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Saturday, February 2, 2013

At palace, Egypt protesters, police clash

Egyptian riot police beat a man, after stripping him, and before dragging him into a police van, during clashes next to the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. Protesters denouncing Egypt's Islamist president hurled stones and firebombs through the gates of his palace gates on Friday, clashing with security forces who fired tear gas and water cannons, as more than a week of political violence came to Mohammed Morsi's symbolic doorstep for the first time. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Egyptian riot police fire tear gas at protesters demonstrating in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. Thousands of protesters denouncing Egypt's Islamist president marched on his palace in Cairo on Friday, clashing with security forces firing tear gas and water cannons in the eighth day of the country's wave of political violence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Anti-government protesters gather outside Egypt's presidential palace in Cairo, Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. Thousands of protesters denouncing Egypt's Islamist president marched on his palace in Cairo on Friday, clashing with security forces firing tear gas and water cannons in the eighth day of the country's wave of political violence. (AP Photo/Mostafa El Shemy)

Egyptians shout slogans during anti-President Mohammed Morsi protest in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. Thousands of Egyptians marched across the country, chanting against the rule of the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, in a fresh wave of protests Friday, even as cracks appeared in the ranks of the opposition after its political leaders met for the first time with the rival Muslim Brotherhood. Arabic reads, "down with brotherhood rule." (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

An Egyptian protester covers his face during clashes with riot police next to the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. Thousands of protesters denouncing Egypt's Islamist president marched on his palace in Cairo on Friday, clashing with security forces firing tear gas and water cannons in the eighth day of the country's wave of political violence.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

CAIRO (AP) ? Protesters denouncing Egypt's Islamist president hurled stones and firebombs through the gates of his palace gates on Friday, clashing with security forces who fired tear gas and water cannons, as more than a week of political violence came to Mohammed Morsi's symbolic doorstep for the first time.

The streets outside the presidential palace were a scene of mayhem for hours into the night.

Security forces pumped volley after volley of tear gas, set fire to protester tents and at one point dragged a protester to the ground, stripped him and beat him. Protesters burned tires and hurled stones and fireworks. A 23-year-old died when he was shot in the chest and forehead, the Health Ministry said.

The march on the palace, where Morsi was not present, was part of a wave of demonstrations in cities around the country called by opposition politicians, trying to wrest concessions from Morsi after around 60 people were killed in protests, clashes and riots.

But many of the protesters go further, saying he must be removed from office, accusing his Muslim Brotherhood of monopolizing power and failing to deal with the country's mounting woes. Many have been further angered by Morsi's praise of the security forces after the high death toll, which is widely blamed on excessive use of force by the police.

The day's unrest, however, risked boosting attempts by the government and Brotherhood to taint the opposition as violent and destructive ? a tack Morsi supporters have taken for weeks.

In a statement issued amid the clashes, Morsi accused protesters of trying to break ito the palace and said "political fores involved in incitement" are responsible for the violence. He called on all factions to condemn the violence and said security forces would "act decisively to protect state institutions."

A day earlier, the top opposition figures met with the Brotherhood for the first time and agreed on a joint promise to avoid violence. That drew sharp criticism from many anti-Morsi activists who said the politicians had played into the Brotherhood's hands and given legitimacy to any crackdown.

The fighting started when a crowd of several thousand marched to the palace in an upscale district of the capital, chanting, "the people want the fall of the regime," and "leave, leave, Morsi." Security forces allowed them to reach close to the main gate, and some protesters hurled shoes and stones through the fence into the grounds. Some climbed on the fence, apparently to better throw stones, but it did not appear they were breaking in.

At first, police and Republican Guards inside did not respond. But when several firebombs were thrown over the fence, the security forces unleashed water cannons, then tear gas, then riot police descended on the streets outside the palace.

Hours of clashes ensued, with streams of tear gas and stones flying through the air as security forces pushed the protesters back. A particularly heavy volley of dozens of tear gas canisters over a few minutes scattered much of the crowd, fleeing into side streets as riot police pursued and the sound of birdshot being fired echoed. Associated Press footage showed police stripping one protester on the ground and kicking him before dragging him into a van.

The Interior Ministry, in charge of police, later said in a statement that it would investigate the incident, calling it "regrettable and unacceptable."

More than 50 people were hurt during demonstrations around the country, the Health Ministry said.

The turmoil was the first significant violence at the presidential palace in the eight-day wave of protests ? though the site was the scene of clashes in November between anti-Morsi protesters and Islamists that left around 10 people dead. But other protests around the country on Friday did not see significant violence.

The unrest is Egypt's worst crisis since the 2011 fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. It was at its worst last weekend, when protests around the country marking the two-year anniversary of the anti-Mubarak uprising turned to clashes in many cities. It further exploded on Saturday, when residents of the Suez Canal city of Port Said rose up in fury over death sentences issued against local residents over a deadly soccer riot a year ago. Around 40 of the deaths in the crisis came in Port Said when security forces reportedly opened fire on protesters, some of whom attacked police facilities.

Morsi, who came into office in June as Egypt's first freely elected president, responded by trying a heavy hand. He imposed a state of emergency and curfews in Port Said and two other Canal cities, which responded with near open revolt. Clashes and protests continued around the country, with anti-Morsi crowds blocking railroad tracks and marching through the streets. The turmoil has only hiked opposition criticism that Morsi, and the Brotherhood, which forms the backbone of his leadership, are unable to manage the country.

Morsi's aides and the Brotherhood, in turn, have accused the opposition of using the streets and condoning violence in an attempt to overturn the results of elections that Islamists have won repeatedly, securing their power.

They have tried to link the political opposition to a group of protesters called the Black Bloc, who wear black masks and have vowed to "defend the revolution." Officials and state media depict them as conspiratorial saboteurs, but the opposition says authorities are using the group as a scapegoat to justify a crackdown.

On Friday, thousands of residents marched through Port Said, located at the Suez Canal's Mediterranean end, pumping their fists and chanting, "Leave, leave, Morsi." They massed around the city's main security headquarters, but no clashes or violence was reported.

"The people want the Republic of Port Said," protesters chanted, voicing a wide sentiment among residents that they are fed up of negligence and mistreatment by central government and that they want to virtual independence.

Egypt's main opposition political grouping, the National Salvation Front, called for Friday's protests, demanding Morsi form a national unity government and amend the constitution. They say the unrest reflects the widespread discontent over Brotherhood attempts to rule alone and keep decision-making in its own hands.

"The policies of the president and the Muslim Brotherhood are pushing the country to the brink," the opposition said in a statement.

But there were signs of splits and confusion in the opposition ranks after leaders of the Front met for the first time with the Brotherhood as part of a dialogue hosted by Egypt's premier Islamic institution, Al-Azhar. The Front had previously refused talks with the Brotherhood until its conditions were met.

With Front leader Mohamed ElBaradei and the deputy leader of the Brotherhood at the same table, the gathering of a spectrum of politicians signed a joint statement denouncing violence.

The statement, known as the Al-Azhar Document, angered some in the anti-Morsi camp. It seemed to focus on violence by protesters with no mention of excessive force by police or the wider political issues.

"Al-Azhar's initiative talks too broadly about violence," a group of 70 activists, liberal politicians, actors and writers said in a statement criticizing the meeting. They said the document gives "political cover to expand the repression, detention, killing and torture by the hands of police for the authority's benefit."

The document "didn't offer solutions but came to give more legitimacy to the existing authority," it added.

Those who attended the Thursday's meeting defended the anti-violence initiative.

"We toppled down Mubarak regime with a peaceful revolution. We insist on achieving the goals the same way whatever the sacrifices and the barbaric suppression tactics," ElBaradei wrote in a tweet.

"No one can say no to an initiative to stop violence," said Ahmed Said, an opposition party leader.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-01-Egypt/id-a5bcf1156e2a4b42b2ff45713bd6cded

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Kathy Freston: Anti-Breast Cancer: The 'Three Strikes' Carcinogen to ...

You may have heard a lot recently about how a chemical that is formed from cooking meat is carcinogenic (cancer-causing), but recent studies show that the scope of what's bad for you in terms of meat is actually expanding.

We've known since 1939 that there were "cancer-producing substances" in roasted meat. Scientists have since identified the compounds as heterocyclic amines. I know... what the? Well, they're described by the National Cancer Institute as "chemicals formed when muscle meat, including beef, pork, fish, and poultry, is cooked using high-temperature methods, such as pan frying or grilling..." Historically, studies on rodents downplayed the risk, suggesting 99 percent of these chemicals can be removed by the liver, but it turns out we're not rats! Humans are 50 times less able to detoxify these carcinogens, which may explain why studies done on Long Island and around the world have shown that women eating more broiled, grilled, fried, barbecued, and smoked meats appear to have up to 400 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer. (I think of all the chicken I broiled or grilled through the years so as not to get too much fat on my plate!)

According to one study:

More than 85 percent of breast cancers are sporadic and attributable to long-term exposure to environmental carcinogens, such as those in the diet, through a multistep disease process progressing from non-cancerous to premalignant and malignant stages.

Most cancer-causing agents are involved in either the initiation stage of cancer, triggering the initial DNA mutation (like radiation), or the promotion stage of cancer, promoting the growth of the tumor (certain hormones like IGF-1). But heterocyclic amines like one called PhIP found in cooked meat have been called "three strikes" carcinogens because they cause DNA mutations (strike one), and they promote cancer growth (strike two), and they also increase its metastatic potential by increasing cancer invasiveness (strike three).

By asking women undergoing breast reduction surgery (one way to look at breast tissue from a wide variety of women) about their meat cooking methods, researchers were able to directly correlate the number of DNA mutations found in breast tissue with the estimated dietary intake of cooked meat carcinogens. The DNA-damaging effects of these carcinogens have been known for over a decade. What surprised scientists and doctors was that not only may these meat chemicals trigger the original cancer-causing mutation, they may also then promote and spread the growth of the tumor, as PhIP was subsequently found to activate estrogen receptors on human breast cancer cells almost as powerfully as pure estrogen! Even at very low doses, the cooked meat chemical PhIP appears to drive the growth and spread of breast cancer, strikes two and three.

Putting it all together, researchers recently demonstrated for the first time that normal breast cells could be transformed completely into breast cancer just by dripping PhIP (at the levels found in cooked meats) on normal human breast cells. That's all it took, and Jekyll becomes Hyde.

PhIP is also found in cigarette smoke, diesel fumes, and incinerator ash, but the highest levels in food are found in fried bacon, fish, and chicken. Even just baking chicken at around 350 degrees for 15 minutes leads to significant production of PhIP. If you are like me and thought that it was just those blackened bits of meat from the grill that were the problem, this might come as a rude awakening.

Granted, these were breast cells in a petri dish. How do we know these carcinogens make it not only into the breast after you eat cooked meat, but into the breast ducts, where most breast cancers arise -- so-called ductal carcinoma? Researchers didn't know for sure, until a study out of Canada measured the levels of PhIP in the breast milk formed in those ducts of nonsmoking women. The average concentration of the "three strikes carcinogen" they found in the breast milk of meat-eating women corresponded to significant cancer growth activation. One of the women was vegetarian, though, and interestingly none was detected in her breast milk. None.

Toxicologists lament that: "Exposure to PhIP is difficult to avoid because of its presence in many commonly consumed cooked meats, particularly chicken, beef and fish." But if you're able to somehow dodge those meats (and don't suck on a cigarette, tailpipe, or incinerator smokestack) maybe it's not so difficult to avoid after all. Just move away from the Standard American Diet of meat/chicken/fish as the centerpiece of your meal and lean toward whole grains, beans and legumes, nuts, fruits, and veggies.

For more by Kathy Freston, click here.

For more on breast cancer, click here.

Follow Kathy Freston on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kathyfreston

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/cooked-meat-breast-cancer_b_2506072.html

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Salaries as elusive as justice at Cambodia's Khmer Rouge trial

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian staff at a Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal have gone two months without pay and are threatening a walkout amid a deepening funding crisis at a court already bogged down by resignations and the ill health of its elderly defendants.

Some 270 Cambodians have not been paid since November and are working at the U.N.-backed court without contracts, caught up in a standoff between donors and a government criticized for its lack of support for hearings into one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.

Between 1.7 and 2.2 million people, almost a quarter of Cambodia's population, died between 1975 and 1979 under the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge regime.

Pol Pot, the architect of the "Year Zero" revolution, died in 1998, but his sidekicks are now on trial for murder and crimes against humanity, among a litany of charges.

"They gave us some information about our salaries but it didn't really explain anything," said one staff member, declining to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media, referring to the court.

"We are angry and discouraged," he told Reuters, adding that he and many of his colleagues planned to walk out if they were not paid within the next two weeks.

The funding dispute puts the spotlight on the commitment of the government, which has been accused of interfering behind the scenes to put the brakes on the court and limit the scope of investigations that could implicate powerful political figures.

Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla who defected to the regime's eventual conquerors, Vietnam, has said he would "not allow" any new indictments and would be happy if the United Nations packed up and left.

Following months of appeals, the international side of the court has managed to secure enough funding to keep its side going, but the problems do not stop at finances.

Two international investigating judges quit in the space of six months in 2011 and 2012 over what they said was political interference, and many Cambodians fear the three remaining defendants in the court's second case - "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary and ex-president Khieu Samphan - may not live to hear a verdict.

The three former Khmer Rouge leaders have all denied responsibility for the mass deaths during their rule.

"NOT DYING SOON"

All three are in their 80s and have been in hospital suffering from fatigue and dizziness in the past month. Nuon Chea was discharged on Thursday, even though his family was convinced he was "approaching death", according to his co-counsel, Victor Koppe.

Court spokesman Lars Olsen dismissed fears of Nuon Chea's imminent death: "He's not dying soon."

A fourth defendant, Ieng Thirith, Pol Pot's sister-in-law, was declared unfit for trial last year because she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Since the court was set up in 2005 with the aim of trying "those most responsible" for the bloodshed, it has delivered only one verdict, life imprisonment for Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, the chief of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, a converted Phnom Penh school where as many as 14,000 people may have been executed.

Under an agreement with the United Nations establishing the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia, as the hybrid U.N.-Cambodian tribunal is known, the government has an obligation to fund the Cambodian side.

It has paid $1.8 million a year in general costs for utilities, security, healthcare and transport, as well as the courthouse, which it owns.

The government has used outside contributions to pay the estimated $9.3 million a year wage bill and sources close to the issue say big foreign donors like Japan are overstretched and want Cambodia to come up with more cash.

Staff, however, do not see that happening.

"The government won't pay these salaries. They just want this court to shut down," a staff member said. "By creating this situation, they just want to embarrass the U.N."

Government spokesman Ek Tha said Cambodia was appealing to outside donors for help.

"Its all about interpretation," Ek Tha said. "The U.N. receives money from donors to pay their staff, Cambodia is the same."

Critics have questioned Cambodia's commitment to attracting those funds and insiders with knowledge of the issue say some donors are steering clear because they fear they would anger the government if their money was used in cases beyond the one being heard.

Heather Ryan, a court monitor for advocacy group Open Society Justice Initiative, said the salary wrangle could be very damaging if it went on any longer.

"The government of Cambodia and the donors should somehow agree on how to get Cambodian staff paid because they are critical to the everyday working of the court," Ryan said.

(Editing by Martin Petty and Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/salaries-elusive-justice-cambodias-khmer-rouge-trial-074352175.html

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Friday, February 1, 2013

Pocket for iOS gets native sharing to Facebook, simpler option to delete articles

Good news are in for those who are avid users of ~~Read it Later~~ Pocket on iOS, as the handy application's been updated with some social tools and a few UI improvements. For starters, version 4.3 now allows readers to share content directly to Facebook (Sina Weibo, too) without ever having to leave the app, while a "Delete" option was added to the Archive button in order to make it easier for folks to trash any article. Pocket also announced it beefed up the text preferences in the article viewer by including an increased font size, as well as noting that it's taken care of some known Evernote-related bugs, among others. The Pocket refresh can be downloaded now from the App Store link below, or, what's likely the easier route, folks could just grab it straight from their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Filed under: Software, Mobile

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Source: Pocket, App Store

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/31/pocket-for-ios-4-3-update/

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Ozone depletion trumps greenhouse gas increase in jet-stream shift

Jan. 31, 2013 ? Depletion of Antarctic ozone is a more important factor than increasing greenhouse gases in shifting the Southern Hemisphere jet stream in a southward direction, according to researchers at Penn State.

"Previous research suggests that this southward shift in the jet stream has contributed to changes in ocean circulation patterns and precipitation patterns in the Southern Hemisphere, both of which can have important impacts on people's livelihoods," said Sukyoung Lee, professor of meteorology.

According to Lee, based on modeling studies, both ozone depletion and greenhouse gas increase are thought to have contributed to the southward shift of the Southern Hemisphere jet stream, with the former having a greater impact. B, but until now, no one has been able to determine the extent to which each of these two forcings has contributed to the shift using observational data.

"Understanding the differences between these two forcings is important in predicting what will happen as the ozone hole recovers," she said. "The jet stream is expected to shift back toward the north as ozone is replenished, yet the greenhouse-gas effect could negate this." Lee and her colleague, Steven Feldstein, professor of meteorology, developed a new method to distinguish between the effects of the two forcings. The method uses a cluster analysis to investigate the effects of ozone and greenhouse gas on several different observed wind patterns.

"When most people look at ozone and greenhouse gases, they focus on one wind pattern, but my previous research suggests that, by looking at several different but similar patterns, you can learn more about what is really happening," said Feldstein.

In their study, the researchers analyzed four wind patterns. The first wind pattern corresponded to an equatorwarda shift of the midlatitude westerlies toward the equator. T; the second pattern also described an equatorward shift, but included a strong tropical component. T; the third pattern corresponded to a poleward shift of the westerlies toward the South Pole with a weakening in the maximum strength of the jet; and the. The fourth pattern corresponded to a smaller poleward jet shift with a strong tropical component.

In addition to their novel inclusion of more than one wind pattern in their analysis, the scientists investigated the four wind patterns at very short time scales.

"Climate models are usually run for many years; they don't look at the day-to-day weather," said Feldstein. "But we learned that the four wind patterns fluctuate over about 10 days, so they change on a time scale that is similar to daily weather. This realization means that by taking into account fluctuations associated with the daily weather, it will be easier to test theories about the mechanism by which ozone and greenhouse gases influence the jet stream."

The researchers used an algorithm to examine the relationship between daily weather patterns and the four wind patterns. They found that the first wind pattern -- which corresponded to an equatorward shift of the midlatitude westerlies -- was associated with greenhouse gases. They also found that the third pattern -- which corresponded to a poleward shift of the westerlies -- was associated with ozone. The other two wind patterns were unrelated to either of the forcings. The researchers found that a long-term decline in the frequency of the first pattern and a long-term increase in the frequency of the third pattern can explain the changes in the Southern Hemisphere jet stream.

"Ozone had the bigger impact on the change in the position of the jet stream," said Lee. "The opposite is likely true for the Northern Hemisphere; we think that ozone has a limited influence on the Northern Hemisphere. Understanding which of these forcings is most important in certain locations may help policy makers as they begin to plan for the future."

In addition to finding that ozone is more important than greenhouse gases in influencing the jet-stream shift, the scientists also found evidence for a mechanism by which greenhouse gases influence the jet-stream shift. They learned that greenhouse gases may not directly influence the jet-stream shift, but rather may indirectly influence the shift by changing tropical convection, or the vertical transfer of heat in large-scale cloud systems, which, in turn, influences the jet shift. The researchers currently are further examining this and other possible mechanisms for how greenhouse gases and ozone influence the jet stream as well as Antarctic sea ice.

The results will appear in the Feb. 1 issue of the journal Science.

"Not only are the results of this paper important for better understanding climate change, but this paper is also important because it uses a new approach to try to better understand climate change; it uses observational data on a short time scale to try to look at cause and effect, which is something that is rarely done in climate research," said Feldstein. "Also, our results are consistent with climate models, so this paper provides support that climate models are performing well at simulating the atmospheric response to ozone and greenhouse gases."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Penn State, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

S. Lee, S. B. Feldstein. Detecting Ozone- and Greenhouse Gas-Driven Wind Trends with Observational Data. Science, 2013; 339 (6119): 563 DOI: 10.1126/science.1225154

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/almaSk8Ayfw/130131144339.htm

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Dog found in NM 18 months after leaving Kentucky home

A dog found in New Mexico 18 months after it went missing from its Kentucky home was returned to its owner Jan. 30. The dog found in New Mexico was only four months old when it disappeared.?

By Staff,?Associated Press / January 31, 2013

The dog found in New Mexico traveled more than 1,220 miles from her home in Kentucky. Here, she and her owner, Mandi Smith, reunite in the Albuquerque airport Jan. 30.

Associated Press

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Mandi Smith's 5-month-old puppy disappeared from the family's Fort Campbell, Ky., yard 18 months ago. So when Smith got a call saying Pooka had turned up in northern?New?Mexico, she says she was more than a little surprised.

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"At first I thought someone was playing a trick on me," the 26-year-old Smith said Wednesday, adding that she played the voicemail from the Espanola Valley Humane Society more than once.

"I thought I'd never see her again."

But it was no joke. The now 2-year-old Chihuahua-dachshund mix, also known as a "chiweenie," was found wandering the streets in Espanola on Jan. 12. She was traced back to her military family by a microchip that Smith says had been installed just days before she went missing.

Smith and the?dog?were reunited Wednesday at Albuquerque's airport.

Surrounded by cameras and reporters, it was unclear if Pooka recognized Smith. But she clearly looked content to be snuggled in her arms.

Pooka has been staying with a foster mom, Melanie Lopez, who brought the?dog?to the airport for the reunion. Also on hand was Claudia Inoue, a Santa Fe animal lover who donated Southwest Airlines frequent flier awards to Lopez. Southwest Airlines waived the $75 fee for Smith to carry the?dog?home on the plane.

Smith says she had Pooka for just four months when she disappeared after the family let her out to do her business.

"I don't know if she got out through a hole in the fence or what," Smith said.

Smith planned to head straight back to Kentucky, where she said the now full-grown?dog?would be welcomed into a much larger household.

With Pooka missing, Smith got two?new?dogs, a German Shepherd and a German Shepherd mix, because "I was depressed."

And Smith recently gave birth to a fourth child.

Nina Stively, community outreach manager at the Espanola Valley Humane Society, said Pooka had recently given birth herself and was still nursing when she was found. Attempts to find her puppies were unsuccessful.

The rest of the?dog's?story and how she traveled more than 1,220 miles to?New?Mexico, however, will likely forever remain a mystery.

"I have no idea," she said. "And she's not talking."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/BzXdHItgZvQ/Dog-found-in-NM-18-months-after-leaving-Kentucky-home

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49ers' Culliver apologizes for anti-gay remarks

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver talks with teammates during a media availability Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in New Orleans. The 49ers said Wednesday they have addressed anti-gay remarks made by Culliver during a Super Bowl media day interview Tuesday. The 49ers are scheduled to play the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game on Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

San Francisco 49ers' Chris Culliver (29) intercepts a pass in front of Atlanta Falcons' Roddy White during the second half of the NFL football NFC Championship game Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan looks at San Francisco 49ers' Chris Culliver (29) after throwing an interception during the second half of the NFL football NFC Championship game Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver apologized Thursday for anti-gay comments he made to a comedian during Super Bowl media day, saying "that's not what I feel in my heart."

"I'm sorry if I offended anyone. They were very ugly comments," Culliver said during an hour-long media session. "Hopefully I learn and grow from this experience and this situation."

He said he would welcome a gay teammate to the 49ers, a reversal of his remarks to Artie Lange two days earlier during an interview at the Superdome.

"I treat everyone equal," Culliver said. "That's not how I feel."

He added that he realized his comments were especially offensive to many people in San Francisco and the Bay Area, which is home to a large gay community.

"I love San Francisco," Culliver said.

During the interview with Lange, Culliver responded to questions by saying he wouldn't welcome a gay player in the locker room. He also said the 49ers didn't have any gay players, and if they did those players should leave.

San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh met privately with Culliver to discuss the remarks.

"I reject what he said," Harbaugh said. "That's not something that reflects the way the organization feels, the way the rest of the players feel."

The coach would not discuss if Culliver would face discipline from the team, such as a fine or loss of playing time.

"He pledged to grow from it," Harbaugh said.

The interview began with Lange asking Culliver about his sexual plans with women during Super Bowl week. Lange followed up with a question about whether Culliver would consider pursuing a gay man.

"I don't do the gay guys, man. I don't do that," Culliver said during the one-minute taped interview. "Ain't got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can't be with that sweet stuff."

Lange asked Culliver to reiterate his thoughts, to which the player said, "It's true." He added he wouldn't welcome a gay teammate ? no matter how talented.

"Nah. Can't be ... in the locker room, nah," he said. "You've gotta come out 10 years later after that."

The 24-year-old Culliver, a third-round draft pick in 2011 out of South Carolina, made 47 tackles with two interceptions and a forced fumble this season while starting six games for the NFC champion Niners (13-4-1).

He had his first career postseason interception in San Francisco's 28-24 win at Atlanta for the NFC title, which sent the 49ers to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995. They will face the AFC champion Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

The 49ers participate in the NFL's "It Gets Better" anti-bullying campaign. Three organizations working for LGBT inclusion in sports ? Athlete Ally, You Can Play, and GLAAD ? reacted to Culliver's remarks and later acknowledged his apology.

"Chris Culliver's comments were disrespectful, discriminatory and dangerous, particularly for the young people who look up to him," said Athlete Ally Executive Director Hudson Taylor. "His words underscore the importance of the athlete ally movement and the key role that professional athletes play in shaping an athletic climate that affirms and includes gay and lesbian players."

Calling Lange's questions "real disrespectful," Culliver said he realized he was speaking to a comedian and not a journalist.

"That was pretty much in a joking manner," the player said. "It's nothing about how I feel."

Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, who made headlines this season with his vocal support of a gay-marriage initiative in Maryland, said Culliver's comments to Lange were reflective of how many players in the NFL feel, even if they don't express it publicly. He hopes the 49ers cornerback will learn from this experience and become a positive role model in the quest for equality.

"You can't fight hate with hate," Ayanbadejo said. "You've got to fight hate with love."

Baltimore safety Bernard Pollard said Culliver should be allowed to express his views, even if some people found them offensive.

"The guy's entitled to his own opinion," said Pollard, who has acknowledged that he disagrees with Ayanbadejo's stand on gay marriage. "I'm not going to sit here and knock him. I'm not going to sit here and judge him. It's freedom of speech. If you don't like it, don't listen to it."

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Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

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Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-31-FBN-Super-Bowl-Culliver-Anti-Gay-Remarks/id-eb088cdc61494e78899f405fdb40e44e

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