The Apollo 11 moonwalker outlines his case for launching humans to the Red Planet by 2035 inreleased Tuesday (May 7) by National Geographic Books.

Together with co-author Leonard David, a veteran space journalist, Aldrin presents his "unified space vision," a blueprint for maintaining the United States' leadership in human spaceflight while at the same time avoiding a space race with China to be second back to the moon. []

Ultimately,proposes establishing a permanent U.S.-led human presence on Mars 66 years after the first moon landing the same amount of time that passed between the Wright brothers' first powered flight and he and Neil Armstrong touching down at Tranquility Base.

To further his vision and promote the book, Aldrin, 83, has embarked on a , kicking off Tuesday in New York City. His first "Mission to Mars" book signing was at a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan.

Aldrin will then travel to Washington, D.C., where he will meet up with his co-author David for back-to-back evening presentations at National Geographic's museum.

While in the nation's capital, Aldrin will also speak at the "Humans2Mars Summit" being held at George Washington University and discuss the book during a Friday (May 10) event at the National Press Club.

Aldrin will then rocket back to the Big Apple, where he will be interviewed by adventurer and journalist Jim Clash as part of The Explorers Club's "Exploring Legends" series. While in New York, Aldrin will also drop by the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, near where the "Eagle," the lunar module he and Armstrong landed on the moon, was built.

Returning to his current home city of Los Angeles, Aldrin will speak at the annual awards dinner for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) on May 15. He is then scheduled to sign books at the San Diego Air and Space Museum and speak at the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference at the nearby Hyatt Regency La Jolla.

Crossing the United States again, Aldrin will land on June 1 at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. for a public book signing and then participate in "The Future is Here," a Smithsonian conference to be held at the National Museum of the American Indian that same day.

Aldrin will visit his hometown on June 2, speaking at the Montclair Public Library in New Jersey. The talk and book signing will then lead into a trio of visits to the presidential libraries of Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon in California and the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Arkansas.

The book tour, which includes other stops at bookstores and expos, as well as media appearances including BBC America's "The Nerdist" and Discovery Channel's "The Big Brain Theory," stretches through the summer.

. He has also written three autobiographies, two science fiction novels and two books for children. Aldrin will autograph copies of the latter, titled "Reaching for the Moon" (Harper Collins, 2005) and "Look to the Stars" (Putnam, 2009) during his current tour, but will sign no other books or memorabilia, according to his website.

For those who cannot attend the scheduled book signings, National Geographic Books is hosting a sweepstakes on Facebook to give away autographed copies of "Mission To ," as well as "Destination Mars" maps. The contest is open to U.S. citizens only now through May 31.

For more about these events, as well as an up-to-date list of where Buzz Aldrin will be signing copies of "Mission to Mars," see collectSPACE.com's .

Follow collectSPACE.com onand on Twitter at @. Copyright 2013 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.

Mobile phone video popped up across the Web on Monday showing a male fan rushing toward the 19-year-old performer, who was sitting at a piano on the edge of the stage.

Security guards tackled the young man from behind, spilling into Bieber and tipping over the piano.

Bieber twisted away and then strolled offstage while the guards dragged away the fan.

The concert Sunday the second of a two-performance stand in Dubai resumed after a short break and Bieber appeared calm and unharmed.

He later tweeted: "Dubai. Nothing stops the show."

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)

"We will never surrender our guns, never," Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre told several thousand people during the organization's annual member meeting, which is part of the yearly NRA convention being held this weekend in Houston.

A defiant LaPierre said the "political and media elites" have tried to use December's mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school and other recent ones "to blame us, to shame us, to compromise our freedom for their agenda."

LaPierre directed much of his criticism at President Barack Obama and his efforts to pass legislation in Congress that would have expanded background checks for gun sales. That bill failed to pass in the Senate last month.

LaPierre said the bill "got the defeat that it deserved."

"The bill wouldn't have prevented Newtown or Aurora," he said, also referencing last year's shooting at a Colorado theater. "It won't prevent the next tragedy. None of it has anything to do with keeping our children safer in any school anywhere."

Gun control supporters have promised to keep pressing the issue and have made significant strides at the state level, including passing new restrictions on firearms in Colorado and Connecticut.

LaPierre implored lawmakers to direct their efforts not at new gun control legislation but to enforcing current federal gun laws and sending to prison violent criminals who break these laws and rebuilding "our broken mental health system."

"And for God sakes leave the rest of us alone in this country," he said to loud applause.

More than 70,000 NRA members are expected to attend the three-day convention, which began Friday. Acres of displays of rifles, pistols, swords and hunting gear could be found inside the convention hall.

Friday's highlight was a 3 -hour political rally filled with fiery speeches from state and national conservative leaders, among them Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. They warned attendees that new gun laws are an effort to take away their rights under the Second Amendment.

The presence of protestors has been minimal during the convention. Across the street, the No More Names vigil read the names of gun violence victims since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut. By Saturday afternoon, about 20 protesters were present.

"It's time to move toward global thinking and global peace and solutions that don't require guns," said Tim Campbell, 73, from Houston, who held up a sign that read "No To Arms. No To Force."

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano at http://www.twitter.com/juanlozano70

Two failed marriages and several relationships with good women are over because of my determination to follow an unhealthy dream, not to mention all the friends I have lost as well.

Now as I look around me, there's no one there. No one to love and no one to love me. I never knew until now that chasing that dream would cost me everyone I ever loved.

I know I have made bad choices in life. I deserve the time for the crime I committed. But am I also sentenced to a world of loneliness? Can I ever be loved again and be happy after all the wrong I have done? Is there someone out there who would be willing to give me a chance? Is it too late to start over?

Abby, you have so many answers for so many people, I am just hoping you have an answer for me. -- SERVING TIME

DEAR SERVING TIME: It is never too late to start over. With penitence comes redemption. If you are willing to journey down a different path, the relationships you form along the way will be rewarding, long-lasting and mutual. Because of your criminal record you may have to work harder to gain trust, but I promise you that if you're willing to work at it, it can be done.

DEAR ABBY: My ex-husband, the father of our two children, was retired from the Air Force. He passed away 18 years ago. He had a full military funeral, with draped flag and all. His wife at the time was presented with the flag, which was proper. They had no children.

When she passes on, would it be proper for her family to give the flag to his biological children? After all, they were with him -- as was I -- throughout his entire 22-year military career. When my daughter mentioned it to his wife, she got angry. -- C. IN TEXAS

DEAR C.: Your former husband's wife was entitled to whatever property was left after his demise. The flag is hers to bestow -- or not. I don't know how your daughter's request was phrased, but the woman may have been offended by the way the question was asked. I can't think of any other reason she would become angry.

DEAR ABBY: I am writing regarding a letter you printed Jan. 26 from "Wants to Be Polite." I appreciate the person's sentiments because I, too, want to use good manners and a "You're welcome" or "Have a nice day" is a pleasing reply to hear.

What I do not like is a "No problem" reply to a "Thank you." It does not seem like a sincere response to me. In fact, it sounds like I was expected to be a problem and just happened not to be one. Any thoughts on this? -- ARKANSAS LADY

DEAR ARKANSAS LADY: You may not like hearing it, but you had better get used to it. While "You're welcome" may be more gracious, saying "No problem" reflects a generational shift in the vernacular. And while it may seem jarring, it is intended to be a polite response, so accept it graciously.

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 order "How to Write Letters for All Occasions," send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby -- Letter Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. Shipping and handling are included in the price.

The event comes amid rapid growth in the number of people who access Facebook from smartphones and tablet computers. More Android integration could help Facebook Inc. attract more mobile advertisers. Though mobile ads were a big concern for Facebook's investors even before the company's initial public offering last May, some of the worry has subsided as the company muscles its way into the market.

Last year, Facebook began showing ads to its mobile audience by shoehorning corporate-sponsored content into users' news feeds, which also include updates from friends and brands they follow. Facebook now faces the challenge of showing people mobile ads without annoying or alienating them.

Facebook's event was being held at its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.

Here's a running account of Facebook's event, presented in reverse chronological order. All times are PDT. Presenters include CEO Mark Zuckerberg; Adam Mosseri, director of products; Joey Flynn, product designer. Also appearing were HTC's CEO and AT&T's head of wireless. A question-and-answer session followed the main presentation, which lasted about 45 minutes.

___

11:30 a.m.

Here's a list of phones that will be able to run Home at first: HTC's One X and One X Plus and Samsung's Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note 2. The upcoming HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S IV will also be able to run Home. HTC's First will have it already installed.

Facebook says it hopes to extend that to other phones later.

Gartner analyst Brian Blau says he's impressed with Facebook's commitment to update Home once a month with additional features. He says Home "could be a game changer if you are a heavy Facebook user."

___

11:15 a.m.

More details are emerging on the new HTC phone. Called First, it will run on Android 4.1, also known as Jelly Bean. It will come with the Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram already installed. Cost is $100 with a two-year service agreement. The new device will have a screen that measures 4.3 inches diagonally.

The April 12 sale date happens to be when the iPhone 5 becomes available through T-Mobile.

___

11:05 a.m.

Home will be limited to phones running the Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean versions of Android. That's version 4.0 and later. That covers phones made or updated over the past year or so.

Initially, the app will be limited to specific Android models about a half-dozen of them, including Samsung Electronic Co.'s Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note 2. It will also work on the upcoming Galaxy S IV. In addition, HTC Corp.'s upcoming First phone will come with Home.

It's not immediately clear what happens if you have Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean but not one of the models listed.

___

11 a.m.

Mosseri says ads will eventually come to this new service. It will be interspersed among the items displayed on the home screen, the way Facebook now injects ads into the main news feed showing friends' photos, links and other posts. But in this case, the ads will take up the entire display.

___

10:55 a.m.

The new Home service won't be available on Apple's iPhone and iPad devices. Apple's iOS and Mac operating systems include features that integrate Facebook's services, but Zuckerberg says doing something like Home would require a closer partnership.

By contrast, Google makes its Android operating system available on an open-source basis, free for anyone to modify, so it's easier to make changes. That said, Facebook makes it clear it's not making a new version of Android, a practice known as forking. Home is being built on top of Android.

___

10:50 a.m.

Minutes after the event ends, Facebook's stock is up 74 cents, or 2.8 percent, at $26.99.

___

10:45 a.m.

Zuckerberg closes the event by expressing his vision of the future, one where people have smartphones and tablet computers rather than desktops and laptops. He says there will be people who have never seen what we call computers these days.

He says Home feeds into that vision.

___

10:40 a.m.

While people will be able to install Home themselves, some phone makers will build Home into the phones. HTC Corp. is releasing a phone called First. It will come in four colors red, light blue, white and black. It will run on AT&T Inc.'s 4G LTE cellular network and go on sale April 12 for $100, with advance orders to begin Thursday. A two-year service agreement is required.

___

10:35 a.m.

To get Home, simply go to Google's online Play store when it's available. Those with Facebook apps on the phone already will get a prompt to download it. The software will be updated with new features monthly.

It will be available April 12 on certain phones initially.

Facebook isn't making Home for tablet devices for several months, though.

Zuckerberg tells the audience, "We are really proud of Home and we are excited to get (it) into your hands. We think this is the best version of Facebook there is."

___

10:30 a.m.

Flynn unveils a feature called chat heads. The idea is to let you communicate with your friends from that home screen, without needing to open an app. You can chat with multiple people at once that way.

___

10:25 a.m.

Mosseri describes one of the main features of the new service. It's called cover feed.

He notes that when people look at their phones now, they typically see a clock and perhaps the snippet of an email. That will change if you have the Home service activated. As soon as you turn on your phone, you'll see photos. You can swipe from one to the next from the home screen.

___

10:20 a.m.

The new service is called Home. Pictures from your Facebook news feed would take up the entire display screen. Zuckerberg says you'll be seeing the world through people rather than apps.

He gives an example of standing in line at a store and looking down at the phone to see photos of friends and family. It'll be possible to flip through the items. If there's something you like, just double tap on it to "like" it. You can also add comments from the home screen.

With this, Facebook doesn't believe you'll need to go to the Facebook app any more.

___

10:15 a.m.

Zuckerberg says Facebook isn't building a Facebook phone, saying a Facebook-centered device might sell 10 million to 20 million units at best. Rather, it's building on the existing Android system to bring this experience to a wider group of Android users.

___

10:10 a.m.

Zuckerberg talks about a new way to approach Facebook on phones.

He asks, "Why do we need to go into all the apps in the first place to see what is going on with the people we care about?" Better, he says, is to have that experience come right to the home screen, so you're always knowing what is going on around you.

He makes a comparison to the company's news feed feature, which brought friends' posts to a centralized place and reduced the need for people to check their friends' profile pages one by one.

___

10:05 a.m.

Zuckerberg walks on stage and addresses the rumors head on: "Today, we're finally going to talk about that Facebook phone."

He then adds that more specifically, Facebook will talk about turning the Android phone into a simple, social device.

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbs pride themselves on their hospitality, and Abu Dhabi's crown prince got the full treatment this year: skiing in the mountains, a tour of Belgrade's Red Star soccer club and a parting gift of hand-knitted woollen socks.

For years an exporter of war and instability, Serbia is now trying to lure hundreds of millions of dollars in Arab investment to its ailing economy.

But Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan had one question above all others, said Sinisa Mali, Serbia's chief negotiator with investors from the emirate: "Are we going to get the date for European Union accession talks?".

The European Commission recommended on Monday that the talks should begin after Serbia struck a deal with Kosovo, its province which broke away more than a decade ago. The EU's executive arm fell short of answering the crown prince's question, naming no date, but if all goes to plan the talks should begin later this year.

"Whoever wants to come has one question in mind, and that's political risk," Mali told Reuters. "And the main source of the political risk was this thing with Kosovo."

Serbia's refusal to come to terms with the loss of its southern province in a 1998-99 war has aggravated instability in Belgrade, slowed reform and helped to keep investors away from arguably the most promising market in the western Balkans.

Serbia took a giant step towards putting the issue to bed last week with the historic accord to cede its last foothold in Kosovo and settle relations with the Albanian majority.

As a reward the European Commission made its recommendation, albeit with some conditions attached, and a formal date for the talks is expected to be announced in June.

Negotiations are likely to last much of this decade, but the process alone will unlock EU funds and should help to anchor Serbia in a reform drive that the government hopes will unleash its investment potential.

"When accession negotiations start, essentially you have the whole Commission machine cranking into gear, providing support, advice, funding," said a Western diplomat, who declined to be named. "It's about reaching the point of no return, where the positive reform process becomes inevitable, and not subject to the whims of a minister or party in government."

Serbia scents an opportunity to exploit its size, location and links to East and West. The ambition is to re-establish Belgrade as a regional power for the first time since Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito strutted the world stage in the 1960s and 70s as co-founder of the non-aligned movement.

When Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia, its writ ran from the Alpine slopes of Slovenia in the north to impoverished Macedonia in the south, taking in 22 million people and seven now-independent states, most of which shared a common language.

Yugoslavia was ripped apart by war in the 1990s and Serbia became a pariah, ravaged by hyperinflation and sanctions and plundered by the cronies of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Its recovery has been painstakingly slow.

RED TAPE, GRAFT

With a shrinking population and a jobless rate of around 25 percent, the problems are great. Serbia is unlikely to join the EU before 2020, but the potential is there.

Belgrade "is the most important city in the region, whether you're talking about the economy, or cultural, political importance," said Andrew Roberts, head of the Belgrade-based Eastern Europe Economics research consultancy.

Yugoslavia's successor states are likely to develop neglected economic ties with each other, said Roberts.

"Most of these countries at the moment tend to trade directly with the EU ... rather than among themselves, but for anyone looking at the future of the region you'd have to see a lot more trade between the countries as well," he said. "There's a lot of potential to be realized there, and Belgrade's clearly an important part of that."

Roberts said agriculture, manufacturing and a small but growing IT industry offered the most promise. With an average wage of 380 euros ($500) per month, labor costs are low, but the workforce is skilled.

With 7.3 million people, Serbia is the largest of the ex-Yugoslav republics and already averages around $3 billion per year in foreign direct investment, outstripping neighboring Croatia, which joins the EU on July 1.

Italian auto giant Fiat led the way in 2008 with a car plant investment that has grown to 1 billion euros. The same year Russia's Gazprom took a cut-price majority stake in Serbia's NIS oil and gas company for 400 million euros.

These are the highlights. Otherwise, Serbia's economy and its business climate have been suffocated by red tape, political interference and widespread graft. Output shrank 1.7 percent in 2012, but should return to growth this year.

The World Bank, for example, rates the country among the world's 10 worst in terms of how easy it is to obtain a construction permit. This can take nine months in Serbia, requiring 18 different official stamps and untold bribes or political connections.

"There's a lot of corruption, a lot of inefficiency, inexplicable bureaucracy," said Roberts. "If you're moving towards the EU, investors would have more confidence that their investments would not only make money but be safe in a situation where there might be legal disputes."

The Western diplomat cited an Austrian distributor for a fast-food chain looking to set up in the ex-Yugoslavia.

"He was very interested in Serbia, but had decided not to go near it because the political murkiness of getting the licences and doing the work," the diplomat said. "So he went to (EU member) Slovenia instead, as a toe-hold in the Balkans."

"If Serbia cleans up its act, the country makes perfect sense," he said.

TIES WITH RUSSIA

For a decade after Milosevic's overthrow in 2000, Serbia oscillated between nationalists who favored closer ties with Russia and pro-Western leaders who said the country had little choice but to tie its fortunes to the EU.

The nationalists softened, swung behind a pro-EU course and took power last year.

But they kept up good ties with Orthodox ally Russia, with which Serbia has a free trade agreement, and Belgrade can still tap relations with the 120 members of the non-aligned movement.

Serbia sits at the center of the Balkan Peninsula, on well-trodden routes east-west between Asia and Europe and north-south from Vienna to Athens.

"We can export to the EU and Russia without customs, which puts us in a very unique position," said Mali, the Serbian negotiator and an adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. "If you establish your operations in Serbia you can freely export to both."

He said the country had struggled to attract small and medium-sized investors to the agriculture and IT sectors precisely due to the uncertainty surrounding Serbia's EU membership prospects. "It's all long-term, and for long-term investment you need to have political stability," he said.

You need infrastructure too. Serbia is upgrading its highways, but the rail network is in dire straits. With an average speed of 35 km/h (22 mph), trains in Serbia run no faster than in the steam age.

Of Serbia's fellow ex-Yugoslav republics, Slovenia joined the EU in 2004, Croatia follows this July and tiny Montenegro began accession talks last year. Macedonia is a candidate, Bosnia has yet to apply and Kosovo is just starting out.

Removing Kosovo from the immediate political agenda in Serbia will free up resources for the fight to find investors and develop the economy, the theory goes.

That's providing Serbia can implement last week's accord under which a small Serb pocket of northern Kosovo will be integrated into the young state. About 50,000 Serbs there are threatening to resist.

"We're not on the cusp of a revolution," said the diplomat. "It's about neutralizing it (Kosovo) as something that requires political capital. It's difficult to underestimate how significant that would be."

(Writing by Matt Robinson; editing by David Stamp)

(Reuters) - "I'm a compulsive laundry room thief," says one Facebook confession. "I'm the reason the 'Public Urination is Illegal' signs were put up at Coyote Village," says another.

"I sold books for the semester to go to South Padre for spring break ... Gotta pay for the booze somehow," reveals yet another poster.

By turns rueful and raunchy, these anonymous admissions pop up on 'campus confession' pages unofficially linked to scores of high schools and universities.

Like many social media trends, the confession craze captivates teenagers and 20-somethings - but alarms teachers, law enforcement officers and counselors.

"It's another creative venue where kids are able to say hurtful things, and that's frustrating," said Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center at Florida Atlantic University.

At the same time, the pages can sometimes offer a catharsis of sorts, attracting heartfelt disclosures from students struggling with depression, alcoholism or eating disorders. Classmates often respond with links to counseling sites and offers to talk.

The anonymity of confession pages is at the core of their appeal, and they use a simple workaround to Facebook's general insistence that people use their real identity on the social network.

Students who set up confessional pages must do so under their real names, as per Facebook policy. But they can choose to cloak their identity as page administrators. To keep posts anonymous, they use free online survey tools such as SurveyMonkey or Google Forms. Confessors simply click on a link to open up a blank box where they can type their tell-all.

The page administrator doesn't see identifying information - just the latest confession.

The pages then prompt visitors to show admiration for the juiciest confessions by "liking" them and posting comments - often smart-aleck remarks that can draw fan bases of their own.

"The more outrageous comments attract more attention ... so there's little incentive to exercise restraint," Hinduja said.

Alisen Lafaive found that out quickly when she began reading the Facebook confession page for Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. "At first, I thought, 'Ooh, Clarkson Confessions! This ought to be juicy!'" said Lafaive, a junior. Then she began scrolling through posts filled with crude invective toward women.

"These things are mean," she said. "My feelings are hurt even though none of its directed toward me." She posted a plea for courtesy but was ignored.

The confessions pages do not violate Facebook rules so long as the content remains within the bounds of civility, said a spokeswoman for the social network. But the pages have drawn complaints from some from principals, college administrators and police.

Dismayed by the content on two high-school confession pages in Kalispell, Montana last month, police asked Facebook to shut them down. Facebook closed one and removed offensive comments from another - but the student instigators simply started a third page, said Jason Parce, a police officer in Kalispell.

Parce threatened to charge participants with defamation and they quickly pulled down their posts. Though some posts were anonymous, many comments came in through Facebook accounts so the writers could easily be identified.

"There was a lot of sexually explicit content directed at specific individuals and a lot of hateful language being used," said Parce. "Absolutely, kids are more willing to be crude when they don't have to face anyone. They hide behind the computer."

High-school pages in Idaho and Arizona have also been shut down after school officials moved to investigate offensive posts.

SAFEGUARDS

Administrators of several confession sites told Reuters that they review each submission and refuse to post any that seem inappropriate.

Facebook also routinely reviews pages on its site and responds to any complaints about content. If its reviewers deem a post objectionable, the social network will remove it or shut down the site entirely, the Facebook spokeswoman said.

None of these safeguards can determine whether those posting and commenting on confessions are bona fide students of a particular school.

At the college level, the concern isn't bullying so much as brand protection. Universities including San Francisco State have asked confession sites to stop using school logos and photographs of iconic buildings for fear that outsiders might mistake the many tales of alcohol-fueled sexual conquests for an official depiction of campus life.

Despite, or perhaps because of, official disapproval, the fad continues to gain steam - and may be helping Facebook regain some of its allure among teens and college students. A recent poll by an online survey tool, Survata, found teens and young adults aged 13 to 25 used micro-blogging platform Tumblr more than Facebook.

Scores of Facebook confession pages have popped up in recent months, at small private colleges and huge state universities. Princeton, Harvard and Yale have pages. So does Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon.

Some campuses have Twitter confession accounts as well but Facebook remains the most popular medium. The University of Wisconsin-Madison's confessions page has racked up more than 21,000 Facebook "likes." The University of Hawaii at Manoa has nearly 12,000. College students in India, New Zealand and Great Britain are baring their secrets online, too.

"It just makes me laugh," said Matt Miller, a biology major at the University of Hawaii who checks out his classmates' confessions several times a day. Among the recent posts: a lament about the difficulty of conversing with beautiful brunettes, an admission about a romantic relationship with a teaching assistant, and a cryptic, "Majoring in mathematics. Judge me."

The campus confessionals teem with references to specific dorms, classes, fraternities and traditions, giving them an intimate, gossip-over-coffee feel. Many have also become forums for posting secret crushes: "To the boy in Art History with the long hair and blue shoes. You're so cute!!"

The pages can also offer a lifeline to struggling students.

"I want to pass on hope to people who feel like they don't have any," said Stephanie Suchecki, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay who makes a point of responding to the most wrenching posts.

Moments of compassion, however, are often swamped by the lewd and the crude - just how some confession junkies like it.

An administrator of the Arizona State University confessions site recently goaded readers to ramp up their revelations: "What happened to your crazy stories!?!? Hook ups gone bad?! Party gone crazy?! Come on guys! This is ASU!"

(Reporting by Stephanie Simon in Boston; Editing by Jonathan Weber, Tiffany Wu and Tim Dobbyn)

Walt Disney's 3-D blockbuster led all films for the second week in a row, taking in $42.2 million according to studio estimates Sunday. Sam Raimi's prequel to the L. Frank Baum classic "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" also took in $46.6 million overseas, leading to a two-week worldwide total of $281.8 million.

In a winter of underperforming releases, that makes "Oz" easily the biggest hit of 2013 so far.

"Boy, did we need it," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "There have been a lot of box-office casualties this year. This is the shot in the arm that we needed, but we're still waiting for the marketplace to gain some sort of momentum."

The box office is down nearly 13 percent from last year.

Among the weekend's debuts, the Halle Berry thriller "The Call" far exceeded expectations with a $17.1 million opening for Sony and TriStar Pictures. The Steve Carell magician comedy "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" fared worse, opening with a disappointing $10.3 million for Warner Bros.

The performances of the two new releases continued a theme of 2013: Movies targeting female audiences have had more success than male-driven films. "The Call," in which Berry plays a 911 operator, was deliberately marketed to women, who made up 61 percent of its audience, Sony said. "Burt Wonderstone," starring Carell and Jim Carrey as rival Las Vegas magicians, sought a young male comedy audience that didn't materialize.

Female turnout has driven most all of the box office hits of the year, including the Melissa McCarthy comedy "Identity Thief" and the vampire romance "Warm Bodies." Macho films like Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Last Stand" and Sylvester Stallone's "Bullet to the Head" have fizzled.

"Studios should take note," says Dergarabedian. "There's a lot of female power going on at the box office."

Opening in just three theaters in New York and Los Angeles was another film starring James Franco, who plays the Wizard in "Oz the Great and Powerful." ''Spring Breakers," a dreamy trip of day-glo debauchery starring Franco, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, opened with a strong $90,000 per-theater average ahead of its wider release next weekend.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday:

1. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $42.2 million. ($46.6 million international.)

2. "The Call," $17.1 million.

3. "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," $10.3 million.

4. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $6.2 million. ($10 million international.)

5. "Identity Thief," $4.5 million. ($745,000 international.)

6. "Snitch," $3.5 million. ($130,000 international.)

7. "21 and Over," $2.6 million. ($1 million international.)

8. "Silver Linings Playbook," $2.6 million. ($3.7 million international.)

9. "Safe Haven," $2.5 million. ($1.2 million international.)

10. "Escape From Planet Earth," $2.3 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $46.6 million.

2. "A Good Day to Die Hard," $20.4 million.

3. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $10.3 million

4. "Hansel and Gretal: Witch Hunters," $6.2 million.

5. "Warm Bodies," $4 million.

6. "Mama," $3.8 million.

7. "Silver Linings Playbook," $3.7 million.

8. "Les Miserables," $3.1 million.

9. "Django Unchained," $3 million.

(tie) "Jappeloup," $3 million."

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jake_coyle.