Mystery of 'zombie worm' development unveiled

Mar. 12, 2013 ? How do bone-eating worms reproduce? A new study by Norio Miyamoto and colleagues from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology sheds light on this question through a detailed observation of the postembryonic development and sexual maturation of Osedax worms, also known as "zombie worms." These worms typically inhabit vertebrate bones on the seafloor.

The study is published online in Springer's journal Naturwissenschaften -- The Science of Nature.

Osedax is Latin for "bone-devourer," which refers to how the worms bore into the bones of whale carcasses to reach enclosed fats and oils, on which they rely for sustenance. The first two species of Osedax were discovered by scientists in 2002. To date, information about the postembryonic development of these marine worms, Osedax species, is lacking. In order to understand their development and maturation, Miyamoto and team induced settlement of the bone-eating worm's larvae (Osedax japonicus specifically) by adding small pieces of whale bone to the petri dishes in which they were cultivating the larvae. After a period of time, they dissected the bones to observe the juvenile worms.

The researchers witnessed the whole development process of the worms, including the duration of the larval stage, the development of typically small, dwarf males and the maturation time in this species. They found that females started to spawn eggs six weeks after settlement. This rapid sexual maturation of females, alongside the male dwarfism which was observed, enables the worms to reproduce effectively in the food-rich, but highly isolated habitat of whale bones.

Dr. Miyamoto said, "Our findings provide essential information on the reproductive strategy of Osedax worms. Osedax japonicus are a promising model organism with which to address the evolution and development of these so-called bone-eating worms."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Springer Science+Business Media.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Norio Miyamoto, Tomoko Yamamoto, Yoichi Yusa, Yoshihiro Fujiwara. Postembryonic development of the bone-eating worm Osedax japonicus. Naturwissenschaften, 2013; 100 (3): 285 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-013-1024-7

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/strange_science/~3/-l1nFFnPv_w/130312134518.htm

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Craig Kanalley: Facebook Delivers on Personalized Newspaper: It's Addicting, Real-Time & Customized for You

After nearly three days using Facebook's new News Feed, I've made my conclusion.

I like it. Facebook just got a lot more addicting. And more useful.

The social network's CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg trumpeted the redesign as giving every user a "personalized newspaper." No two were alike; it's all about you and your interests. You get to keep up with topics you care about and customize the experience as you wish.

The new design emphasizes simplicity. Facebook basically took all the clutter that used to populate its homepage and threw it away. And, oh, is it refreshing. The social network got back to its roots: you and your friends are front and center of the experience.

You don't have to look too hard to see how detailed Facebook got on personalization. As soon as you switch to the new design, you'll see a list of streams or sections to browse in the top right. Already, you can see by the streams it pre-populates, Facebook knows you pretty well. And every section has a photo at the top with you in it or a memory of some kind.

The "All Friends" feed is one of the most addicting parts of the new Facebook homepage. It's real-time, and it's easily accessible at all times, just one click away in the top right of the screen. It delivers your friends, and only your friends, no sponsored posts, no brands, nothing else. It's refreshing to see friends only and easy to obsess over this stream, visiting often to see which of your friends posted 30 seconds ago and what it was they thought important enough to share.

The second most addicting stream -- or section of your personalized newspaper -- may be the "Photos" stream. The new News Feed is bold on visuals; big and vibrant photos take up the bulk of your screen. Captions embed over images at the top. Again, these are close to real-time. Instagram photos display nicely, and you can see Facebook putting its acquisition to good use there. You can hardly tell they were uploaded to Instagram at all; they look native in Facebook. Albums pop as you browse the stream and seeing multiple photos in a row give you pause.

Then there are all your sections. It cannot be understated how awesome the real-time nature of new Facebook is and that shines with the sections. I have topical feeds, interest lists, of "News," "Hockey," "Journalists, "Tech," and more. I have geo-located feeds too that Facebook auto-created for me like friends in Buffalo (my hometown), friends in New York City (where I live). I can browse all of these sections and discover content posted just moments ago, quickly and easily from the sectional navigation of my "personalized newspaper" at the top right. Tiny gray notification bubbles let me know how many new posts have gone up in a section since I last visited it.

It's an enjoyable experience to see the latest going on, to shift from section to section, stream to stream. If Twitter is an uncategorized, constantly flowing stream of people you follow, Facebook makes sense of its river of content and people you're connected to for you, and it presents it visually in a way Twitter cannot. Or at least hasn't yet.

In that sense, I found myself wanting to check Facebook more. And I did check it more. Facebook's Vadim Lavrusik wasn't kidding when he wrote this; there are more opportunities for content discovery on the new Facebook. The more I used it, the more I found interesting content, content I wanted to engage with (and did), and the better it got. Literally. The sections move up and down based on how often I visited them. It makes those must-checks for me every day that much easier to get to.

The new News Feed puts visuals front and center, and at least so far, I haven't encountered as many ads, especially in the individual sections which are just filled with great content. It elevates interest lists that got buried in the old design and makes them prominent parts of your personalized Facebook. I'm sure you'll be amazed, like I was, at how much more content you're exposed to. And who knew I liked or subscribed to nearly 500 pages and personalities? They're all in a "Following" stream which is again real-time and a must visit every time I log into Facebook.

The new Facebook is all about organizing its huge amount of posts in a way that works for you. So that you learn interesting new things, find what you're looking for and find some things you didn't even know you wanted. I'm very impressed how well it works as a personalized newspaper, as advertised. And I don't see any other company who can offer an experience like it. Well done, Facebook.

If you don't have the new Facebook yet, you can sign up on a waiting list to get it here.

?

Follow Craig Kanalley on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ckanal

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-kanalley/facebook-personalized-newspaper_b_2850711.html

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War of words erupts in Afghanistan over US troop pullout

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel responds to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's statements in which Karzai accused the U.S. and Taliban with working together.

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By Mike Taibbi, Correspondent, NBC News

KABUL ??In his opening statement released at the start of his first Afghanistan visit since being named defense secretary, Chuck Hagel reminded everyone, "We are still in a war." By the time his official visit ended, after a planned joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai was cancelled over "security concerns," it was clear that war?s second front, the war of words, was as volatile as ever.

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The press conference cancellation was announced hours after Karzai had gone on national television with another blast of criticism over the U.S. role here. He said the U.S. and the Taliban were "negotiating daily," and working in concert to ensure that coalition combat forces would remain in Afghanistan beyond the scheduled pullout in 2014. Karzai added that two deadly suicide attacks Saturday ? one explosion in Kabul that Hagel actually heard from his safe location more than a mile away ? were intended by the Taliban to show that U.S. and coalition forces would not be able to withdraw as planned.

"Categorically false," said the commander of coalition forces, U.S. General Joseph Dunford. A Taliban spokesman also rejected all of Karzai?s assertions unequivocally.

By Sunday night, Dunford was compelled to say the U.S. "does not have a broken relationship (with Karzai)," or a lack of trust. And Hagel told reporters that as a former politician himself he "can understand the kind of pressures national leaders are always under," and that the two countries will be able to move forward together.

Still, the?dust-up?over the busted joint press conference was evidence of the stubborn distance yet to be covered ? and that seems in some ways to be widening ? between an emerging new Afghanistan and the U.S., its chief protector and stakeholder.

Spokesman Jay Carney reacts to comments made by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in which he accused the U.S. and Taliban with working together.

One illustration of that distance ? the cancellation on Saturday, even as Hagel began his round of briefings, of the planned handover to Afghan control of the Parwan prison at Bagram Air Base. To the Karzai government the ceremony would be welcome evidence of his administration?s authority and autonomy. ?But the ceremony was spiked and delayed at least temporarily when it was learned the U.S. would insist that detainees it considered high risk or high value would not be included in the prisoner releases Karzai has said are essential if reconciliation with the Taliban is to go forward.

The Pentagon has canceled a scheduled joint press conference with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai citing security concerns. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.

Another example of the stubborn distance between the Karzai government and its primary benefactor ? Karzai?s order that U.S. and coalition special forces withdraw from the Kabul suburb of Wardak because of unconfirmed allegations of attacks and abusive tactics employed against civilians. Karzai had announced a two-week deadline for compliance with his order; it?s now two weeks later, with no evidence those special forces have retreated as ordered.

And Karzai?s new allegation Sunday that the U.S. and the Taliban are "negotiating daily" ? in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban have set up an office, and elsewhere ? was denied by both parties but was a signal too that the Afghan leader feels the endgame might be played out in forums and in discussions in which he won?t be the controlling voice.

Despite unequivocal denials by both the U.S. and a Taliban spokesman that any negotiations are taking place, Karzai did not back off his remarks when he met privately with Hagel after their press conference was called off and replaced by a mere photo op.

"I told him it was not true ... that the U.S. unilaterally is not working with the Taliban to negotiate anything,"?Hagel later told reporters.

What would Karzai?s goal be in asserting the existence of a?back-channel?alliance between the U.S. and the Taliban?

"Political," a NATO official said, asking not to be identified. "I mean Karzai has always been a bit paranoid, and he?s got a control reflex that seems more apparent now, as he?s speaking to Afghans and to his legacy ? but these comments about the U.S. and the Taliban might end up killing all possibilities for real negotiations. It?s difficult to see where (Karzai) is going."

But though the Karzai/Hagel press conference was scrapped, the two sides did issue final statements of continued solidarity.

"We talked about everything (in our private meeting)," Hagel said, "I told him that he could and should call me directly if there?s anything I can do to facilitate the resolution of any of these issues."

Karzai?s chief spokesman, Aimal Faizi, said that both Hagel and General Dunford had been responsive to President Karzai?s views. "They understand our concerns," Faizi said. "Hagel noted that both sides should learn from their mistakes."

Related:

Karzai accuses U.S. and Taliban of conspiring to keep troops in Afghanistan

Blast rocks Kabul during Hagel visit

US Ambassador: Afghanistan chapter not 'closed' yet

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/11/17262799-war-of-words-erupts-in-afghanistan-over-2014-us-troop-pullout?lite

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Warriors whip Knicks 92-63 behind Curry, Lee

Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson, right, drives against the New York Knicks' Tyson Chandler (6) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 11, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson, right, drives against the New York Knicks' Tyson Chandler (6) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 11, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

New York Knicks' Raymond Felton (2) drives against Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 11, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

New York Knicks' J.R. Smith lays up a shot against Golden State Warriors' Andrew Bogut during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 11, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

New York Knicks' Tyson Chandler (6) lays up a shot over Golden State Warriors' Harrison Barnes (40) and Andrew Bogut, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 11, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony shoots over Golden State Warriors' Harrison Barnes during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 11, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) ? By the time Mark Jackson walked off the floor and into the Golden State Warriors' locker room late Monday night, the coach already had a text message from his mother, Marie, who watched her son's win against the Knicks on national television from the family's New York home.

"Way to get them back," she wrote.

From the Bay Area to the Big Apple, Jackson's new team sure sent a message.

Stephen Curry scored 26 points, David Lee had 21 and the Warriors routed the Knicks 92-63 on Monday night for their most lopsided win of the season.

It was the best defensive performance for the franchise since the Philadelphia Warriors beat the Milwaukee Hawks 69-63 on Dec. 28, 1953.

"That's a heck of a defensive night," Jackson said. "It takes a combination of great defense and, at times, bad offense. I wish we could take all the credit."

Almost two weeks after his 54-point masterpiece at Madison Square Garden, Curry shared the spotlight with his co-captain in front of a sellout crowd announced at 19,596. He was 4 for 7 from 3-point range, while Lee finished with 10 rebounds and eight assists after helping the Warriors go ahead by 27 points in the third quarter.

"It didn't matter how we won. We just needed a win," Curry said after Golden State snapped a two-game skid. "This was an important win for us. I'm glad we got the win, especially with the way it ended last time in New York."

Carmelo Anthony had 14 points and 10 rebounds after missing New York's previous three games because of a nagging right knee, and J.R. Smith scored nine points before he was ejected in the third quarter for a flagrant foul. Anthony was 4 for 15 from the floor as the Knicks shot 27 percent in the opener of a five-game West Coast trip.

It was the lowest scoring output for the Knicks this season. It also was the lowest shooting percentage of the season for any NBA team, according to the Warriors.

"This is definitely not the way you want to start a road trip," said Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who had four points and eight rebounds.

New York withstood Curry's career high in points in that memorable 109-105 win over the Warriors on Feb. 27. Curry received some help for the rematch ? from a familiar Knicks face.

Lee served a one-game suspension during that game in New York for his role in a scrum against Indiana and also missed Saturday's loss against Milwaukee because of a bruised right knee. He wore a white wrap around the knee against his former team but showed no major limitations.

Curry made his first three 3-pointers and had 11 points in the first 6:14 of the game. He helped the Warriors take a 23-14 lead that incensed Knicks coach Mike Woodson.

"Our pace was way out in left field somewhere," Woodson said.

After scoring only four points in the first quarter of his 54-point performance, Curry appeared on his way to another big night. New York briefly began trapping Curry off pick-and-rolls, and everybody from Anthony to Chandler chased the diminutive guard all over the perimeter.

Curry still confused the Knicks more often than not, getting them to switch or go underneath screens for no apparent reason. He missed his last two shots in the quarter before coming on strong again in the second, hitting a pull-up 3 over Raymond Felton and finding Klay Thompson for another 3 during a 23-7 run that put the Warriors ahead 49-32.

Curry, Thompson (23 points) and Lee outscored New York by themselves. And Curry and Thompson had almost as many made field goals (nine apiece) as the Knicks had as a team (20).

"We just needed a win, period," Lee said. "Not because we'd lost two in a row, just because at this point, every game becomes really important."

New York struggled in large part because its leading scorer did, too.

Anthony opened the game 2 of 10 from the floor and showed little of his usual burst or bruising style. He also took several contested or difficult jumpers, especially once the Warriors took control.

Anthony said his knee is not causing pain, just "irritation."

"I didn't really know how it was going to respond," he said. "It was just nagging, just agitating at this point. The stiffness is still back there so it's just a matter of time and seeing what happens over time."

With Curry commanding so much of the attention, Lee led the way in the third quarter. He had a putback layup and a fast-break dunk during a 17-3 spurt that put the game away.

Smith, who started the second half, capped Golden State's run with a flagrant-2 foul for coming down hard with two hands on Harrison Barnes' layup attempt, swiping the rookie's head. Barnes made 1 of 2 free throws, and Thompson hit another jumper that gave Golden State a 67-40 lead.

Smith protested the video review by lead official Joe Crawford, then jogged off the court as Warriors fans peppered him with jeers. A few minutes later, Woodson pulled Anthony out, though he returned for a few minutes midway through the fourth with New York down 20.

NOTES: Golden State's most lopsided win of the season was a 115-93 victory at Atlanta on Dec. 15. ... The Knicks announced that Amare Stoudemire had surgery on his right knee. He's expected to miss six weeks. ... Knicks reserve F Rasheed Wallace traveled with the team and will do his rehabilitation on the road. Wallace walked around the arena on crutches. Woodson said Wallace is still trying to return in the playoffs.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-12-BKN-Knicks-Warriors/id-74335767413b4548a6c01982508fdf29

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Russian beauty queens offer opinions beyond world peace, making people mad

A contestant in a beauty pageant isn't supposed to have any political opinion more incendiary than "peace on earth," and that's probably been a hard-and-fast rule since the first modern one was staged, reportedly by P.T. Barnum in 1854. Russians have taken to beauty contests with enthusiasm since the USSR began collapsing a quarter century ago but it seems that, at least lately, some of the women haven't been getting that memo about steering clear of political controversy.

In recent months at least two top Russian beauty queens have triggered media scandal, and probably irritated the men in the Kremlin, by voicing trenchant opinions about issues that have polarized Russian society.

Worst of all, the views they expressed weren't mainstream.

RECOMMENDED: Do you know anything about Russia? A quiz.

Over the weekend, newly-crowned "Miss Russia," Elmira Abdrazakova, who is a student at the Siberian Railway University, criticized the two-year prison sentence handed down last summer to two members of the Pussy Riot feminist performance art collective as "too severe."

The Pussy Riot women were arrested after performing a blasphemous anti-Putin "punk prayer" in a mostly-empty church about a year ago. Russian society split sharply over the authorities' subsequent decision to charge the women with a hate crime, which entails serious jail time, rather than a more mundane case of disturbing the peace.

Russian liberals, and much of the world, saw the sentence handed down to Pussy Riot as a stark warning to all Kremlin opponents that "ideological crimes" may once again be subject to harsh punishment in Russia. The Orthodox Church and many nationalists applauded the verdict as a sign that the Kremlin is prepared to use police power to defend the feelings of Russia's conservative majority against what are regarded as insults by "aggressive minorities."

Into this controversy Ms. Abdrazakova stepped gently, but firmly, over the weekend.

"I finished Sunday school and for me, a church is sacred. And to do something like [the Pussy Riot performance] is unacceptable," she said in an interview with the independent Russian News Service. "But the punishment was still too severe. Perhaps they should have just worked with them to change their view of the world."

That remark brought a tough reaction, not only from the conservative precincts of the blogosphere, but from some leaders of the Russian beauty and fashion industry as well.

"I'm really surprised to hear political declaration from these girls. They shouldn't do that," says Irina Berzhnaya, president of Star Lab production agency in Moscow, which specializes in preparing women for beauty pageants.

"I don't think it's a good idea for women who hope to make a career in show business to talk about politics; this will not be good for them. Maybe they're a bit unsure of themselves, and want to get attention," she says.

Abdrazakova, who is of half-Tatar and half-Russian ethnicity, had already inadvertently stirred controversy because of her exotic looks, which some nationalist bloggers insisted were "non-Russian."

The online ethnic slurs against her became so serious after Abdrazakova won the "Miss Russia" crown last week that she had to close down her official page on the popular VKontakte social media site.

"Russian society is becoming intensely politicized, and these girls are getting dragged into it," says Alexei Makarkin, deputy director of the independent Center for Political Technologies in Moscow. "They get asked questions, and they answer them as best they can. A few years ago, no one would have thought of posing questions like this to them, but now anything goes."

Just last November another Russian beauty queen, Natalia Pereverzeva, created a storm of outrage by posting an essay in which she described Russia as a sinking ship, torn apart by the greed and corruption of its ruling elites.

"My Russia ? it is a great artery, from which the 'chosen' few people are draining away its wealth," Ms. Pereverzeva wrote. "My Russia is a beggar. My Russia cannot help her elderly and orphans. From it, like from a sinking ship, engineers, doctors, teachers are fleeing, because they have nothing to live on."

Tatiana Andreyeva, organizer of the Krasa Rossii beauty pageants, which sends Russian contestants to the annual Miss Earth contest, says it's perfectly reasonable for a woman to be both beautiful and opinionated, and people should get used to it.

"I know both of those women. Natasha Pereverzeva is a post-graduate student, for heaven's sake, why wouldn't she have views of her own? And Elmira Abdrazakova is a good, strong person who believes in being an active citizen. It's not right to put them in the public spotlight, and then act as though they have no right to speak for themselves.... Maybe this is not typical for beauty queens in most of the world but, then, Russia's not a very typical place," she says.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-beauty-queens-offer-opinions-beyond-world-peace-162731328.html

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Suu Kyi selected to remain Myanmar opposition head

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ? Aung San Suu Kyi was selected Sunday to remain head of Myanmar's main opposition party, keeping her leadership post even as the party undergoes a makeover to adjust to the country's new democratic framework.

The Nobel laureate was named chairwoman of the National League for Democracy's new executive board on the final day of a landmark three-day party congress attended by 894 delegates from around the country.

The congress also expanded the group's Central Executive Committee from seven members to 15, in a revitalization and reform effort ahead of Myanmar's 2015 general election. The party is seeking to infuse its ranks with new faces, expertise and diversity without sidelining long-standing members.

"We have to see how effectively and efficiently the new leaders can perform their duties," said Suu Kyi, who has led the NLD since its inception in 1988. "We hope they will learn through experience."

Suu Kyi is the sole holdover from the party's original executive board when it was founded, but the other new members are also mostly long-serving party loyalists. A broader Central Committee of 120 members was elected by the delegates and endorsed the executive board, which was given five reserve members.

The party, which came into being as the army was crushing a mass pro-democracy uprising in 1988, won a 1990 general election that was nullified by the then-ruling military. The NLD boycotted a 2010 general election, but after a military-backed elected government took office in 2011 and instituted democratic reforms, it contested by-elections in 2012, winning 43 of 44 seats and putting Suu Kyi into parliament.

Emerging from repression that limited its actions ? not least because Suu Kyi and other senior NLD members spent years under detention ? Suu Kyi vowed in her opening speech Saturday to inject the party with "new blood" and decentralize decision-making.

She said the NLD would go through an experimental stage with the new leadership and should anticipate some obstacles but "not be discouraged."

Although the 2012 by-election results showed that the NLD still has broad and deep appeal, the party faces challenges.

The army-backed ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party of President Thein Sein, besides being well-financed and enjoying the benefits of controlling the bureaucracy, has staked out a position as reformist.

It can boast of freeing the press, releasing most of the country's political prisoners and convincing foreign nations to lift most economic sanctions they had imposed against the former military regime for its poor human rights record. It hopes that opening up Myanmar, also known as Burma, to foreign investment will kick-start a moribund economy and win it popular appeal.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the NLD's agreement to play by parliamentary rules ? in effect endorsing Thein Sein's reform efforts ? leaves an opening for more hard-core anti-military activists to win over a share of disaffected voters who prefer a quicker pace of change than now allowed under the army-dictated constitution.

Speaking to the party meeting after her selection as chairman on Sunday, Suu Kyi said that in choosing executive board members there was an effort to include women, members of ethnic minorities and younger people, in addition to members with a record of continuous party service. Four women and several ethnic minority members are on the new board.

Suu Kyi acknowledged to reporters that younger members were underrepresented on the Central Executive Committee compared to the bigger Central Committee.

"We need experienced members who know the policies, tradition and history of the party and who had been in the party for the last 25 years," said Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest. "After some time, the younger generation will take over their place. There should be connectivity between the past, present and future."

Suu Kyi's colleagues expressed satisfaction with the meeting's results.

"The new CEC and Central Committee members will enjoy the trust of the majority because we are elected democratically. I believe we will be able to carry out our work more effectively," May Win Myint, a veteran NLD member jailed many times for her activities, said after being elected to the executive board.

Kyi Phyu Shin, a well-known film director who became an NLD member six months ago and was elected to the Central Committee, said she was "very confident that the NLD will become a tight organization, very active and competitive. The congress helps institute better democratic practices in the NLD."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suu-kyi-selected-remain-myanmar-opposition-head-100539922.html

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Egyptian Soccer fans rampage over court verdicts

The sun sets during clashes between Egyptian protesters and riot police in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Security officials say a protester has died during clashes between police and hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators in central Cairo. The officials say the protester died Saturday on a Nile-side road where clashes have been taking place daily between anti-government protesters and police near two luxury hotels and the U.S. and British embassies. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

The sun sets during clashes between Egyptian protesters and riot police in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Security officials say a protester has died during clashes between police and hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators in central Cairo. The officials say the protester died Saturday on a Nile-side road where clashes have been taking place daily between anti-government protesters and police near two luxury hotels and the U.S. and British embassies. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

An Egyptian protester runs with a teargas canister during clashes with riot police in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Security officials say a protester has died during clashes between police and hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators in central Cairo. The officials say the protester died Saturday on a Nile-side road where clashes have been taking place daily between anti-government protesters and police near two luxury hotels and the U.S. and British embassies. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

An injured security official is carried from a police officers club in the upscale neighborhood of Zamalek, after protesters set fires following a court verdict in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Fans of Cairo?s Al-Ahly club have stormed Egypt?s soccer federation headquarters and a nearby police club, and set them ablaze after a court acquitted seven of nine police official on trial for their alleged part in deadly stadium melee. (AP Photo/Mohammed Asad )

Egyptian soccer fans of the Al-Ahly club celebrate in front of their club in Cairo, Egypt, after an Egyptian court confirmed death sentences against 21 people for their role in a deadly 2012 soccer riot that killed more than 70 people in the city of Port Said, Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

An Egyptian man walks on the grounds of a police officer's club as a fire set by protesters burns in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013. An Egyptian court on Saturday confirmed the death sentences against 21 people for taking part in a deadly soccer riot but acquitted seven police officials for their alleged role in the violence, touching off furious protests in Cairo that torched the soccer federation headquarters and a nearby police club.(AP Photo/Ahmed Gomaa)

CAIRO (AP) ? Egyptian soccer fans rampaged through the heart of Cairo on Saturday, furious about the acquittal of seven police officers while death sentences against 21 alleged rioters were confirmed in a trial over a stadium melee that left 74 people dead.

The case of the Feb. 1, 2012 stadium riot in the city of Port Said at the northern tip of the Suez Canal has taken on political undertones not just because police faced allegations of negligence in the tragedy but also because the verdicts were announced at a time when Egypt is in the grip of the latest and most serious bout of political turmoil in the two years since Hosni Mubarak's ouster.

Saturday's verdicts also were handed down against the backdrop of an unprecedented wave of strikes by the nation's police force over demands for better working conditions and anger over what many believe are attempts by President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood to take control of the police force.

Tensions over the riot ? which began when supporters of Port Said's Al-Masry club set upon fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club after the final whistle of a league game that the home team won ? have fueled some of the deadliest street violence in months. Police guarding the stadium, meanwhile, faced allegations ranging from not searching people entering the stadium to failing to intervene to stop the bloodshed.

Shortly after the verdict was announced Saturday, angry fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club who had gathered in the thousands outside the team's headquarters in central Cairo went on a rampage, torching a police club nearby and storming Egypt's soccer federation headquarters before setting it ablaze.

The twin fires sent plumes of thick black smoke billowing out over the Cairo skyline, prompting Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to dispatch two army helicopters to extinguish the fires.

At least five people were injured in the protests over the verdict, a Health Ministry official told the MENA state news agency.

Some demonstrators in Port Said also burnt tires on the city's dock to prevent vessels from coming in and released speedboats into traffic lanes of the Suez Canal in attempts, foiled by the navy, to disrupt shipping in the vital waterway linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

A spokesman for the Suez Canal Authority said shipping was not affected and 41 vessels transited the waterway on Saturday.

General unrest also continued elsewhere in the Egyptian capital, which has seen unrelenting demonstrations and clashes between security forces and an opposition that accuses Morsi of trying to monopolize power in the hands of his Islamist allies.

Two protesters also were killed and 19 injured in clashes elsewhere in the capital that appeared unrelated to the soccer violence, national ambulance service chief Mohammed Sultan said. The fighting occurred near two luxury hotels and the U.S. and British embassies.

The court's decision upheld the death sentences issued in late January against 21 people, most of them Port Said fans. The original verdict touched off violent riots in Port Said that left some 40 people dead, most shot by police.

On Saturday, the court announced its verdict for the other 52 defendants in the case, sentencing 45 of them to prison, including two senior police officers who got 15 years terms each. The two were charged with gross negligence and failure to stop the killings.

Twenty-eight people were acquitted, including seven police officials.

Defense lawyers claimed the case has been flawed from the start with prosecutors collecting evidence in an "unorthodox" fashion and overlooking key aspects of the tragedy such as the fact the floodlights were turned off during the attack on the Al-Ahly fans and the nearest exit gate was locked.

Many of the 74 victims died of suffocation or blows to the head.

Morsi's aides denounced Saturday's violence and sought to dismiss the notion of a country in chaos.

Ayman Ali, a senior presidential aide, called on the media not to provide a "political cover" to the violence sweeping the country and dismissed as exaggerated claims that the country's police force was in disarray.

Another presidential aide, Bakinam el-Sharqawy, lamented that the focus on protests and violence created an image of instability in Egypt that kept foreign investors away.

In anticipation of more violence, authorities beefed up security near the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police force, with riot police deploying in the streets around the complex in central Cairo.

The president of the international soccer governing body FIFA appealed for calm.

"I call on football fans in Egypt to remain peaceful. Violence is never a solution and is contrary to the spirit of sport," Sepp Blatter tweeted.

Earlier at the courthouse across town, Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid read out the verdict live on TV, sentencing five defendants to life in prison and nine others to 15 years in jail. Six defendants received 10-year jail terms, two more got five years and a single defendant received a 12-month sentence.

The court's decision on the nine Port Said security officers on trial was among the most highly anticipated ? and potentially explosive ? verdicts. In the end, the judges sentenced the city's former security chief, Maj. Gen. Essam Samak, and a colonel both to 15 years in prison, while the others were acquitted.

Al-Ahly's fans accuse the police of collusion in the killing of their fellow supporters, arguing that they had advance knowledge of plans by supporters of Port Said's Al-Masry to attack them. They also accuse them of standing by as the Al-Masry fans attacked the visiting Al-Ahly supporters.

The court rulings can be appealed before a higher court.

Many residents of Port Said say the trial is unjust and politicized, and soccer fans in the city have felt that authorities were biased in favor of Al-Ahly, Egypt's most powerful club.

In Port Said, a city that for weeks has been in open rebellion against Morsi, the Islamist leader, several hundred people, many of them relatives of the defendants, gathered outside the local security headquarters to vent their anger. They chanted slogans against Morsi's government and the verdicts. Police pulled out of the city on Friday after days of battling protesters in deadly clashes. The army has taken over security in the city, a move that was warmly welcomed by residents.

Some people in a cafe watching the verdict live on TV hit their heads in frustration, while others broke down and wept. Some said they can live with the verdict because an appeal leaves room for hope.

"There's still an appeal process. God willing, our rights will be restored," said Islam Ezzeddin, a local soccer fan. "We are not thugs. I hope to God when there's an appeal, that we feel we live in a country of law and justice."

However, the national railways chief, Hussein Zakaria, ordered trains headed to Port Said to terminate their services at Ismailiya, another Suez Canal city south of Port Said. He said the measure was taken out of fear for the safety of passengers.

Late on Saturday, activists in the city declared the start of a new general strike, with bands of protesters moving around the city pleading with business owners to shutter down.

___

Batrawy reported from Port Said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-09-ML-Egypt/id-09261b5a14fe4006ba3d83dff1c3a64a

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