New ‘Earth’ discovered by NASA

Nasa have announced the discovery of Kepler-22b, a planet 600 light-years away from Earth which is in a habitable zone, an area that is within the 'sweet spot' in terms of distance from a star allowing for the existence of water in its liquid form.

The planet is the first that the Kepler spacecraft has discovered within this habitable zone.

"This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin," Douglas Hudgins, a Kepler program scientist stated.

"Kepler's results continue to demonstrate the importance of NASA's science missions, which aim to answer some of the biggest questions about our place in the universe."

Kepler-22b has a radius 2.4 times that of Earth's and orbits it sun-like star every 290 days, while enjoying a very accommodating temperature of approximately 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

Nasa is still not sure if Kepler-22b is composed or rock, gas or liquid.

A scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center who's on the Kepler team, Steve Howell, informed The Huffington Post that the most exciting discoveries are still to come.

"It's tremendously exciting," said Howell. "We're moving out to orbital periods that are nearly and equal to the Earth, and that means very soon we're going to be finding [planets] very near the earth, what we'd call true earth analogs. We'll be there. We'll be there probably within a year, very easily."

Faith leaders warn of ‘suffering on a terrifying scale’

With representatives from governments across the world continuing to meet in Durban this week for climate change discussions, faith leaders have urged them to act decisively before it is too late.

The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) is negotiating a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, which contains the current binding targets for carbon emission cuts. However, experts are concerned with a lack of progress since the talks began a week ago, specifically in regard to binding carbon emission cuts and a financial package to help impoverished countries adapt to the impact of climate change.

A group of faith leaders that includes Ela Ghandi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Ghandi, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Durban, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier have released a strong interfaith statement urging governments to act before "irreparable" damage is done to the Earth.

“We call upon our leaders, those of our faiths, and all people of Earth to accept the reality of the common danger we face, the imperative and responsibility for immediate and decisive action, and the opportunity to change,” reads the statement.

Cardinal Napier is especially concerned that government representatives will fail to reach any meaningful agreement.

“We express our displeasure with local and international political leadership which has failed to take decisive steps to make the changes required for the survival of humanity and life on earth,” he said.

“We as the religious community demand that our political leaders honour previous commitments and move towards ethically responsible positions and policies.

“There is strong evidence that such steps will not be made at COP 17.”

This faith declaration has been backed up Christian Aid, with the agency's climate expert, Mohamed Adow, warning that people around the world could expect suffering on a “huge” scale if nothing is done to address the problems now.

“We want to leave Durban with a deal which is a strong response to the climate chaos which is hurtling towards us – and which is already having devastating effects on poor people,” he said.

“Governments need to agree how to respond to the latest climate science, which shows that without deep emissions cuts now, dangerous global warming will occur.

“It will cause human suffering on a terrifying scale.”

Archbishop speaks out against sexual violence on World AIDS Day

After a recent article in the American Journal of Public Health reported that more than 400,000 women aged 15 to 49 were raped in a 12 month period, the Archbishop of Canterbury used his World Aids Day message to emphasise the role of sexual violence in the spread of HIV.

In a video message recorded during his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dr Rowan Williams described sexual violence as "one of the most shameful facts of our day".

While in the DRC, the Archbishop met victims of sexual violence and saw the work that churches are doing to help victims recover physically and spiritually.

Williams described the conflict-ridden DRC as the "epicentre of a great deal of appalling violence in recent years" and voiced his concern at how sexual violence was being used as a weapon of war to "humiliate and subdue others."

"The women in Congo, especially in this part of Congo, have suffered dreadfully because of this. And the connection between sexual violence of this kind and the spread of HIV/AIDS is one of the most shameful facts of our day," he said.

“Trauma is something which cannot be overcome overnight but when people feel they’ve been abandoned by families, by communities, because of the shame and stigma of HIV/AIDS, the church in this part of Congo has been there for them.

"For these people, who have been abused systematically, been raped, violated, abducted often at the youngest of ages – for these people, the church has been the family that mattered.”

Churches in the DRC have been supporting survivors of sexual abuse by providing them with medical care and trauma counselling, as well as advocating against stigma. Williams urged the international community to lend their weight to this work.

“As we seek to confront the terrible scandal of sexual violence as one of the causes of HIV and AIDS, let’s hope and pray that communities like the churches here will continue to fight as hard as they can against the stigmatising and marginalising that so reduce human dignity.”

HIV deepens family poverty, says UN

A UN report released on World Aids Day asserts that HIV-affected households often face "irreversible poverty" due to the exorbitant costs of living with such a disease.

Women and children are often those worst affected by this, adds the report.

High health care costs and the loss of employment opportunities due to discrimination are just some of the factors that contribute to a "rapid socio-economic decline" amongst HIV-positive households.

"Without intervention, many (HIV-affected families) will slip into irreversible poverty," said the UN Development Programme's deputy regional director Nicolas Rosellini.

The extra expenses of HIV-affected households also results in higher school dropout rates since parents struggle to pay fees.

The UN estimates that around 34 million people worldwide lived with HIV in 2010, according to News24.com. The good news is that the number of Aids-linked deaths has steadily dropped from a peak of 2.2 million in 2005 to 1.8 million last year.



"Yet the challenge is far from over," insisted Samlee Plianbangchang, regional director of the World Health Organisation in an article for the Bangkok Post.



"The impact on women and children is devastating. An estimated 1.3 million women aged 15 and above currently live with HIV" in Asia, he wrote, adding that the number of children living with HIV had risen 46% from 2001 to 2009.

Oxfam warn climate change will worsen food shortages

In a report issued at the beginning of the UN climate talks being staged in Durban, Oxfam have warned that surges in food prices caused by storms and droughts could be a "grim foretaste" of what lies ahead when climate change worsens.

The British charity reminded delegates that recent spikes in wheat, corn and sorghum prices were triggered by extreme weather.

The effect of this drove tens of millions into poverty over the past 18 months.



"This will only get worse as climate change gathers pace and agriculture feels the heat," insisted Oxfam's Kelly Dent.

"When a weather event drives local or regional price spikes, poor people often face a double shock.



"They have to cope with higher food prices at a time when extreme weather may have also killed their livestock, destroyed their home or farm, or stripped them of their livelihood.



"This toxic mix of higher prices and lower purchasing power has driven many people into crisis this year," said Dent.



"If we don't act in Durban, this pattern could become even worse."



Oxfam explained exactly how these price hikes were affecting the poor.



"For the poorest who spend up to 75% of their income on food, price rises on this scale can have consequences as families are forced into impossible trade-offs in a desperate bid to feed themselves," it said.



"More frequent and extreme weather events will compound things further, creating shortages, destabilising markets and precipitating price spikes, which will be felt on top of the structural price rises predicted by the models."

Created in Joy! Created for Joy!

I am an avid reader. I tend to devour everything that piques my interest - just at the moment I am reading Walter Isaacson's biography on Steve Jobs. It has been of the most engaging, and saddening, books I have read in a long time.

Steve Jobs seems to have been a person who had a few very 'rough edges'. Whilst I can certainly see elements of enlightenment in his character and desire, there are some very aspects of his person (most frequently expressed in his fears and behaviour) that show that in spite of enlightenment he was a rather tormented and unhappy person.

I suppose that in some senses success comes at a cost - in this case the cost is real closeness to other people. While there is little doubt that many people admired (and still admire) Steve Jobs for his vision and drive, there is also little doubt that there are many who have been left in the wake of an unrelenting and even destructive personality.

In contrast to what I am reading in the Isaacson biography I came across this beautiful quote from Frederick Buechner, the American born writer and theologian:

"God created us in joy and created us for joy, and in the long run not all the darkness there is in the world and in ourselves can separate us finally from that joy, because whatever else it means to say that God created us in his image, I think it means that even when we cannot believe in him, even when we feel most spiritually bankrupt and deserted by him, his mark is deep within us. We have God’s joy in our blood." (Frederick Buechner).

Indeed, I can see aspects of 'driveness' in my own life. Those who know me will testify to the fact that I am quite a driven person. Once I have a particular goal in mind, or an aspiration toward which I am striving, it tends to occupy my mind and direct both my actions and my thoughts.

For example, I had been working on my doctoral research for about two and a half years when one day a catastrophe occurred - in an attempt to keep up to date copies of my working file (the actual text of my dissertation) I accidentally copied an old version of my work over the latest versions. Of the 4 completed chapters (out of 6) in my doctoral thesis I lost 3. Basically all I had left was my research proposal, which would later become the first chapter of my thesis.

As you can imagine I was devastated! After much anger, disappointment, disbelief and more anger, I made a choice: I said to myself that I would give this project one last effort. I decided to wake up each morning and work from 4am to 6.30am every day of the week (7 days) until I could not do it anymore. I kept to that discipline and ended up completing my dissertation in just over a year. I was consumed by the desire to complete it.

However, I have been working very hard in recent years to be transformed from being driven to being called. It is a subtle, but significant distinction. Driven people do things for themselves. Called persons respond to an invitation from another. I am attempting to live far more as a person of calling, on who is dedicating his life to a vocation rather than a career.

This reminds me a great deal of this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose biography 'Bonhoeffer, Pastor Martyr, Prophet, Spy', I read last month:

"Vocation is responsibility and responsibility is a total response of the whole man to the whole of reality." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

As I have taken this delicate and often painful journey of living in spite of my weaknesses and brokenness I have discovered a great deal of blessing and joy. I am beginning to become much more accepting of the truth that I was created in joy, and created by God for joy!

__________
Dr Dion Forster is an ordained Minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. He is a theologian and author. He was formerly the Dean of the Seminary of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, John Wesley College. He currently serves as a consultant and spiritual adviser / Chaplain to the Global Day of Prayer and Unashamedly Ethical movements and their founder, Graham Power. You can read Dion's blogs on www.dionforster.com.

Tutu urges support for 'extraordinary' Climate Change Concert

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has urged South Africans to join world faith leaders, political leaders and music stars at an “extraordinary” mass rally and afternoon concert on November 27 at the King’s Park Stadium in Durban.

The Archbishop is to host the “We Have Faith - Act Now for Climate Justice” rally and concert, at which he will lead a call to world leaders attending the COP17 climate change talks in Durban that they should reach a fair and legally binding agreement to curb climate change.

Musicians including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Arno Carstens, rap star HHP and Kenyan Gospel rapper Juliani have confirmed they will perform at the rally, which will be free. The COP17 talks start in Durban the day after the rally.

Faith leaders including Pope Benedict XVI, Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, have also been invited. Those who cannot attend have been asked to send video clips of support.

Environmental campaigners and motivational speakers Lewis Pugh, the “human polar bear”, and Braam Malherbe, a 50/50 presenter, will be among the many who will address the crowd.

“Apartheid seemed an overwhelming challenge that could not be defeated but we mobilised and defeated it. We need the same passion and determination to defeat climate change,” says Tutu.

“Climate change is an even greater threat to us than apartheid was, because as temperatures rise, millions of Africans will be deprived of water and crops. This will cause enormous suffering. It is something we simply cannot allow.

“In the face of such a huge threat, many of us feel numb and throw up our hands, believing we can’t make a difference. But we can make a difference - come to the rally. It will be an extraordinary event. And if you cannot come, please sign our petition on www.wehavefaithactnow.org. We want to have over one million signatures on these petitions at the rally to hand over the world leaders.

“Along with the many other faith leaders in the campaign, I appeal to you all - don’t hesitate to join us. Your support could help make a world of difference in keeping our planet cool.”

At the rally, Archbishop Tutu will hand over the petition to COP17 Chair, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who has confirmed she will attend to receive it.

UNFCCC executive secretary Christina Figueres has confirmed she will attend the rally, and President Jacob Zuma is among the many key politicians who have been invited.

The “We Have Faith” petition calls on world leaders to commit to a fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement, for a renewal of the Kyoto Protocol, and for funding to help Africa adapt to climate change.

Learners from dozens of schools throughout KwaZulu-Natal will also participate in the rally, presenting environmental-themed posters and messages to the leaders and performing song-and-dance numbers.

The faith leaders participating in the campaign are reiterating scientists’ predictions that that if greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed, by the end of the century average world temperatures will rise between 2˚C and 4˚C, and up to 6˚C in parts of Africa.

Climate change is already causing unpredictable, extreme weather across the
world, they say. Large numbers of people, especially in Africa, are struggling to survive amid increasingly severe droughts, floods and other disasters. Although Africans have done very little to cause climate change, they will be among the most devastated. A new climate change treaty is crucial to prevent enormous suffering and loss of life.


The rally starts at 2pm. Doors open at noon, and there will be local entertainment until 2pm. The event is free and all are welcome! However, as a safety and security precaution, tickets will be required to enter the Rally. Tickets will be available from November 11 at The Shark Tank Shop, the Diakonia Council of Churches and various other organisations ahead of time.

Tickets can also be collected on the day at the stadium ticket office.

For more information, log on to www.wehavefaithactnow.org, follow the campaign on Facebook (“We Have Faith - Act Now” community) and Twitter (“COP17ActNow”). Watch the YouTube video of Archbishop Tutu’s call to people to sign the petition, on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEcOT34ORXE &feature=feedu

For public queries about the rally, contact: The campaign Faith Secretariat on (031) 310 3500 / 3512.