Saturday, May 11

Espanyol 1 Cristian Stuani 23

Red Card: Victor Sanchez 90+1

Real Madrid1 Gonzalo Higuain 58

Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 19,000

- - -

Osasuna1 Alejandro Arribas 75

Getafe 0

Halftime: 0-0; Attendance: 19,500

- - -

Real Valladolid1 Javi Guerra 48

Deportivo Coruna 0

Halftime: 0-0; Attendance: 21,239

- - -

Athletic Bilbao2 Aduriz 8, Fernando Llorente 79

Missed penalty: Aduriz 26

Real Mallorca1 Giovani Dos Santos 81

Red Card: Andreu Fontas 24, Ximo Navarro 90+1

Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 35,000

- - -

Friday, May 10

Levante0

Red Card: Papakouli Diop 53, Pedro Lopez 90+3

Real Zaragoza0

Halftime: 0-0; Attendance: 15,113

- - -

Next Fixtures (GMT):

Sunday, May 12

Rayo Vallecano v Valencia (1000)

Real Betis v Celta Vigo (1500)

Atletico Madridv Barcelona(1700)

Malaga v Sevilla(1900)

Monday, May 13

Real Sociedadv Granada CF (2000)

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore will host the glittering annual finale of the women's tennis season from 2014 until 2018, the WTA said on Wednesday.

The Southeast Asian city-state beat Tianjin in China and Mexico's Monterrey for the right to stage the WTA Championships after Turkey's Istanbul ends its three-year stint in October.

"Your sensational city, the amazing city of Singapore, has won the right to host the WTA Championships for the next five years from 2014," WTA chairman and chief executive Stacey Allaster told reporters.

Allaster called the agreement a record breaker and "the largest and most significant WTA partnership in our history", with prize money increased to a record $6.5 million.

The season-ender is the most prestigious women's tennis event outside the four grand slam tournaments - the Australian, French and U.S. Opens plus Wimbledon.

The top eight singles and doubles pairs over the season qualify for the event which was won last year by American world number one Serena Williams. Russian pair Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova took the doubles title.

The event was first staged in 1972 in the United States but has moved around the world since 2001 with Munich, Madrid and Doha joining New York and Los Angeles in staging it.

The hosting rights are a major coup for Singapore, which has not held a top level tennis event since the 1999 Heineken Cup on the men's ATP Tour. Lower ranked challenger events and exhibition tournaments have struggled to attract crowds.

The event will take place at the Sports Hub complex, which is due to be finished by the first quarter of 2014 at a cost of S$1.3 billion ($1.05 billion).

The impressive complex will feature a 55,000-seater stadium with retractable roof, a 13,000 indoor stadium, aquatics center and water sports center.

The indoor stadium will host the show court with the other facilities to be used in a entertainment filled "10 day fan fest."

The venue could be key for sports and entertainment businesses to tap into the lucrative southeast Asian market with Singapore's low crime rate and overall ease of doing business a rarity amongst nearby nations.

World Sports Group, the commercial partner of the Sports Hub, have talked previously about attracting a rugby 7s event and Indian Premier League Twenty20 matches. WSG Chief Executive Andrew Georgiou said the WTA Championships was just the start.

"It is also another feather in the cap for Singapore, which continues to prove itself as Asia's premier events destination. We are really excited about working towards the first event of 2014," the Australian told reporters.

"We are pretty proud, one of the first of many to be announced over the next couple of months to be hosted at the Singapore sports hub."

(Additional reporting by Ossian Shine; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Veteran basketball player Jason Collins announced on Monday that he was gay, smashing through one of the final frontiers in U.S. sports with a frank personal statement and winning warm praise as a groundbreaker.

Collins, a 12-year player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), became the first active athlete from any of the four major U.S. men's professional sports leagues to come out publicly as gay.

He was quickly enveloped in a wave of support from the White House to tennis player Martina Navratilova, a pioneer for gay athletes in sport.

Collins is not a well-known sports star but is now likely to become famous for his stance. He revealed the secret he had harbored for years in a first-person account published in Sports Illustrated, saying he had gradually become frustrated with having to keep silent on his sexuality.

"I'm a 34-year-old NBA center," his essay began. "I'm black. And I'm gay."

Collins said he had considered coming out years ago but it was the Boston Marathon bombings this month that convinced him not to wait any more for a perfect moment to come out.

"I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' said Collins, who played last season with the Boston Celtics and then the Washington Wizards and is currently a free agent. "If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."

Players, administrators and some politicians applauded him for taking a stance. Some hailed it as a landmark day in American civil rights, perhaps as important as when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball.

President Barack Obama, a big fan of the NBA who regularly plays pickup basketball with his friends, called Collins to express his support, a White House official said.

"I can certainly tell you that here at the White House we view that as another example of the progress that has been made and the evolution that has been taking place in this country, and commend him for his courage, and support him in his - in this effort and hope that his fans and his team support him going forward," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

DEBATE OVER GAY RIGHTS

Collins' move came at a time of shifting attitudes toward gay rights in the United States, where polls show public opinion is fast moving toward greater acceptance, although a core of social conservatives oppose such change.

Some in sports declined to join the chorus of voices in support of Collins. Sportswriter Chris Broussard, speaking on ESPN television, grouped homosexual acts with adultery and premarital sex, saying he believed this was "walking in open rebellion to God."

In the coming months, the Supreme Court will rule on whether to strike down parts of a federal law that defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman. In 2011, the military repealed a ban on openly gay soldiers.

"Jason's announcement today is an important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community," former U.S. president Bill Clinton said in a statement.

NBA commissioner David Stern said he was proud of Collins for taking a brave stance.

"Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue," Stern said.

In a country where it is no longer news for politicians and entertainers to be openly gay, there had been questions over the lack of an openly gay player in the big four men's professional leagues: the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball.

Sports, which helped play a key role in changing public opinion on racial discrimination, had come to seem out of step with much of the rest of American society.

Collins, who has played with six different teams during his 12 years in the NBA, said he never had any grand plans to be the first openly gay player, but events off the basketball court persuaded him to come out.

He was inspired by last year's gay pride parade in Boston, he said, but delayed making an announcement due to a desire to protect his team, waiting until the end of the regular 2012-2013 season ended. Collins was also prompted by the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings which killed three people and wounded more than 200, he said.

"The recent Boston Marathon bombing reinforced the notion that I shouldn't wait for the circumstances of my coming out to be perfect," he wrote in Sports Illustrated. "Things can change in an instant, so why not live truthfully?

PRAISE FLOODS IN

Kobe Bryant, one of the NBA's greatest players, was fined $100,000 in 2011 for a homophobic slur. On Monday, he was among the first of dozens of active players who took to social media to applaud Collins.

"Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don't suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others," Bryant tweeted.

Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash tweeted: "The time has come. Maximum respect."

There are openly gay players in many top professional leagues in other countries in the world as well as smaller leagues in North America and individual sports.

Navratilova, the tennis star who also became a champion for gay rights, said Collins would feel like a burden had been lifted from him.

"Hey Jason Collins-you are now an activist!!! And trust me, you will sleep a lot better now - freedom is a sweet feeling indeed!," she tweeted.

Other gay athletes, including former NBA center John Amaechi, had waited until their retirement to divulge their sexuality publicly, but there was a growing sense that times were changing.

Earlier this year, the American soccer player Robbie Rogers outed himself, although he had just retired. And Brittney Griner, one of the country's top women's basketball players, said she too was gay.

But there were still no currently playing, openly gay athletes from the four biggest men's leagues.

The question came into sharp focus this year around the National Football League (NFL), usually viewed as the most macho of America's pro sports.

In the days leading up to this year's Super Bowl in New Orleans in February, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver told reporters he would not welcome a gay teammate into the locker room.

He later retracted his comments but reports later emerged of NFL teams asking college players about their sexuality at a scouting session in February.

This prompted the New York State attorney general to send a letter to the NFL, urging the league to take action and adopt a formal policy on discrimination over sexual orientation.

High-profile NFL players, most notably Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo, began advocating for gay rights, and suggested there were a handful of players ready to come out once someone had taken the first step.

"All of us have huge admiration for what Jason is doing," said Patrick Burke, co-founder of equal rights advocacy group You Can Play.

"Jason's courage in stepping forward with his personal story will provide athletes and fans with a new role model."

(Editing by Frances Kerry and Tim Dobbyn)

In the Syrian civil war's latest alleged mass killing, activists said Friday that regime troops and gunmen from nearby Alawite areas beat, stabbed and shot at least 50 people in the Sunni Muslim village of Bayda.

The slayings highlighted in the starkest terms the sectarian overtones of a conflict that has already killed more than 70,000 people. Details of the killings came to light as the Obama administration said it was again weighing whether to arm the rebels.

Syria's 2-year-old crisis has largely broken along sectarian lines: the Sunni majority forms the backbone of the rebellion, while President Bashar Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, anchors the regime's security services and military officer corps. Other minorities, such as Christians, largely support Assad or stand on the sidelines, worried that the regime's fall would bring about a more Islamist rule.

The killings in Bayda fall against this backdrop. Tucked in the mountains outside the Mediterranean coastal city of Banias, the village is predominantly Sunni but is located in the Alawite ancestral heartland centered in the rugged region along the sea.

Activists say fighting broke out in Bayda early Thursday and that at least six government troops were killed. Syrian forces backed by Alawite gunmen known as shabiha from the surrounding area returned in the afternoon and stormed the village, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The gunmen torched homes and used knives, guns and blunt objects to kill people in the streets, the group said. It added that it has documented the names of at least 50 dead in Bayda, but that dozens of villagers are still missing and the death toll could rise to as high as 100.

Amateur video showed the bodies of at least seven men and boys lying in pools of blood on the pavement in front of a house as women wept around them.

"Don't sleep, don't move," one woman sobbed, leaning over to touch one of the men, who appeared already dead. A woman also is heard wailing, "Where are you, people of the village?"

The video appears genuine and consistent with reporting by The Associated Press from the area.

Syria's state news agency said late Thursday that the army conducted a raid in Bayda, killing several "terrorists" the term it uses for those trying to oust Assad and seizing machine guns, automatic rifles and other weapons.

Syrian troops were still in Bayda on Friday, conducting house-to-house searches, according to the Observatory's director, Rami Abdul-Rahman. He added that phone and Internet service to the village was cut, making it impossible to verify the final death toll or pin down more details on what happened.

The Observatory also reported clashes and government shelling of Sunni areas of Banias on Friday.

If confirmed, the bloodshed in Bayda would be the latest in a series of alleged mass killings in the civil war. Last month, activists said government troops killed more than 100 people as they seized two rebel-held suburbs of Damascus.

The violence in Bayda bears a closer resemblance to two reported mass killings last year in Houla and Qubeir, Sunni villages surrounded by Alawite towns. Some activists said the Houla and Qubeir carnage, which they blame on regime forces and shabiha, was aimed at driving Sunnis from areas near main routes to the coast to ensure Alawite control.

Months of bloodshed have sharpened the divide and unleashed sectarian hatred. The violence has ripped apart communities and brought a bloody end to decades of coexistence. Retaliatory kidnappings and killings have surged.

That raises the prospect of Syria taking the same path as neighboring Iraq, where violence in 2006 and 2007 effectively turned into a kind of sectarian cleansing as Sunnis and Shiites fled the bloodletting by rival militias to the relative safety of their own communities. Lingering animosity has helped fuel renewed violence along those fault lines in recent weeks between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq.

In what amounted to little more than a symbolic protest, rebels in Syria fired rockets at the village of Qardaha, the hometown of Assad's father, the Observatory said. There were no reports of casualties.

The main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, condemned what it called "a large-scale massacre in Bayda," and urged the international community to act to protect Syrian civilians.

"It is time for the world to intervene and put an end to the grievous crimes of the Assad regime," the Cairo-based group said in a statement.

While the U.S. and its European allies have backed the opposition, they have been reluctant to provide those fighting Assad's troops with weapons that could challenge the regime's superior firepower. They fear the arms could end up in the hands of radical Islamic groups, such as the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, that in the past year have become the most effective fighting force on the opposition's side.

On Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Washington is rethinking its opposition to arming the rebels amid growing indications that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons something President Barack Obama has called a "red line."

The U.S. has said intelligence indicates Syria has used the nerve agent sarin on at least two occasions, but Obama has stressed that he needs more definitive proof before making a decision about how to respond and whether to take military action. Damascus denies using chemical arms, and says the opposition is trying to frame it.

Obama said Thursday his administration was proceeding cautiously as it looked at options to ensure that what it does is helpful to the situation rather than making it more deadly or complex.

The Syrian crisis started with largely peaceful protests of Assad's rule in March 2011, but shifted into an armed insurgency as opposition supporters took up weapons to fight a harsh regime crackdown on dissent.

The conflict has laid waste to cities and towns, forced more than 1 million Syrians to seek refuge in neighboring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and displaced millions more inside Syria.

Syria's state news agency said mortars fired at the Damascus International Airport struck a kerosene tank and a commercial aircraft, causing significant material damage. It said the airport was functioning normally, although many airlines no longer fly into the Syrian capital because of the conflict.

___

Associated Press writer Barbara Surk contributed to this report.

Yet the most likely first-time homeowners, especially young professionals and couples starting families, won't buy these days. Or they can't. Or they already did, during the housing boom. And their absence helps explain why the housing industry is still depressed.

The obstacles range from higher down payments to heavy debt from credit cards and student loans. But even many of those who could afford to buy no longer see it as a wise investment. Prices have sunk 15 percent in three years.

"I've looked for a home, but the places we can afford with the money we have are not that great," says Seth Herter, 23, a store manager in suburban St. Louis. "It also doesn't seem smart anymore to buy with prices falling. Buying a home just doesn't make sense to us."

The proportion of U.S. households that own homes is at 65.1 percent, its lowest point since 1996, the Census Bureau says. That marks a shift after nearly two decades in which homeownership grew before peaking at 70 percent during the housing boom.

The housing bubble lured so many young buyers that it reduced the pool of potential first-timers to below-normal levels. That's contributed to the decline in new buyers in recent years.

In 2005, at the height of the boom, about 2.8 million first-timers bought homes, according to the National Association of Realtors. By contrast, for each of the four years preceding the boom, the number of first-timers averaged fewer than 2 million.

Still, the bigger factors are the struggling economy, shaky job security, tougher credit rules and lack of cash to put down, said Dan McCue, research manager at Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. The unemployment rate among typical first-timers, those ages 25 to 34, is 9.8 percent, compared with 9 percent for all adults.

"The obstacles facing first-time buyers are big, and it's changing the way they look at home ownership," McCue says. "It's no longer the American Dream for the younger generation."

First-timers usually account for up to half of all sales. Over the past year, they've accounted for only about a third.

A big reason is tougher lending standards.

Lenders are demanding more money up front. In 2002, the median down payment for a single-family home in nine major U.S. cities was 4 percent, according to real estate website Zillow.com. Today, it's 22 percent.

And one-third of households have credit scores too low to qualify for a mortgage. The median required credit score from FICO Inc., the industry leader in credit ratings, has risen from 720 in 2007, when the market went bust, to 760 today.

Homes in many places are the most affordable in a generation. In the past year, the national median sale price has sunk 3.5 percent. Half the homes listed in the Tampa Bay area are priced below $100,000.

The average mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan is 4 percent, barely above an all-time low. Five years ago, it was near 6.5 percent. In 2000, it exceeded 8 percent.

When the economy eventually strengthens, the housing market will, too. More people will be hired. Confidence will rise. Down payments won't be so hard to produce.

The question is whether first-time buyers will then start flowing into the housing market. That will depend mainly on whether they think prices will rise, said Mark Vitner, senior U.S. economist at Wells Fargo.

"It's a guessing game as to when things will turn around," Vitner said. "But until they do, you won't see young people buying homes."

DEAR UNPIERCED: I spoke to James Wisniewski of the Body Electric Tattoo piercing studio in Los Angeles. He told me that, as with any type of body modification, the ear plugs are a matter of personal taste.

The process is referred to as "stretching," and James has had his earlobes this way for the past 14 years. He says he is asked about the procedure on a daily basis. He is attracted to it for the aesthetics. The modification is a gradual process, with larger jewelry being inserted as the hole becomes larger.

James recommends consulting a plastic surgeon if someone decides to have the hole closed because new tissue is grown as a result of the earlobe stretching. The extra skin may have to be removed in the same way as after a major weight loss.

DEAR ABBY: I am 17 and I want to start writing a book about things I have been through in my life. My family is all for it, but my friends are against it. I am torn about what I should do. I feel if I write this book it will help kids my age who may have been through some of the same things I have.

Should I go through with it or not because my friends think it's a stupid idea? I know I'm not exactly the smartest person and getting a publisher is difficult, but does that make it a stupid idea to try? What should I do? -- CONFLICTED IN INDIANA

DEAR CONFLICTED: Your reason for wanting to write a book is a valid one and you should proceed with it regardless of what your friends think. It will help you organize your thoughts, and if you show your chapters to your English teacher, you can effectively sharpen your writing skills.

Worrying about a publisher now is putting the cart before the horse. While it might be helpful for other teens to read, I promise you that even if the book isn't published, it will become a treasured time capsule containing the thoughts that were important to you during this formative period of your life. Some people your age start writing in diaries or journals and continue doing it throughout their lives.

DEAR ABBY: What is the correct response when asked at a doctor's office or hospital if you drink? I drink socially, maybe once a month. Should I say yes? If I do, I'm afraid it will imply that I drink more often.

I always end up feeling awkward and like I need to explain myself. I'm pretty proud telling them I don't smoke or do drugs, but the alcohol question always gets me. What do other people who drink on occasion usually say? -- FILLING OUT THE FORMS IN OHIO

DEAR FILLING: In my doctor's office I was asked that question, and my response was, "Yes, occasionally." At that point, the follow-up question was, "How many drinks do you have a week?" Because this particular question makes you uncomfortable, mention to your physician that you indulge in alcohol only about once a month -- which is practically negligible.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

To receive a collection of Abby's most memorable -- and most frequently requested -- poems and essays, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby -- Keepers Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. Shipping and handling are included in the price.

NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - A gifted scorer, Carmelo Anthony has always had the talent to put the ball in the basket but rarely has he been able to put his team deep into the playoffs.

The pressure is on the Knicks forward with the bruising inside moves and delicate outside touch to prove himself in the postseason and help erase more than a decade of playoff failures for New York.

"It seems like we're starting off with a clean plate right now," Anthony, hungry for a taste of playoff success, told reporters before the opening of second-seeded New York's first-round series against seventh seed Boston Celtics.

Anthony is off to a great start, scoring 36 points in the opener and 34 points in New York's 87-71 Game Two win that gave the Knicks a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

But that is just a start, and despite sporting a new Olympic gold medal and his first NBA scoring title (28.7 points average) on his resume, Anthony is challenged to show he can lift his team and alter a reputation as a high-scoring playoff bust.

Coming into this postseason, Anthony's playoff record with the Knicks was 1-8 after two postseason trips with New York, following a 16-30 postseason mark with the Denver Nuggets.

The Knicks, who have not won a title in 40 years, have not moved past the first round in 13 years. Anthony has advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs only once in nine tries.

"He's had this breakout year, but when the playoffs come, he's going to have to raise his level," Walt Frazier, point guard for New York's last NBA title team in 1973, told the Daily News.

"He'll have new expectations he's going to have to meet. Can he handle the pressure?"

OLYMPIC DIFFERENCE

Second-year guard Iman Shumpert said this is a new Anthony, and that a summer pursuing Olympic gold in London had changed him.

"He's definitely our leader," Shumpert told Reuters in the Knicks locker room before Game Two against Boston. "I think he's done a ton more talking this year ... in the locker room, on the court and especially on defense.

"I think he's just done a great job, an incredible job lifting us and make sure we play the same way all year.

"Definitely a difference between last year and this year," added Shumpert, saying Anthony seemed more confident.

"Any time we find ourselves about to get rattled he sort of just calms everybody down. I think a lot of that comes from him just putting the work in this summer and coming in after that gold medal on a roll already."

Following a rousing Olympics in which Anthony committed to playing tough defense alongside LeBron James against taller opponents on an undersized U.S. team, the Knicks forward came to the new NBA campaign in great shape and with a fierce attitude.

"Whatever we need him to do," Shumpert said. "This year he's been asked to guard a lot of five-men (centers) because sometimes we play small. He hasn't complained. Whatever he has to do he just goes and do it.

"He's watching a ton of film. He's been a flat-out leader. I think it's contagious," he added, pointing to J.R. Smith, who on Tuesday was presented the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award.

"J.R. has been a bigger leader. The focus in the locker room from last year to this year has been night and day."

BEHIND CLASSMATES

For all his personal success, Anthony has languished behind illustrious fellow members of the top of the 2003 NBA Draft.

James, the No. 1 draft pick of 2003, was the man with the pressure turned up ultra high last season.

"King" James, believed to be overdue for an NBA title, got that monkey off his back with a run to the crown with fellow members of the class of 2003 Chris Bosh (No. 4) and Dwyane Wade (No. 5) joining him on the Miami Heat.

Anthony, selected No. 3 in 2003 after winning the U.S. college title as a freshman with Syracuse, is still chasing the NBA dream for New York after being swept by Boston in the first round in 2011 after joining the Knicks in a big trade with Denver, and losing in five to Miami last year.

"No, it don't, it don't," the Brooklyn-born Anthony, a six-time NBA All-Star, told reporters when asked whether the playoffs were putting added pressure on him.

No amount of denial, however, can fill the empty plate.

Only a playoff run to the Eastern Conference finals and a likely date with the Miami Heat will satisfy Madison Square Garden crowds that lavish Anthony with chants of "MVP, MVP, MVP."

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican chief of a congressional panel looking to rewrite the tax code suggested on Tuesday that a federal tax deduction claimed by individuals for state and local taxes paid is encouraging some states to keep their taxes high.

Dave Camp, chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, spoke at a hearing focused on the merits of the state and local tax deduction, as well as the tax exemption for municipal bond interest income.

Taxpayers in California, New York and New Jersey claimed more than one-third of all deductions taken for state and local taxes paid in 2010, Camp noted, also pointing out that these states have among the steepest state and local tax rates.

"Those findings, and many more that have been uncovered over the years, raise significant concerns," the Michigan lawmaker said.

Those states are also among the most populous and tend to vote Democratic. Advocates for keeping the provisions noted that those states are largely urban with higher costs and higher tax payments paid back to the federal government.

"We're big givers and we don't complain about it," said New York Democratic Representative Charles Rangel.

The hearing is the latest in a series held by tax-writing lawmakers hoping to overhaul the tax code this year. Doing that will be tough, given party rancor and the power of perk-protecting lobbyists, but Camp and Democratic Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana pledge to introduce legislation this year.

Scott Hodge, president of the Tax Foundation, which advocates lower taxes, estimated that scrapping both benefits would produce enough federal revenue to lower individual tax rates by 5 percent.

"Reducing the rate would have all taxpayers being treated more similarly," Camp said, referring to that analysis.

Both provisions date to the tax code's creation in 1913, setting them apart from what some call tax loopholes. They are also among the largest tax benefits.

In fiscal year 2011, the U.S. government missed out on about $30 billion in revenues because of the muni-bond interest tax exemption and about $67 billion from the state and local tax deduction, the Congressional Budget Office said this month.

That total of nearly $100 billion a year roughly equals the amount of revenue forgone by the federal government because of another popular tax break - the mortgage interest deduction.

President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and some Republicans have suggested limiting these tax breaks, but the provisions are politically popular, fervently defended by state and local officials, and embedded in the financial markets.

LOCAL RULES RULE

Municipal bonds allow states and local governments to tap capital markets more cheaply than private sector borrowers to fund public projects such as schools and roads.

Lawmakers from both parties defended the tax exempt status of municipal bonds at the hearing.

"All we're going to be doing is passing that tax onto a different level," said Representative Kenny Marchant, a Texas Republican who said he had been swamped with concern from local officials in advance of the hearing.

Lawmakers were largely in agreement on the need to examine so-called private activity bonds, which fund private-public projects such as airports and private colleges. A recent New York Times article pointed out that the bonds have been used to finance private projects such as a Goldman Sachs office.

Experts noted that these particular private activity bonds were issued as part of onetime disaster recovery programs, which have looser regulations.

Both Camp and the committee's top Democrat, Representative Sandy Levin of Michigan, suggested looking into the rules on these bonds.

(Reporting By Kim Dixon)

On another late April weekend with the NFL draft unfolding anew, there was Rodgers again, expressing his appreciation of the Packers for their latest sign of faith.

The Packers signed their franchise quarterback Friday to a five-year contract extension through the 2019 season, eight years after they stopped his slide down the draft board and took him with the 24th pick in the first round. The deal, according to a person with knowledge of the contract who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team has not released the details, is worth as much as $110 million, with $40 million guaranteed.

Rodgers had two seasons remaining on his current deal for a total of roughly $20 million. So this is essentially a seven-year contract, right there with the $120.6 million that the Baltimore Ravens gave quarterback Joe Flacco last month over six years. Judged by the new part of the deal, Rodgers will be the highest-paid player in NFL history, with an average annual salary of $22 million over those five seasons.

"I'm excited to know my future is here and I'll be here for a lot longer," Rodgers said inside the locker room at Lambeau Field.

Locking up Rodgers was a priority for the Packers, who also reached a long-term extension with linebacker Clay Matthews this month worth as much as $66 million over five years. The Packers are 53-27 in five years with Rodgers as the starter, and he led them to the Super Bowl title following the 2010 season.

President Mark Murphy said leaving enough space under the salary cap to consistently field a competitive team around Rodgers for the life of his deal was "crucial." He also acknowledged that the Packers not only gave Rodgers a market-rate contract but set a new market in the process.

"But he's a pretty good quarterback, too," Murphy said, laughing.

Rodgers, the longest-tenured Packers player, the only one still on the roster from that 4-12 team in 2005, said he's confident the front office will continue to be able to build a winner around him.

"I like where we're at. Obviously, there were some discussions about not doing a lot in free agency," Rodgers said. "Like I said, this seems to be the Packer way where you draft a guy in your system and you pay them."

Rodgers has thrown for 21,661 yards and 171 touchdowns in his career, and he has had a quarterback rating of 101.2 or better in all but one season as a starter. His quarterback rating of 122.5 in 2011 is an NFL record.

The former standout at Cal was expected to be taken early in the first round in 2005, but he soon found himself alone in the green room. Rodgers acknowledged that prove-the-doubters-wrong attitude he's used to his benefit throughout his career since that day he was ignored by so many in the draft.

"I have a good memory, and I'm driven to be the best," Rodgers said. "Obviously, there's a couple less critics out there now, but I still put a lot of pressure on myself to achieve the goals I set for myself here and enjoy trying to meet the challenge that those goals bring and also opposing teams bring."

Draft day wasn't the only rough spot for Rodgers in his career.

He arrived in Green Bay as the backup to Brett Favre, who wasn't thrilled the team had found his heir apparent. Favre kept fans and the franchise on their toes every offseason from then on, flirting with the idea of retiring but always coming back. When the tension finally snapped in 2008 Favre retired, changed his mind and asked for his job back Rodgers found himself in the middle of the most-bitter divorce in Wisconsin history.

Favre was traded to the New York Jets during training camp, but many fans remained loyal to him. They took their anger at the organization out on Rodgers, even booing him at the team's "Family Night" scrimmage. Rodgers kept his composure, never firing back at fans or even publicly criticizing Favre.

Despite a 6-10 record in his first year as a starter, he showed flashes of why general manager Ted Thompson had such faith in him, and fans began to come around. Any lingering animosity disappeared after Favre joined the rival Minnesota Vikings and Rodgers led the Packers to the playoffs following the 2009 season.

Now? He's of the most beloved figures in the state's rich sports history. The Wisconsin Legislature designated Dec. 12, 2012, as "Aaron Rodgers Day," and students and workers throughout the state were encouraged to celebrate by wearing his jersey. When he was shown on the scoreboard at the Milwaukee Bucks' playoff game against the Miami Heat on Thursday, he got one of the biggest cheers of the night.

Rodgers will be 36 when the deal ends. He said he thinks he has at least eight years left in his legs and his body, when asked if wondered if this would be his last contract.

"A lot of times you don't see a deal all the way through if you're playing well. It's just the nature of some of these contracts. That's a long way off. In order to even get to that conversation, it's going to take many years in a row at a consistently high level of play for me, which I expect to do," Rodgers said. "And I'm going to get myself in the best shape mentally and physically to do that, and hopefully we can have that conversation in seven years where I can still play and maybe we can keep this thing going."

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AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner in New York and AP National Writer Nancy Armour from Milwaukee contributed to this report.

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Online: http://www.pro32.ap.org

The decision by a panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stems from a challenge to a pair of 2006 Missouri laws enacted after protests of military members' funerals by a Kansas-based church that denounces homosexuality.

The appeals court said one law barring protests "in front of or about any location at which a funeral is held" violates First Amendment free speech rights because it creates a buffer zone of an undetermined size. It upheld a separate law setting the 300-foot protest buffer around funeral ceremonies and graveside memorial services, but the court said it cannot apply to funeral processions that wind their way through town.

The common factor in the mixed decision was the precision with which Missouri's laws were or were not written.

The 300-foot buffer is "narrowly tailored to serve Missouri's interest in protecting the peace and privacy of funeral attendees and leaves open ample alternative channels for communication" by protesters, U.S. Circuit Judge Kermit Bye wrote in the opinion by a three-judge panel.

Although it ruled the 300-foot buffer did not violate free-speech protections, the appeals panel sent the case back to a trial judge to consider several other complaints brought against the law by Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of the Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church.

"It's certainly a victory in that one statute is found unconstitutional and the other is severely narrowed," said Anthony Rothert, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represented Phelps-Roper. "The other part is a little bit of a defeat, but we're still in court, so it's not the end of the case."

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Chris Koster said Friday that the office was reviewing the ruling and declined to comment further.

Courts around the country have wrestled in recent years with local laws aimed at keeping Westboro members away from funerals. Church members contend God is punishing the U.S. for its general acceptance of sinful actions and often specifically cite homosexuality, regardless of whether the funeral is for someone who was gay.

After Westboro members protested the 2005 funeral of a Missouri soldier killed in Iraq, Missouri lawmakers responded in 2006 by passing a general prohibition against protests and pickets near funerals, from one hour before the funerals start until an hour after they end.

Concerned about potential legal challenges, Missouri lawmakers a few months later passed a second law containing the specific 300-foot buffer zone but included wording making it effective only if the more general prohibition was invalidated in court.

Both laws contain the same penalty for protesters up to six months in jail and a $500 fine for a first offense, and up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for repeat offenders.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan struck down both Missouri laws in August 2010, which led to an appeal and Friday's mixed ruling.

The appellate ruling was consistent with a decision in October 2012 by an 8th Circuit panel that upheld an ordinance by the St. Louis suburb of Manchester restricting protests within 300 feet of funerals or burial services.

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Associated Press writer John Milburn in Topeka, Kan., contributed to this report.

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Follow David A. Lieb at: http://www.twitter.com/DavidALieb