"My mother passed away this morning just a short time ago, peaceful with my sister by her side, in her sleep," Bernsen said in a post on Facebook.

Bernsen had been updating the status of Cooper's health on Facebook and Twitter over the past few weeks. Neither the cause of Cooper's death nor what she had been suffering from has been disclosed.

Cooper joined the cast of CBS network's "The Young and the Restless," in its first season in 1973, and portrayed the boozy and wealthy Katherine Chancellor. She was still a cast member at the time of her death although her character recently underwent surgery for a brain tumor.

Known as the "The Duchess" and the "Grand Dame of Genoa City," the Chancellor character is credited with giving the series a dash of controversy during its beginnings and becoming an iconic figure in U.S. television soap opera genre.

Cooper's cast mates took to Twitter to remember an enduring star of U.S. daytime television.

"A very sad day for all of us," co-star Jessica Collins posted on Twitter.

"Heaven just gained one feisty angel," said Melissa Claire Egan, another actress on the series.

Cooper, a daytime Emmy winner, also brought her personal life onto the show in 1984 when footage of her real-life facelift was used to depict her character undergoing the same procedure.

Cooper was born in Taft, California, in 1928 and began her professional screen acting career in the 1953 film "The Redhead from Wyoming."

She also appeared on several television shows in the 1950s and 1960s, including "The Twilight Zone" and "Perry Mason," before joining "The Young and the Restless."

Cooper had three children, Caren, Collin and Corbin, who currently stars on the comedy-drama series "Psych" on the USA Network.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; editing by Jill Serjeant and Jackie Frank)

Since the end of January,has been on a sort of winter and early spring sabbatical. It passed superior conjunction (appearing to go behind the sun as seen from Earth) on March 28 and has been invisible ever since, mired deep in our star's brilliant glare.

Nevertheless, with each passing day, Venus has been moving on a slow course toward the east and pulling slowly away from the suns general vicinity. []

Finally, during early May, it has begun to emerge as an evening "star" very low in the western twilight. On Saturday evening (May 11), it sets 27 degrees north of due west (10 degrees is roughly equal to the width of your fist held at arms length) nearly an hour after sunset.

By June 1, Venus will set 80 minutes after sunset, giving even casual observers their first view of the famed "Evening Star." Venus is so bright that it can be spotted even through twilight very low in the west-northwest sky 45 minutes after sunset, so look early, preferably with .

Appearing as a brilliant white star-like object,will adorn the western evening sky through the remainder of this year.

Crummy summer viewing

Unfortunately, for most Northern Hemisphere observers, this is going to turn out to be a rather crummy evening apparition of Venus, especially during the summer months.

The reason for this lies in Venus placement in the sky relative to . From June 19 through Dec. 10, Venus will appear to have a more southerly declination than the sun. As a consequence, it will appear unusually low over the horizon right after sunset, especially through most of this summer.

On July 1, for example, observers living at or near 40 degrees north latitude will see Venus set just 1 1/2 hours after sunset. At mid-twilight, the planet will appear to hover only about 6 degrees above the horizon.

By Aug. 31, this situation will have improved only slightly, as Venus will still be setting only 1 1/2 hours after sundown and at mid-twilight will stand about 8 degrees above the horizon. At no time through July and August will Venus be visible against a completely dark sky, as it will set before the end of evening twilight. []

The situation is better in the Southern Hemisphere, where viewers will see Venus pull well away from the sun and gradually soar progressively higher in the evening sky during July and August. For example, by the end of August, Australians will see Venus setting more than three hours after the sun, and the planet will appear more than 20 degrees above the horizon by the end of evening twilight.

An autumn improvement

During September and October, however, the view will begin to slowly improve for northern observers for three reasons:

1) Venus will be getting brighter as it rounds the sun and speeds toward .

2) Twilight fades faster in the fall than in summer, leaving Venus to shine in a darker sky. By mid-September, Venus finally sets just after the sky has become completely dark.

3) Venus will shift over from the west to the southwest. Objects at a given altitude above the horizon in the southern part of the sky take longer to set than do objects at the same altitude in the west, so the difference between the setting times of the sun and Venus will increase, albeit slowly. On Oct. 1, Venus will set 1 3/4 hours after the sun, but this improves to nearly 2 1/2 hours by Halloween.

Venus reaches its greatest angular distance from the sun on Nov. 1, when it will be 47 degrees east of our star. The planet will be brightest in early December as it heads back down toward the sun, reaching its pinnacle of brilliance for this apparition on Dec. 6 at a lantern-like magnitude of minus 4.9. (On the astronomical scale, lower magnitudes signify brighter objects.)

By this time, Venus will be an eye-catching sight in the southwest sky for at least a couple of hours after sunset right on through the Christmas season. Venus then quickly fades, vanishing from view in early January 2014, and passes inferior conjunction (coming between Earth and the sun) on Jan. 10. Within a week it will reemerge as the "Morning Star" low in the southeast sky.

Between now and early January, repeated observation of Venus with a smallwill show the complete range of its phases and disk sizes.

The planet is now virtually full (98 percent sunlit), and appears as a tiny, dazzling disk. It will become noticeably less gibbous by late summer. In early November, Venus reaches dichotomy (displaying a ).

Then, for the rest of the year the planet displays a large crescent as it swings near the Earth. Indeed, those using telescopes will note that while the Earth-Venus distance is lessening, the apparent size of Venus disk will grow, doubling from its present size by Oct. 9. When it has doubled again in size on Dec. 4, its large crescent shape should be easily discernible even in steadily held 7-power binoculars.

Venus will be one of three bright planets involved in what we at SPACE.com are billing as "The Grand Conjunction" later this month. Stay tuned for more details!

Editor's note:If you snap an amazing picture of Venus or any other celestial object that you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, send photos, comments and your name and location to Managing Editor Tariq Malik at .

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York. Follow us , or . Originally published on

Tuesday, May 7

Dinamo Bucharest 1 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt 1

Vaslui 1 Gaz Metan Medias1

Standings PWDLFAPts

C1 Steaua Bucharest29 21 6264 23 69

-------------------------

2Petrolul Ploiesti 29 14 11 447 25 53

3Dinamo Bucharest30 15 8744 31 53

-------------------------

4Pandurii Targu-Jiu29 16 5846 37 53

-------------------------

5FC Astra29 15 6854 30 51

6Vaslui30 12 10 841 32 46

7Rapid Bucharest 29 12 8929 27 44

8Brasov29 12 8939 38 44

9CFR Cluj29 11 10 848 31 43

10 Gaz Metan Medias30 11 811 37 42 41

11 Otelul Galati 29 910 10 33 35 35

12 Universitatea Cluj-Napoca 29 8813 30 45 32

13 Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt 30 8715 38 52 31

14 FC Viitorul Constanta 29 512 12 31 45 27

-------------------------

15 Concordia Chiajna 29 6914 24 45 27

16 Turnu Severin 29 5915 27 39 24

17 CSMS Iasi 29 6518 28 43 23

18 Gloria Bistrita 29 3818 19 59 17

-------------------------

C - Champion

* Otelul Galati deducted 2 points.

1: Champions League preliminary round

2-3: Europa League

4: Europa League depending on domestic cup

15-18: Relegation

Next Fixtures (GMT):

Tuesday, May 7

Gloria Bistrita v Steaua Bucharest(1830)

Wednesday, May 8

Otelul Galati v Universitatea Cluj-Napoca (1500)

Petrolul Ploiesti v Brasov(1730)

Thursday, May 9

CFR Clujv Turnu Severin (1400)

CSMS Iasi v FC Astra(1600)

Rapid Bucharest v Concordia Chiajna (1600)

Pandurii Targu-Jiuv FC Viitorul Constanta (1830)

Friday, May 10

Dinamo Bucharestv Steaua Bucharest(1800)

Saturday, May 11

Gaz Metan Mediasv Otelul Galati (1500)

Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt v Vaslui(1730)

Sunday, May 12

Concordia Chiajna v Petrolul Ploiesti (1600)

Universitatea Cluj-Napoca v CSMS Iasi (1600)

FC Astrav Rapid Bucharest (1830)

Monday, May 13

Turnu Severin v Pandurii Targu-Jiu(1600)

Brasovv CFR Cluj(1630)

FC Viitorul Constanta v Gloria Bistrita (1830)

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.

Rebels have for several years controlled some of the diamond-producing areas in the north, but with the overthrow of President Francois Bozize in March the Seleka rebel coalition now is the government, posing one of the greatest challenges in years to international efforts to stem the trade of "blood diamonds."

Fighters are blocking off diamond-producing areas, residents and local officials told an Associated Press reporter who recently visited Ndele, a rebel-controlled town in northern Central African Republic.

Central African Republic's new government insists that it intends to fully comply with the Kimberley Process, which aims to curb the trade in blood diamonds whose profits have driven some of the bloodiest conflicts in Africa over the past 20 years. It went into effect in 2003 in the aftermath of the brutal West African civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia where diamonds were used by armed groups to fund the conflicts.

"We remain in the Kimberley Process and we respect the principle," said new Information Minister Christophe Gazam Betty.

Newly appointed Minister of Mines Herbert Gontran Djono-Ahaba declined on several occasions to be interviewed on the subject. He is a member of the Seleka alliance, whose fighters have set up checkpoints along the dirt paths leading to mining areas around Ndele.

Seleka rebels are now in control there, say residents who fled the town of Sangba, about 85 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Ndele.

"The diamond business is now forbidden to anyone who is not with Seleka," said one local official who fled from Sangba. The official refused to be identified because of security concerns.

Even more worrisome, the Seleka members are according to several people who fled Sangba being aided by armed fighters from neighboring Sudan known as the Janjaweed, who were accused of committing atrocities against civilians in Darfur. Sudan, whose leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court, is not part of the Kimberley Process. Observers fear many of Central African Republic's illicit diamonds are being funneled into Sudan.

The residents spoke to AP only on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the rebels, who roam through the area's towns in stolen vehicles full of rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons.

The Kimberley Process system for certifying the origin of diamonds is meant to inform customers about where the stones originated. Diamonds are exported with certificates saying they are conflict-free. Countries found to be in violation cannot legally export their gems to the major diamond cutting hubs of Belgium, Israel and India. The case of Central African Republic could become the most significant test in years of the Kimberley Process.

The Kimberley Process has initiated procedures that could lead to a temporary suspension of Central African Republic until a review mission can be sent, Kimberley Process chair Welile Nhlapo told a meeting of the diamond industry in Tel Aviv on Monday.

"The developments in the Central African Republic inform us that there are still situations where conflict diamonds continue to fuel rebel activities to remove elected official governments," Nhlapo told the meeting of the World Diamond Council.

Members in the initiative are set to respond by Friday to the proposed suspension, which would go into effect shortly thereafter if approved by majority, Nhlapo told the AP on the sidelines of the meeting.

The Kimberley Process says conflict diamonds today account for less than 1 percent of the gems worldwide, yet their definition is limited to "rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance armed conflicts aimed at undermining legitimate governments."

The Seleka rebels maintain the government they overthrew was in fact not legitimate. Bozize, the president they ousted, himself came to power in 2003 following a rebellion.

The chaos in the north has scared off many foreign diamond traders, but local dealers still purchasing gems confirm that Seleka elements have been deeply entrenched in the industry in recent months. Some were digging for diamonds before the offensive on the capital, Bangui, and they joined the final push to force out Bozize.

"The majority of miners here are in the rebellion so production has been down," said one local diamond buyer a few weeks after Bangui fell to rebel rule. "With the return of Seleka home, it could increase."

The rebels began their advance in December, descending upon a dozen towns across in the north in rapid succession, taking the diamond-producing areas around Sam Ouandja, Ouadda, Ndele, Bamingui and Bria in little over a week's time.

Kimberley Process will likely impose an embargo on Central African Republic's diamonds, said Alan Martin with Partnership Africa Canada, a nonprofit organization that has worked for more than a decade to halt the trade in conflict diamonds and is an official observer with the Kimberley Process.

"The fact that rebels are now in control of the government would mean that they would be the ones taking the proceeds of the diamonds, so that's the problem," he said.

Martin said the Kimberley Process took similar action against Ivory Coast in 2005 amid concerns about the role that rebels were playing in the diamond industry there. The ban remains in effect.

Even if there is an embargo, diamonds could still be smuggled out with sellers attempting to mask their origin so they instead appear to come from a nearby Kimberley Process-compliant country. Already an estimated 30 percent of the country's diamonds leave the country illicitly, according to the International Crisis Group. Martin said some smuggled diamonds are believed to end up in Dubai.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jose Fernandez, who is also taking part in the Tel Aviv conference this week, said the Kimberley Process has "moved slowly" in stemming the flow of conflict diamonds in Central African Republic and that the initiative has been hobbled by its restrictive definition of conflict diamonds, which allows for intervention only in the case of rebel groups attempting to overthrow a government.

"The Central African Republic is an example of why we need to take a more expansive view of what is a conflict diamond," he said. "We feel that we ought to be able to include systematic armed conflict."

Central African Republic's diamonds have been under heightened scrutiny since 2010, when the International Crisis Group detailed abuses by rebels of the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity, or UFDR, seeking to control the diamond mines in the north.

"When a rebel hears that miners have begun to find diamonds, he sometimes works with them and claims a share of the profits," the ICG found. "More often, he forces the miners to hand over diamonds at gunpoint or drives them out and pays others to mine for him."

That same year the United States Embassy in Bangui expressed concern about the role diamonds could be playing in a succession of rebellions across the north.

"We are increasingly suspicious that diamonds are playing a role fueling and funding the conflict," the U.S. Embassy wrote in a January 2010 cable published by WikiLeaks.

Those same rebels who made up the UFDR later joined forces with fighters from other groups to form Seleka in December 2012.

It is unlikely that the Kimberley Process participants will accept the trading of diamonds certified by Seleka, said ICG's Central Africa director Thierry Vircoulon: "I don't believe that the new authorities under (African Union) sanctions are going to be well accepted by the diamond business world."

___

Associated Press writer Ariel David in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Kimberley Process:http://www.kimberleyprocess.com

Oil and gas drilling companies had pushed for the change, but there have been differing scientific estimates of the amount of methane that leaks from wells, pipelines and other facilities during production and delivery. Methane is the main component of natural gas.

The new EPA data is "kind of an earthquake" in the debate over drilling, said Michael Shellenberger, the president of the Breakthrough Institute, an environmental group based in Oakland, Calif. "This is great news for anybody concerned about the climate and strong proof that existing technologies can be deployed to reduce methane leaks."

The scope of the EPA's revision was vast. In a mid-April report on greenhouse emissions, the agency now says that tighter pollution controls instituted by the industry resulted in an average annual decrease of 41.6 million metric tons of methane emissions from 1990 through 2010, or more than 850 million metric tons overall. That's about a 20 percent reduction from previous estimates. The agency converts the methane emissions into their equivalent in carbon dioxide, following standard scientific practice.

The EPA revisions came even though natural gas production has grown by nearly 40 percent since 1990. The industry has boomed in recent years, thanks to a stunning expansion of drilling in previously untapped areas because of the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which injects sand, water and chemicals to break apart rock and free the gas inside.

Experts on both sides of the debate say the leaks can be controlled by fixes such as better gaskets, maintenance and monitoring. Such fixes are also thought to be cost-effective, since the industry ends up with more product to sell.

"That is money going up into the air," said Roger Pielke Jr., a professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado, adding he isn't surprised the EPA's new data show more widespread use of pollution control equipment. Pielke noted that the success of the pollution controls also means that the industry "probably can go further" in reducing leaks.

Representatives of the oil and gas industry said the EPA revisions show emissions from the fracking boom can be managed.

"The methane 'leak' claim just got a lot more difficult for opponents" of natural gas, noted Steve Everley, with Energy In Depth, an industry-funded group.

In a separate blog post, Everley predicted future reductions, too.

"As technologies continue to improve, it's hard to imagine those methane numbers going anywhere but down as we eagerly await the next installment of this EPA report," Everley wrote.

One leading environmentalist argued the EPA revisions don't change the bigger picture.

"We need a dramatic shift off carbon-based fuel: coal, oil and also gas," Bill McKibbern, the founder of 350.org, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "Natural gas provides at best a kind of fad diet, where a dangerously overweight patient loses a few pounds and then their weight stabilizes; instead, we need at this point a crash diet, difficult to do" but needed to limit the damage from climate change.

The EPA said it made the changes based on expert reviews and new data from several sources, including a report funded by the oil and gas industry. But the estimates aren't based on independent field tests of actual emissions, and some scientists said that's a problem.

Robert Howarth, a Cornell University professor of ecology who led a 2011 methane leak study that is widely cited by critics of fracking, wrote in an email that "time will tell where the truth lies in all this, but I think EPA is wrong."

Howarth said other federal climate scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have published recent studies documenting massive methane leaks from natural gas operations in Colorado and other Western states.

Howarth wrote that the EPA seems "to be ignoring the published NOAA data in their latest efforts, and the bias on industry only pushing estimates downward never up is quite real. EPA badly needs a counter-acting force, such as outside independent review of their process."

The issue of methane leaks has caused a major split between environmental groups.

Since power plants that burn natural gas emit about half the amount of the greenhouse gases as coal-fired power, some say that the gas drilling boom has helped the U.S. become the only major industrialized country to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions. But others believe the methane leaks negate any benefits over coal, since methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas.

The new EPA figures still show natural gas operations as the leading source of methane emissions in the U.S., at about 145 million metric tons in 2011. The next biggest source was enteric fermentation, scientific jargon for belches from cows and other animals, at 137 million metric tons. Landfills were the third-biggest source, at 103 million metric tons.

But the EPA estimates that all the sources of methane combined still account for only 9 percent of greenhouse gases, even taking into account methane's more potent heat-trapping.

The EPA said it is still seeking more data and feedback on the issue of methane leaks, so the report may change again in the future.

The EPA revisions have international implications, too. The agency says the new report, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, was submitted to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change by an April 15 deadline.

NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - Major League Baseball broke the color line in 1947 when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, but the transition to racial diversity was not easy.

Sixty-six years later, with the NBA's Jason Collins breaking another barrier in major U.S. pro sports leagues by becoming the first male competitor to publicly reveal he is gay, MLB will have to overcome earlier prejudices that led homosexuals to stay in the closet.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Glenn Burke would have wanted to give Collins a high-five, but did not live to see Collins come out.

After quitting the majors in 1979 at age 27 following four seasons in which he was shunned for his gay lifestyle, Burke eventually lapsed into a drug problem and died in 1995 from complications from AIDS.

Bill Bean walked away from a six-season MLB career in 1995, disconsolate after the sudden death of his partner and the double life he led on and off the diamond.

Umpire Dave Pallone got the sack after a newspaper article outed him in 1988.

After Collins announced he was gay in a Sports Illustrated cover story, Major League Baseball said it was ready to embrace a new challenge in the fight against discrimination.

"As the sport of Jackie Robinson, Major League Baseball believes in equality and acceptance for all, and we hope that Jason Collins' announcement serves as yet another example on how to live openly and proudly," MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

"Major League Baseball and its clubs strongly object to all forms of discrimination."

ATTITUDE CHANGE

Attitudes have changed over the decades, with 10 U.S. states having legalized gay marriage by extending marriage rights to same-sex couples, and a wider acceptance of alternative lifestyles has trickled down to the playing fields.

Last year, baseball showed its sensitivity by reacting to what was perceived as a homophobic slur by Toronto shortstop Yunel Escobar.

A photograph showed the Cuban had written a derogatory message in Spanish on black stickers players sometimes wear under their eyes on the field to reduce the sun's glare.

He was suspended three games without pay, with his lost salary donated to a youth program and to GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), and was required to undergo sensitivity training.

When the Dodgers decided the time was right for integration, Robinson had to deal not only with bias from belligerent fans but from prejudiced players in his own clubhouse.

Times have changed.

Notable players including Ryan Braun, David Wright and CC Sabathia voiced immediate support of Collins, and managers from the Dodgers' Don Mattingly to Oakland's Bob Melvin to the Yankees' Joe Girardi, called it a positive step.

SILENT JOURNEY

For Bean, the time was not right to come out.

A part-time outfielder for the Tigers, Dodgers and Padres who spent a year with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan, he kept his private life secret.

"It was a difficult, silent journey for me, and I want people to learn from my mistakes, not share them," said Bean, who authored a book, "Going the Other Way: Lessons from a life in and out of Major League Baseball".

Bean said he did not think coming out was an option.

"Overnight they would have found some way to kick me out, because some dad doesn't want his little kid watching some gay baseball player and saying, 'I want to grow up to be just like him'." he said on his website.

Magic Johnson, the former NBA star who is now a part owner of the Dodgers, showed the new attitude when he spoke out about accepting gay athletes in sports after his son, E.J., came out to the public.

FORCED OUT

Pallone, a major league umpire for 10 years, said he believed he lost his job as a direct result of his sexual preference.

"The reaction of the baseball world was simple. This article (in the New York Post) came out on Sept. 15, 1988, about my sexual orientation," said Pallone, who wrote an autobiography titled, "Behind the Mask: My Double Life in Baseball."

"On that same day, baseball told me to take the last two weeks of the baseball season off. At the end of that year I was fired from my job because of my orientation."

Burke's sexuality became known to his teammates, who generally had affection for his upbeat personality and appreciation of his talents.

Dodgers' management took a different view.

"At that time period it was the kiss of death for a ballplayer," his Dodgers' teammate Reggie Smith said in the documentary "Out. The Glenn Burke Story"that was produced and directed by Doug Harris.

Burke's sister, Joyce, recounted how he had turned down a Dodgers' offer of $75,000 for him to get married to convey a straight lifestyle. "He said he wasn't going to live a lie."

Further aggravating his relationship with the team was his friendship with manager Tommy Lasorda's gay son, Tommy Lasorda Jr., who went by the nickname Spunky.

TRADED OUT

Seven months after starting in center field in the opening game of the 1977 World Series between the Dodgers and New York Yankees, Burke was traded to the Oakland A's.

"The Dodgers knew," said Dusty Baker, then a Dodgers outfielder and now manager of the Cincinnati Reds. "That's why they traded Glenn."

Burke was not welcomed with open arms by feisty, old school A's manager Billy Martin.

"The tension in the clubhouse was so thick you could cut it with a knife," Oakland pitcher Mike Norris told the documentary.

Burke began spending more time across in San Francisco's well known gay district and decided to quit baseball.

He became a celebrity in the gay community, but was diagnosed with AIDS in 1994 and died a year later.

Bean, who came out publicly in 1999 and wrote a book, "Going the Other Way" has envisioned how the barrier should be broken.

"I would love for it to be a superstar of some magnitude, to make that decision on their own, to be able to play comfortably," Bean told the LGBT Weekly.

(Editing by Gene Cherry)

WASHINGTON/WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A trip to New Zealand will put America's chief prosecutor on the same soil as a flashy internet mogul who is fighting extradition to the United States on charges he assisted massive piracy of copyrighted movies and music.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder visits New Zealand next week for an annual meeting of a "quintet" of attorneys general from mostly English-speaking countries - and not to meet up with the entrepreneur Kim Dotcom.

The founder of defunct file-sharing service Megaupload, Dotcom has oscillated between assailing Holder's trip and wanting to hear what he has to say in person.

It was unclear on Thursday whether Holder would appear in public. His speech at the University of Auckland is planned primarily for students and will be closed to the public and the media, although his U.S. speeches are usually open to the media.

In Twitter posts, Dotcom requested a ticket to the speech, offered to send T-shirts and an ethics manual to wherever Holder is staying and challenged his followers to film Holder while a Megaupload theme song plays for a $500 prize.

Dotcom tweeted that he would like to understand Holder's definition of cybercrime, one issue the quintet works on.

An extradition hearing for Dotcom is scheduled for August, although appeals could further delay it, said Ira Rothken, a lawyer for Megaupload. He told Reuters by phone he had no reason to expect a meeting between Holder and Dotcom.

Holder declined an interview through a spokeswoman on Thursday. Federal prosecutors in Virginia who are handling the case declined to comment on how it is proceeding.

Dotcom got rich from founding Megaupload, which allowed users to upload and download movies, music, television shows, e-books and software. The site once commanded 4 percent of global online traffic before U.S. prosecutors shut it down.

The United States began a criminal copyright case against Dotcom in January 2012. At Washington's request, New Zealand law enforcement officers conducted a dramatic raid on his mansion outside Auckland.

Attempts to have him sent to the United States for trial were delayed after a New Zealand court last year found that New Zealand used unlawful warrants in his arrest and illegally spied on him in the lead-up to the raid.

PRECEDENT SETTER?

Dotcom and six associates face U.S. charges that they conspired to infringe copyrights, launder money and commit racketeering and fraud.

The copyright case could set a precedent for internet liability laws and, depending on its outcome, may force entertainment companies to rethink their distribution methods.

Dotcom maintains that Megaupload, which housed everything from family photos to Hollywood blockbusters, was merely a storage facility for online files, and should not be held accountable if content stored on the site was obtained illegally.

The Justice Department counters that Megaupload encouraged piracy by paying money to users who uploaded popular content and by deleting content that was not regularly downloaded.

It said Megaupload cost copyright holders such as movie studios and record companies more than $500 million and generated more than $175 million in criminal proceeds. It called the case among the largest ever involving criminal copyright.

Dotcom launched a new file-sharing service, Mega, in January.

Many New Zealanders view Dotcom, born in Germany as Kim Schmitz, as a folk hero fighting for online freedom and willing to stand up to the U.S. and New Zealand governments.

Dotcom, who has been released on bail and is suing the New Zealand government for illegal surveillance, predicted Holder would keep a low profile during his visit.

"It's probably risk management and avoidance of bad PR because the story has not yet arrived in any big way in the U.S. media," he wrote in an email to Reuters. "Any bad coverage here might spill over to the U.S."

Holder's visit to Dotcom's country of residence is not his choice. The attorneys general of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States began meeting as a quintet in 2009 to discuss legal matters including cybercrime.

After a gathering in Ottawa last year, it was New Zealand's turn to host.

(Reporting by David Ingram in Washington and Naomi Tajitsu in Wellington; Editing by Howard Goller and Xavier Briand)

Reza Pahlavi said Thursday that his Paris-based collective, the Iranian National Council, brings together tens of thousands of pro-democracy proponents from both inside and outside Iran.

He said the council "is calling for a major boycott" of Iran's June 14 elections but that "is not enough."

"The regime once again is going to put on another show, another circus," Pahlavi said in an interview. "This is an opportunity ... to challenge a system that, if they were to refuse such a request, leaves us no choice but to organize a campaign of civil disobedience to ultimately force this regime to collapse."

Iran's 2009 presidential vote, which gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term, was criticized for widespread fraud and led to major protests that were brutally repressed. The protests were the worst since the 1979 Islamic revolution that brought down Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, whose family has since lived in exile, along with millions of other Iranians. The toppled shah died of cancer in Egypt a year after fleeing.

The main contenders in the upcoming vote appear to be former Foreign Minister Ali Velayati and former nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani as well as Tehran Mayor Mohammad Qalibaf and, possibly, former reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

Pahlavi, 52, and the council want to hold Iran to international standards of fair elections.

The Iranian National Council elected Pahlavi as its spokesman at its first congress last weekend. The group's political bureau appears to represent a variety of Iran's exiled opposition, and Pahlavi insisted it is not a vehicle to promote a particular political cause.

"We're not here to debate a form of regime. That's not our job," he said, adding that his organization transcends party politics and stands for a secular regime.

"We demand our right to have free elections in Iran, and so this council has the responsibility to help orchestrate this campaign, with the help of our activists at home and the support of the diaspora abroad," he said.

It is impossible to measure the impact of regime opponents, especially those living in exile. Pahlavi, who moves between the Washington area and Paris, claims the council grew out of the contacts inside Iran of various members like himself. The group says half of the 20,000-plus people who signed its charter via the Internet are inside Iran.

Pahlavi called on the international community to add its voice to the campaign for free elections, which he said should include international observers.

External pressure can change the dynamics of a nation, he said, decrying what he said was a lack of dialogue with representatives of Iran's exile community.

He said world powers today are mainly focusing on suspicions that Tehran secretly worked on atomic arms a charge Iran denies. For Pahlavi, the world is seeking a "change of behavior" by Iran, while he and other regime opponents are seeking a new, democratic Iran.

"If you don't engage this time with democratic forces, how can you expect them, with no defenses ... to stand up to this Goliath?" he asked.

Super Bowl champion Baltimore went for replacements for Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

The New York Jets added to their quarterback uncertainty by taking Geno Smith in the second round.

Teams loaded up on linemen, making the big and beefy guys this year's stars.

The 2013 NFL draft was light on glamour at the skill positions, but heavy on intrigue (when would Manti Te'o go?) and burly bodies able to either get after or protect all those pricey passers.

Denver Broncos boss John Elway called the draft "deep in the trenches.

"It wasn't sexy, but there were a lot of good football players in this draft, he said. "It was deep in the other-than-glitzy positions."

The first round included 18 linemen, one quarterback and, for the first time since 1963, no running backs.

"That's a lot of love for the big boys up front, which we usually don't get," said No. 1 overall pick Eric Fisher, an offensive tackle from Central Michigan taken by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Here's a breakdown:

VALIANT VIKINGS

Nobody made more noise in this year's draft than the Vikings.

Coming of a surprising run to the playoffs spearheaded by MVP Adrian Peterson, they became the first team since the Rams in 2001 to have three first-round picks. They traded four selections to New England to move up and take Tennessee receiver Cordarrelle Patterson after grabbing Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd and Florida State cornerback Xavier Rhodes.

That's pushing all your chips into the center of the table.

"I don't think it could've worked out any better for the caliber of players we got coming into our program," Vikings GM Rick Spielman said after addressing three of his four major needs in a dizzying 30-minute span. "I'm very excited."

When the Vikings finally got back on the clock Saturday, Spielman addressed his other big need by grabbing Penn State linebackers Gerald Hodges in the fourth round and Michael Mauti in the seventh.

With that, Minnesota served notice that they're coming after Aaron Rodgers and everyone else in 2013.

QB CONUNDRUM

The Jets are testing out the old saying you can never have too many quarterbacks.

After Buffalo surprised nearly everyone by picking Florida State's EJ Manuel as the only QB in the first round (at No. 16), the Jets pulled off their own stunner by selecting West Virginia's Geno Smith in the second round, at No. 39.

Coach Rex Ryan's three-ring circus at QB now includes a half dozen passers. The others are Mark Sanchez, David Garrard, Tim Tebow, Greg McElroy and Matt Simms.

"I hope they're all thinking, 'Hey, I have an opportunity to go win a job,'" Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said.

Smith certainly is.

"My goal is to be a franchise quarterback," he said. "But as of now, there's lots of work to be done."

Smith put up great numbers in college but also had accuracy issues and fumbled the ball an alarming 32 times, and scouts also questioned his overall skills and leadership in some pre-draft reports.

"You know what," Smith said, "critics don't have a pick."

SUPER SELECTIONS

Will the Harbaugh brothers be making plans for another family reunion in February? Both Baltimore and San Francisco restocked for another Super Bowl run.

Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome launched a defensive makeover after Lewis retired and Reed led a free agency exodus following their title, signing with Houston. Newsome used his first four picks and six of 10 selections on defenders, beginning with safety Matt Elam and linebacker Arthur Brown, who have some huge cleats to fill.

San Francisco's 11-player haul included defensive back Eric Reid, defensive end Tank Carradine and tight end Vance McDonald, but the most intriguing pick was that of fourth-rounder Marcus Lattimore. The South Carolina running back suffered a career-threatening right knee injury last season just one year after tearing ligaments in his left knee.

San Francisco took a similar gamble several years ago when it spent a third-round selection on Frank Gore, who had suffered torn ligaments in each of his knees a year apart at the University of Miami, but has made the Pro Bowl four times and is the franchise's all-time leading rusher.

"I love the aggressive mental approach he has taken through this whole process, but we're going to slow down the aggressive physical things and make sure Marcus is 100 percent healthy before he goes out there on the field," 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. "If he doesn't play this year, then he doesn't play this year."

REMAKING ROSTERS

The heavy turnover after last season eight new coaches and seven new general managers meant there were plenty of newbies making draft decisions.

Led by the Chiefs new brain trust of coach Andy Reid and GM John Dorsey, eight of the top 11 picks were made by teams that had turnover at the decision-making positions as the Jaguars, Eagles, Browns, Cardinals, Bills, Jets and Chargers also had a first-year coach and/or general manager.

Of those, the biggest splash was made by the Bills when GM Buddy Nix gave new coach Doug Marrone a new QB by trading out of the eighth spot and selecting Florida State's Manuel.

"If we can develop this guy, he has the talent to take you to the dance," Nix said.

Other than the decision to take a chance on Manti Te'o in the second round, the Chargers rookie tandem of GM Tom Telesco and coach Mike McCoy added right tackle D.J. Fluker of Alabama with the 11th pick and Cal wide receiver Keenan Allen in the third round, two players who should help embattled QB Philip Rivers right away.

BUSTS OR BRONZE

For all the money and hours spent watching tape and workouts, evaluating players' bodies and minds, recording height, weight, speed and strength, the draft remains an inexact science. There will be first-round busts like always and maybe some undrafted guys end up with bronze busts in Canton, Ohio.

"You never really know because you're dealing with humans," Elway said.

The Broncos have had at least one college free agent make the 53-man roster coming out of camp every year since 2004, but it's going to be hard for any of Denver's 15 undrafted additions to make it this year after Denver loaded up in free agency and the draft after a 13-3 season.

Elway wasn't called on to close the sale on any of the free agent candidates. He learned his lesson when he bought his first car dealership many years ago and a salesman called him in to seal the deal.

"So I go in and the guy says, 'You've got a lot more money than I do. Why would I want to pay you $1,000?" Elway recounted. "I said, 'OK, you can have it for $500.'

"So, ever since then, I've stayed out of the negotiating business."

___

Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton