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Thứ Sáu, 1 tháng 3, 2013

SECOND VOYAGE?Billionaire Plans New Titanic, Could Sail in 2016

NEW YORK – What could possibly go wrong?

An Australian billionaire is getting ready to build a new version of the Titanic that could set sail in late 2016.

Clive Palmer unveiled blueprints for the famously doomed ship's namesake Tuesday at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. He said construction is scheduled to start soon in China.

Palmer said 40,000 people have expressed interest in tickets for the maiden voyage, taking the original course from Southampton, England, to New York. He said people are inspired by his quest to replicate one of the most famous vessels in history.

"We all live on this planet, we all breathe the same air and, of course, the Titanic is about the things we've got in common," he said. "It links three continents."

The original Titanic was the world's largest and most luxurious ocean liner when it hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank on April 15, 1912. Only 700 people of the more than 2,200 on board survived the most famous maritime disaster in history, partly because there were not enough lifeboats to carry everyone.

Palmer said an unknown when the original ship sailed -- climate change -- may play into a positive for the new ship's fate.

"One of the benefits of global warming is there hasn't been as many icebergs in the North Atlantic these days," Palmer said.

Passengers on board the replica will dress in the fashion of that period and eat dishes from the original menu, in dining rooms copied from the ill-fated predecessor.

Joining Palmer on Tuesday was Helen Benziger, the great granddaughter of Titanic survivor Margaret "Molly" Brown. Benziger, who agreed to serve on the advisory board for the Titanic II, said her great grandmother, who died in 1932, would have loved to see the Titanic rebuilt and complete the journey it never got to finish.

In what some may consider a temptation of fate for a remake of a notoriously "unsinkable" ship that sank, a representative of the Finnish designer of the Titanic II said it will be the "safest cruise ship in the world."

Markku Kanerva, director of sales for marine design company Deltamarin said that while the vessel is modeled after the legendary liner -- the diesel-powered ship will even have four decorative smoke stacks mimicking the coal-powered originals -- it will meet modern navigation and safety requirements.

In addition, plans call for a new "safety deck" featuring state-of-the-art lifeboats, safety chutes and slides. The new ship will also have amenities unknown a century ago, like air conditioning.

Palmer, who is funding construction of the ship himself, built his fortune in real estate and coal. Australia's BRW magazine estimated his net worth last year at $4 billion, although Forbes puts it at $895 million.

"I want to spend the money I've got before I die," he said. "You might as well spend it, not leave it to the kids to spend, there will be enough left for them anyway."

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Triple Negative Breast Cancer Day raising funds for a cure

A year ago if you asked me if I was able to see myself where I am today, the answer would be no.

On February 29, 2012, I left work early for a mammogram and ultrasound on a mysterious lump in my left breast. I didn’t return to work that day. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the young age of 30.

Soon after my diagnosis I found out I had triple negative breast cancer, which is negative for three receptors commonly found in tumors such as estrogen, her2 and progesterone. This form of breast cancer is aggressive and disproportionately affects young women under 40, African American women and women who have a genetic mutation called BRCA1, which I have.

Finding out you have this disease is scary and at times, overwhelming. We don't have are many treatment options for other types of breast cancer such as tamoxifen or Herceptin. We have surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and prayer that once in remission, it never returns.

Every 30 minutes, a woman is diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. The Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation works feverishly to make sure no woman who is diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer is alone – and is raising funds to work towards a cure. One way is through a grassroots movement to raise funds called Triple Negative Breast Cancer Day which is on March 3, 2013.

“The TNBC Foundation is launching the inaugural Triple Negative Breast Cancer Day on March 3, 2013. Our goal is to use this day to expand our national footprint while making an impression on health care providers, scientists, policy-makers and patients across the country,” said Hayley Dinerman, Acting Executive Director of the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation.

"At the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, our only focus is to walk with triple negative breast cancer patients in all that they go through, as we energize the scientific community to find a break through," said Dinerman.

There are many ways to get involved. TNBC Day has local events all across the country, now until March 3. I am one of its champions, which is a group of women who are helping organize the events, pitch ideas and create fundraising pages. To learn more, please visit www.tnbcfoundation.org.

Today I am in remission and have completed all my treatment. It was a really tough year, but undoubtedly the support I received from TNBC Foundation has helped me through every step. I am proud to work with the Foundation to raise money for research for a cure and make sure no young woman ever has to be scared or feel alone when faced with this diagnosis.

Annie Goodman is a producer for "Your World With Neil Cavuto" at Fox News Channel in New York City. Look for more articles and updates from Annie on her survival from triple negative breast cancer on FoxNewsHealth.com. You can follow Annie on Twitter at @annieg917

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BPA exposure linked to kids' asthma risk

Children exposed to the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, may be at an increased risk for asthma, a new study suggests.

During the study, kids who had greater exposure to BPA at ages 3, 5 and 7 were more likely to be diagnosed with asthma before age 12 than children who had less exposure.

BPA is found in some plastics, canned food containers and other food packaging, and most people have detectable levels of the chemical in their urine. Previous studies have linked BPA to a number of health conditions, including childhood obesity and behavior problems.

The new study is the first to report a link between BPA exposure during childhood and an increased risk for asthma. An earlier study found a link between BPA exposure in the womb during the second trimester of pregnancy, and an elevated risk of wheezing at age 3.

However, the new study only found an association, and cannot prove that BPA exposure plays any role in causing asthma.

To examine the link, Dr. Kathleen Donohue, an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University, and colleagues analyzed urine samples from 568 pregnant women, and later, their children. Urine samples contain a breakdown product of BPA. While these samples do not provide a direct measure of BPA levels in the blood and tissue, researchers use them to gauge what a person may have been exposed to.

Physicians later diagnosed asthma based on the children's symptoms, their performance on a test of lung function, and their medical history. A separate question was used to assess whether or not the children experienced problems with wheezing.

The link between BPA exposure and asthma held even after the researchers took into account factors that could have affected the children's risk of breathing problems, such as exposure to secondhand smoke. However, it's still possible that factors not accounted for by the study, such as whether or not a child was breast-fed, could explain the link.

Interestingly, the study actually found that BPA exposure during the third trimester before birth was linked to a reduced risk of wheezing at age 5. Because there's no biological explanation for how BPA exposure could reduce a child's risk for asthma, the researchers speculate that the third trimester might not be the right window of time in which to assess a child's risk of asthma later in life. They note that it is the second trimester, not the third, that is a critical period for the development of airways and the immune system.

Strategies for lowering BPA exposure include eating less canned food, and choosing glass, porcelain or stainless steel containers to hold hot food and liquids, rather than plastic containers, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The study will be published in the March issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Another study published this month concluded that levels of BPA in the blood were too low to have biological effects on people, but other researchers argued that more research on this issue is needed.

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City youngster jailed for car deaths

A Manchester City youth player broke down in tears as he was jailed for 16 months for killing a brother and sister while speeding in his Mercedes in central Manchester.

A Manchester court heard that 18-year-old Courtney Meppen-Walter was driving at nearly double the speed limit of 48 kilometres per hour when he hit a car carrying Kulwant Singh, 32, and his 37-year-old sister, Ravel Kaur.

Both siblings, who hailed from the Manchester area, were killed, while Ms Kaur's two sons, aged 16 and 17, were injured.

Meppen-Walter, who was also the captain of England's under-18 side, will serve half his sentence in custody but may be released earlier and obliged to wear an electronic tag.

The judge also banned him from driving for three years and ordered the sale of the car, with the proceeds to go to the injured passengers.

Meppen-Walter's lawyer, Gwyn Lewis, said his client was "truly sorry" for what he had done.

"To begin, it has to be said this type of case is one that should always be described as tragic," Lewis said.

"Tragic of course for the family, those who lost loved ones and were very badly injured. But also it's a tragedy for the defendant.

"He was only just 18. He became involved in a matter that only took a few seconds that will remain with him for the rest of his life.

"The incident was over in a flash. He stayed at the scene and tried to assist, but it was already too late."

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ARMING AL QAEDA: Secret Bids in Egypt Put Arms in Terrorists' Hands

The weapons that helped Libyan rebels oust dictator Muammar Qaddafi are turning up for sale at clandestine auctions in Egypt’s lawless Sinai Desert, where shadowy buyers purchase firearms for Al Qaeda and Hamas operatives, sources told FoxNews.com.

The illicit sales take place in the barren Sinai peninsula, where Moses is believed to have wandered with the children of Israel for 40 years. Auctions announced through the grapevine bring caravans of foreigners, all with huge sums of money at their disposal and all with the same mission, Israel Defense Force sources told FoxNews.com.

The vast and rugged desert area inhabited by an estimated 250,000 Bedouins has borders with Egypt, Gaza and Israel, as well as a long coastline on the Red Sea. While the location makes it easy for buyers to come from various regions, it also combines with the impromptu nature of the auctions to make them almost impossible to stop.

“There are more and more contacts between Al Qaeda and the small groups in Sinai,” a senior source in the Israel Defense Force told the Washington-based Investigative Project on Terrorism.

“There are more and more contacts between Al Qaeda and the small groups in Sinai.”

- Senior source in the Israel Defense Force

The hosts of these auctions aren’t just doing it for the money, the source said. Al Qaeda-linked jihadists are becoming more and more influential in the region, and playing a large role in who shows up for the auctions and who leaves with the bombs, anti-tank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons that are peddled there.

“If at the beginning we saw these tribes supporting terror cells for the sake of money, now we see it becoming more an ideological support, and we see more and more cases that these groups of Al Qaeda-influenced extreme jihadists are becoming more powerful than the tribes," the source said.

With Libya rendered an unstable tribal nation rife with internal power struggles between secular moderates and radical Islamists in the wake of Qaddafi’s ouster, accountability for weapons in the north African country is impossible. The U.S., which denies directly supplying arms to the Libyan rebels, is concerned about weapons being sold in the region.

“The potential for proliferation and smuggling of unsecured small arms and weapons in the region is a concern to the U.S. government and the international community,” a U.S. State Department official told FoxNews.com.

The New York Times reported in December 2012 that the Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar, only to express alarm when evidence mounted that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants.

Qatar, strong supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, may well have been playing both sides of the game, as the U.S official strongly hinted to The New York Times. The weapons being auctioned in the Sinai desert almost certainly include many sent by Qatar to Libya, a disturbing consequence that had been flagged early by some American officials.

The weapons don’t always travel too far before they are deployed. A violent ambush by Islamist rebels from Sinai on an Israeli bus and a civilian car near Eilat, in August 2011, killed eight Israelis and got the attention of IDF officials. The bombs, anti-tank missiles and automatic weapons used in the attack were more sophisticated than typically seen, and the fleeing terrorists fired an RPG at an Israeli helicopter pursuing them.

The State Department official who spoke to FoxNews.com said the U.S. is working with Libya to contain weapons, and with Egypt to stop their spread once they make it to the desert.

“The Libyan government has assured us that security is its No. 1 priority,” the official said. “We remain concerned about the security situation in the Sinai, and continue to engage with the Egyptian government about this issue. We believe the Egyptian government recognizes potential threats from the Sinai as well. Securing the Sinai is vital to peace in the region.”

Under President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt has started to take action against the radical jihadists, including Hamas, which ironically is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood that propelled Morsi into office. Stopping the spread of the weapons originating from Libya is no diplomatic issue – it is in Egypt’s own interest.

Last August, 16 Egyptian border police were surprised in the night and killed by terrorists attacking from Sinai who went on to breach the Israeli border before six of the attackers were killed by Israeli forces. The fact that Egyptian forces were targeted demonstrated that for hard-core Al Qaeda-inspired Islamists, even the Muslim Brotherhood is not radical enough and is viewed as the enemy.

Egypt has been increasingly intercepting weapons in the Sinai over the last month, including the interdiction of two tons of weapons bound for the Gaza Strip two weeks ago. Egyptian forces have also flooded as many as 200 smuggling tunnels into the Hamas-governed strip, making weapons deliveries significantly harder.

Morsi’s efforts have Israeli security services mildly encouraged, although Egypt alone may not be able to neutralize the proliferation of Qatari-supplied weapons that originally reached Libya with tacit U.S. approval. And the threat of those weapons being turned on U.S. and other Western citizens in the Middle East and potentially around the globe remains.

Paul Alster is an Israel-based journalist who blogs at www.paulalster.com and can be followed on Twitter @paul_alster

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'I COULDN'T GET HIM':Florida Man Tries to Save Brother From Sinkhole

A large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of a house near Tampa, trapping a 36-year-old man in the rubble.

The home collapsed late Thursday in a Brandon neighborhood. By early Friday, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials determined the home had become too unstable to continue rescue efforts.

"Right now, the potential for a collapse is very, very high," Jessica Damico, a Hillsborough Fire and Rescue spokeswoman told MyFoxTampaBay.com.

The man's condition is unknown, and authorities have not been able to make contact with him.

Officials told MyFoxTampaBay.com that rescuers tried to send a camera and listening device into the hole but it was swallowed up.

A total of five adults and one child were in the home.

Damico says Bracken Engineering officials determined the home's bedroom is the center of the sinkhole, which measures about 50 feet in each direction.

Engineering officials will return later Friday morning with more sophisticated monitoring equipment to determine the actual diameter and depth of the sinkhole.

Tampa TV station WFTS reports the man's brother tried to pull him from the sinkhole. An arriving deputy was able to pull the brother from the still collapsing sinkhole.

The state of Florida has the most sinkholes in the United States.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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'One Day at a Time' mom Bonnie Franklin dies at age 69

Bonnie Franklin, the pert, redheaded actress whom millions came to identify with for her role as divorced mom Ann Romano on the long-running sitcom "One Day at a Time," has died.

She died Friday at her home due to complications from pancreatic cancer, family members said in a statement. She was 69. Her family had announced she was diagnosed with cancer in September.

Franklin was a veteran stage and television performer before "One Day At a Time" made her a star.

Developed by Norman Lear and co-created by Whitney Blake -- herself a former sitcom star and single mother raising future actress Meredith Baxter -- the series was groundbreaking for its focus on a young divorced mother seeking independence from a suffocating marriage.

It premiered on CBS in December 1975, just five years after the network had balked at having Mary Tyler Moore play a divorcee on her own comedy series, insisting that newly single Mary Richards be portrayed as having ended her engagement instead.

On her own in Indianapolis, Ann Romano was raising two teenage girls (played by Mackenzie Phillips, already famous for the film "American Graffiti," and a previously unknown Valerie Bertinelli). "One Day At a Time" ran on CBS until 1984, by which time both daughters had grown and married, while Romano had remarried and become a grandmother. During the first seven of its nine seasons on the air, the show was a Top 20 hit.

Like other Lear productions such as "All in the Family" and "Good Times," "One Day at a Time" dealt with contemporary issues once absent from TV comedies such as premarital sex, birth control, suicide and sexual harassment -- issues that had previously been overlooked by TV comedies whose households were usually headed by a husband and wife or, rarely, a widowed parent.

Meanwhile, the series weathered its own crises as Phillips was twice written out of the series to deal with her drug abuse and other personal problems.

Writing in her 2009 memoir "High On Arrival," Phillips remembered Franklin as hardworking and professional, even a perfectionist.

"Bonnie felt a responsibility to the character and always gave a million notes on the scripts," Phillips wrote. "Above all, she didn't want it to be sitcom fluff -- she wanted it to deal honestly with the struggles and truths of raising two teenagers as a single mother."

In her 2008 memoir "Losing It," Bertinelli noted that Franklin, just 31 when the show began, wasn't old enough to be her real mother.

Even so, wrote Bertinelli, "within a few days I recognized her immense talent and felt privileged to work with her. ... She was like a hip, younger complement to my real mom."

The truth of "One Day at a Time" was brought home to Franklin when in 2005 she got together with both TV daughters for a "One Day at a Time" reunion special. She told both actresses, "You are living, in a sense, Ann Romano's life -- you are single parents raising teenage kids. That is shocking and terrifying to me."

Franklin herself was married for 29 years. Her husband, TV producer Marvin Minoff, died in 2009.

Born Bonnie Gail Franklin in Santa Monica, Calif., she entered show business at an early age. She was a child tap dancer and actress, and a protege of Donald O'Connor, with whom she performed in the 1950s on NBC's "Colgate Comedy Hour."

A decade later, she was appearing on such episodic programs as "Mr. Novak," "Gidget" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."

On stage, Franklin was in the original Broadway production of "Applause," for which she received a 1970 Tony Award nomination, and other plays including "Dames at Sea" and "A Thousand Clowns."

Franklin's recent credits include appearances on "The Young and the Restless" and the TV Land comedy "Hot in Cleveland," which again reunited her with Bertinelli, one of that show's regulars.

A private memorial will be held next week, her family said.

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