clark
London
13 November 2007

A city in Britain and a U.S.-based fast food chain are teaming up to cut carbon emissions as well as save
energy and space in the local landfill.

Some 130 buildings in the City of Sheffield are now being powered by
McDonald's hamburgers. Eleven of the company's restaurants are taking
part in a program that turns their garbage into light and heat. And
McDonald's states each restaurant willl avoid sending 100 tons of waste to
Sheffield's landfills every year. VOA's Mandy Clark reports from
Sheffield.

The Golden Arches in Britain are going Green.

McDonald's in London
One busy McDonald's restaurant may seems like any other. Hamburgers and fries feed the hungry lunch crowd. But
at one the food that customers cannot quite finish will be made into fuel of a
different kind -- electricity and heating for local buildings.

Franchise owner Duncan Taylor says he's proud of the initiative. "It is
important that we all take little steps, this maybe a little step in a global
perspective, but it is a positive step. We are saving significant carbon
emissions to the atmosphere."

The Sheffield pilot project ensures none of the restaurants' rubbish goes to
landfills.

Instead a truck is taking the day's refuse to the city's Energy Recovery Facility,
where it is then incinerated and converted into electricity -- powering
hospitals, City Hall, galleries, and theatres. Duncan Taylor

The restaurants involved are also experimenting with other energy saving technology, including solar panels, wind
power, and efficient lighting.

The Carbon Trust -- a government-funded independent company -- will

calculate the impact of this project on the environment. But company officials
say it is too early now to tell.

Some Sheffield citizens are skeptical about McDonald's motives but supportive
of the idea. A few citizens had these comments:

"I think it is a good idea but maybe they are doing it to get good publicity and
change their image around."

"I think it will do a lot for their reputation because, at the moment, they are
getting a lot of bad publicity about obesity issues."
Rubbish from McDonald's is collected
"If they are providing food for the nation and the world, if they are trying to
help in other ways like recycling the rubbish, it's a good scheme [plan] for the whole world, I believe."

And, if the project proves successful here, McDonald's hopes to expand the efforts to its other restaurants across
Britain.

5,000 Students Gather to Lobby Lawmakers on Global Warming

By Rosanne Skirble
Washington, DC
13 November 2007
Skirble report — Download MP3 (1.23MB)
Listen to Skirble report — Download MP3 (1.23MB)

More young Americans are going to the polls than ever before. According
to U.S. Census figures, 18-to-29-year-olds increased their turnout by twice
the rate of the general voting population in the 2004 and 2006 elections.

Emboldened by their growing

Students demand rethinking of global warming
numbers and by the urgency of policy in rally on Capitol
issues like global warming, young
people are looking for ways to make a difference. A large number of them
came to Washington recently to flex their political muscles.

Organizers called it the single biggest lobby day on climate change ever.

Congressional hearing packed for student

testimony on climate change
Five thousand college students representing every U.S. state converged on Capitol Hill calling on members of
Congress to take swift action on global warming.

Chelsea Cook from the State University of New York at Cortland cheered and waved a handmade sign to show her
support, "We are here today to make a difference. Because there are so many people around the world that are
suffering because of global warming." Stephanie Grube, also from SUNY Cortland agreed, "We can make a
difference by voting, by organizations that we are part of. It starts with us."

Nathan Wyeth came from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

He is active on his campus and wants Congress to do something, too. He
says new clean energy technology can solve the climate crisis and provide
jobs. "That is such a clear forward path I don't know who could be against
it."

Lobby Day, as the event was called, was organized by the Energy Action
Coalition, a non-profit that coordinates more than 40 student environmental
groups. Testifying before Congress, Energy Action co-founder Billy Parish
asked for bipartisan support for a plan www.1skyCampaign.org that would
dramatically cut carbon emissions, create millions of new environmentally- 'Lobby Day' students don green hard hats to
beneficial jobs and put a moratorium on construction of coal-fired power symbolize call for new green jobs
plants.

Interrupted by applause from his peers in the packed hearing room, he implored lawmakers to listen to his demands.
"I ask that you hear them not only as politicians, but as mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers. We can do this if we
work together. But we must begin today."

Cheryl Lockwood, a native Yupik Eskimo from St. Michael Village on Norton Sound, Alaska, told members of
congress her community cannot wait much longer. Coastal erosion from melting glacial ice has already impacted
native life, she said. In a tearful testimony, she said she was afraid that her traditions and culture would be lost. "We
have been living here for thousands of years. It is not just that we are losing our food. We are losing our homes."

Students took Lockwood's sobering message with them as they headed for
appointments with their elected officials. Fifty students from Iowa crowded
into the office of Iowa senator Chuck Grassley, where they were given 15
minutes to make their case.

They asked for the senator's support for an 80 percent reduction in CO2 by
2050. Grassley did not commit to the request, but said that he has supported
alternative sources of energy in the past and will continue to do so. "I am
very strong on wind energy, backer of all sorts of alternative standards like
ethanol, solar, [and] biomas," he told the students.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley hears demands
from Iowa student lobbyists The time passed quickly, but Maharishi School of Management student
Benjamin Katz, 27, said the short meeting was well worth the 40-hour bus
trip from his Iowa campus to Washington. He said he learned how to fine-tune his passion for a cause into an
effective political message, though he conceded he still has a lot to learn.

"The next time I would definitely learn more about the voting record of my congressman so that I could speak more
directly to him, the things that he stands for, and tailor more what I had to say to him specifically as opposed to the
platform that we are trying to push," Katz said.

Other students said the Senator's warm welcome was an encouraging sign that even their novice lobbying efforts had
made a difference. Jai Garg, 18, from Grinnell College in Central Iowa communicated a strong message. "The fact
that we are here just helps to push the movement further." Nathan Pavlovic, 19, also from Grinnell, didn't expect that
the senator would agree with everything. "But I think that it's good that we let him know that he needs to be thinking
about this, that he needs to rethink what he is doing."

Pavlovic is hopeful that may lead to continued dialogue between young people and congressional leaders on the
environment and action on the environmental issues they came to champion.