While the role of central banks in supporting the global economy is set to be a key point of discussion among officials attending the Group of Seven meeting of finance ministers and central bankers, most eyes will be focused on the yen and the uber-aggressive monetary policy being pursued by the Bank of Japan.

The dollar breached the 100 yen mark late Thursday for the first time in a little over four years. Over the past few months, the yen has dropped sharply as the new government in Japan tries to bring an end to the country's two-decade stagnation, primarily by flooding the economy with money.

The country's central bank has been pumping money in the hope of stoking inflation the country has seen prices fall for much of the last 20 years. As a consequence, the yen has been sold heavily.

So far there's been a certain amount of support for Japan's economic gamble even though the yen's decline makes exports of other countries more expensive.

That's led many in the markets to conclude that the Japanese monetary authorities are actually targeting the exchange rate, a charge officials have denied.

Nevertheless the talk of a currency war whereby countries use their exchange rates as an economic weapon has not died down. If other countries respond to the falling yen by debasing their currencies through more monetary easing, Japan will be back at square one and the world economy could suffer.

Sharp fluctuations in the value of currencies can hurt business confidence and investment. Ministers meeting this weekend will be keen to avoid any factor that could spark a currency war.

In an interview with CNBC, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said he was monitoring developments and that Japan had to play by the rules it has signed up to.

However, as long as Japan doesn't directly target its exchange rate and stays "within the bounds" of international agreements, then Lew said the country has every right to deal with its underlying and long-standing economic problems.

Few in the markets expect much change in the G-7's line on currencies from its last statement in February.

"Any remarks are set to remain along the lines of the well-worn mantra that markets should set exchange rates," said Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank International.

The yen's weakness has been one of the hot international economic topics in recent months. Back in February, the G-7 said their domestic policies were "oriented" towards meeting certain domestic targets, and that no one was in the business of targeting exchange rates.

Ostensibly, the discussions through Saturday are intended to focus on making sure the global economy gains traction. In recent weeks, markets have calmed down amid signs of improvement in the U.S. economy, a seeming calming in Europe's debt crisis as well as confidence over Japan's economic journey.

British finance minister George Osborne said the main task officials face over the coming two days at a country house around 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of London is how to "nurture" the recovery.

"The G-7 is an opportunity to consider what more monetary activism can do to support the recovery, while ensuring medium-term inflation expectations remained anchored," said Osborne, who will be hosting the event alongside the Bank of England's governor Mervyn King.

Osborne suggested that this "activism" may involve "targeted interventions" to support lending in weak parts of the economy. The U.K. treasury chief noted that the European Central Bank had already started consultations on how best to boost lending to small and medium-sized enterprises the key engines of economic growth and employment.

The U.S.'s Lew said the discussions should center on how to boost growth and generate jobs. He said the U.S. economy was healing but not at a fast enough pace. "We're moving in the right direction but while growth is encouraging it's not sufficient," he said.

He singled out Europe as a laggard and said there was a need for policymakers there to get the right balance between austerity and growth.

"We're not arguing whether we need to get our fiscal house in order, we all need to do that, the question is when and how," Lew said.

In a hint that Germany should do more, the Treasury Secretary added that some countries have "more fiscal space" than others to boost demand. Many economists argue that Germany the government and its people should be spending more to stimulate growth across the rest of the eurozone. Europe's largest economy is running a budget surplus, albeit a fairly small one, as well as a current account surplus that is equivalent to around 6 percent of its annual gross domestic product.

Central banks have played an increasingly active role in trying to help the global economy recover from what is widely considered to be its biggest shock since World War II.

Interest rates have been slashed to near zero percent in some cases and new money-creation policies have been introduced, notably from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

CHICAGO (AP) -- There's a settlement in a lawsuit against Facebook Inc. in which Timelines Inc. alleges the media giant violated its trademark of the word "timeline."

Word of a settlement came in a filing this week in U.S. District Court in Chicago. No details were disclosed. A judge is expected to formally dismiss the lawsuit Thursday.

In 2009, Chicago-based Timelines launched Timelines.com, which enables users to track historical events and their personal lives online.

Two years later, Facebook released a feature it called "timeline," which similarly highlights users' lives in chronological order.

Facebook asked the presiding judge to throw out Timelines' lawsuit, arguing the word "timeline" is too generic to be trademarked.

But the judge refused, noting Facebook itself sought legal protection of common words it's trademarked, including "poke" and "like.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is expected to clear Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry mobile devices for use on Defense Department networks in the next few weeks, part of an effort to ensure the military has access to the latest communications technology, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

The decision will set the stage for an intensified struggle for Pentagon customers among BlackBerry devices, Apple's iPhones or iPads and units using Google's Android platform such as Samsung Electronics' phones. The Pentagon currently has some 600,000 users of smart phones, computer tablets and other mobile devices.

The Pentagon unveiled a plan in February aimed at giving the military services a much broader range of choices among mobile devices. The department currently has 470,000 BlackBerry users, 41,000 Apple users and 8,700 people with Android devices. Most Apple and Android systems are in pilot or test programs.

"We are working towards establishing a multi-vendor environment that supports a variety of devices and operating systems, to include Samsung, Apple and BlackBerry," said Lieutenant Colonel Damien Pickart, a Pentagon spokesman.

"A key objective of the plan is to establish a department-wide mobile enterprise solution that permits the use of the latest commercial technology such, as smart phones and tablets," he added.

Several mobile devices and operating systems are currently going through a security review and approval process with the Defense Information Systems Agency, Pickart said.

Once the devices have cleared the process for creating a STIG - for Security Technical Implementation Guide - Pentagon organizations will be able to order them knowing that they have the necessary security configuration to be used on the Defense Department's internal networks, he said.

Pickart said Samsung's Knox version of Android currently is going through the security review process, with a decision expected in the next two weeks.

A full security review for Apple's iOS 6 system is expected in early May, and BlackBerry has submitted security plans for its BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry Device Service, with a decision expected in two weeks.

The security reviews are part of the Commercial Mobile Device Implementation Plan unveiled by the Pentagon in February.

Major General Robert Wheeler, deputy chief information officer, told reporters at the time that the effort aimed to ensure the Pentagon's mobile devices, wireless infrastructure and mobile applications remain "reliable, secure and flexible enough to keep up with the fast-changing technologies of today."

(Reporting By David Alexander; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Zou, whose bronze in Athens was China's first Olympic boxing medal, won gold at the Beijing Games and beat Thailand's Kaeo Pongprayoon in London last year to become the first light-flyweight to win three Olympic medals.

A popular figure in his country, the 31-year-old beat Mexican Eleazar Valenzuela with all three judges giving him a 40-36 victory amid huge cheers from his home fans at the Venetian Macau resort hotel.

Zou, also a three-time amateur world champion, has signed a professional contract with Bob Arum's Top Rank promotion, which also has eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and WBO welterweight title holder Timothy Bradley in its ranks.

Officials in Macau, the world's largest gambling destination, are aiming to transform the casino-dominated enclave into an international leisure and tourism destination.

The southern Chinese hub, where gambling revenues reached $38 billion in 2012 - six times that of Las Vegas - is heavily reliant on the casino industry.

(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai and Farah Master in Hong Kong; editing by Stephen Wood)

"We had a good start, very active with a lot of chances," the much-traveled former NHL player told reporters. "In the second period, we got some more goals and I think from that point on we controlled the game."

The Slovaks registered 24 of their 37 shots in the first two periods, scoring three goals in the process to take command.

Beaten finalists in 2012, Satan's side scored a further two goals to go 5-0 up in the third. The French pulled two back but never really threatened before Libor Hudacek finished the scoring late on.

With the tournament once again being co-hosted by Finland and Sweden, the Finns had a narrow escape as they overcame Germany 4-3 after overtime. Their co-hosts were not as fortunate, slumping to shock 3-2 defeat by Switzerland in Stockholm.

"That's not how we wanted to start the tournament," Sweden's goaltender Jacob Markstrom told reporters. "It's too bad. It didn't hold up today. We weren't good enough."

In the other game in Stockholm, the Czech Republic beat Belarus 2-0 as Czech goaltender Alexander Salak, who plays in the Sweden's Elitserien for Farjestad, kept a clean sheet on his world championship debut.

Defending champions Russia make their bow on Saturday when they play Latvia, with the United States facing Austria and Canada taking on Denmark.

(Reporting by Phil O'Connor; Editing by Mark Meadows; mark.meadows@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7933; Reuters Messaging:; mark.meadows.reuters.com@reuters.net)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Congress sifts through a growing number of requests for targeted relief from automatic spending cuts in coming weeks, advocates seeking funding shifts likely will need to tell a compelling story with potential life-or-death consequences.

Requests without such a strong selling point may find it impossible to gain enough bipartisan support as lawmakers vow not to repeat a swift and controversial action last week to save airline travelers from flight delays caused by automatic "sequestration" spending cuts.

Congress was worried about a toxic public backlash when it moved quickly to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to use some airport improvement funds to pay salaries of air traffic controllers, ending furloughs that had delayed thousands of flights across the country.

When members of Congress return from a recess on Monday, there will be no shortage of other requests to shift funds from other budget accounts awaiting them.

The National Park Service faces closures and cutbacks that will cost jobs in communities that depend on the parks as the summer travel season begins. Some 70,000 children may be shut out of the Head Start preschool program for low-income families while funding for Meals on Wheels, cancer research and some treatments for Medicare patients will be cut.

The Pentagon is expected to ask for more authority to move up to $7.5 billion within its budget to cover costs for training and military operations in Afghanistan. With troops still in harm's way, that request likely will face few objections.

More needs will pile up As the across-the-board spending cuts - $85 billion through September 30 - take hold. But most will fall on deaf ears as lawmakers insist that a comprehensive budget deal is needed to resolve sequester cuts, not individual fixes.

"With the possible exception of life-threatening issues, there will be plenty of pleas from people who represent worthy causes that get ignored," said Greg Valliere, chief political strategist at Potomac Research, an investment consulting firm.

"It's extremely unlikely that House Republicans will be willing to grant exceptions for national parks, Meals on Wheels or teachers," he said.

The sequester cuts that took effect March 1 were conceived in 2011 as a way to force the White House and Congress to find an alternative budget deal rather than have spending cuts kick in automatically. Policymakers failed to reach such an agreement and now must deal with the fallout from the cuts, which total will total $1.2 trillion over 10 years unless replaced.

Last month's flight delays created a mix of pressure from the airline industry and constituents facing a universally loathed problem that both parties could rally around.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, however, is not inclined to pursue additional one-off measures to deal with sequester, a Democratic leadership aide said. Reid would prefer to press forward with his proposal to simply delay the cuts through September 30 in order to buy more time for a broader budget deal.

"I just don't see another one-off bill that's going to rise to the same level as flight delays," a senior House Republican aide said.

Many House Republicans also are concerned about giving the Obama administration more authority to move money between budget accounts at federal agencies, which circumvents Congress' constitutional powers to direct spending.

In the case of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Republican aide said there is concern that such budget shifts could inadvertently give the agency power to help fund implementation of Obama's healthcare reform law, which many Republicans deeply despise and want to repeal.

SAY NO TO CANCER PATIENTS?

But funding cutbacks for some Medicare cancer treatments and cancer research studies also could be difficult for many lawmakers to resist.

The most concerted effort in this area is a Republican House bill that would exempt Medicare reimbursements on expensive cancer drugs administered at doctors' offices and clinics - one of the few portions of the healthcare program for the elderly that is subject to the sequester. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) would have to shift cuts in these reimbursement rates elsewhere under the measure.

The bill's author, Representative Renee Ellmers of North Carolina, a Tea Party favorite, argues that because of the sequester, oncology clinics have been sending patients to hospitals to get their drugs.

But hospital treatment costs, which are not subject to sequester, are far higher - an average increase of $6,500 per patient per year, according to one study. Ellmers argues that this circumvents the whole point of sequester spending cuts.

"We don't want to see treatments delayed, and some patients on fixed incomes might skip treatment altogether if they are forced to go across town to a hospital," said Ellmers, who spent two decades as a surgical nurse before winning a seat in Congress in 2010.

The measure has substantial bipartisan support, with 51 cosponsors including 11 Democrats. Separately, 124 House members from both parties signed a letter to the CMS director asking that "any available flexibility be used to direct the cuts away from patients."

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner declined to comment on the bill's prospects for passage, referring questions about it to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

THREAT TO CANCER TRIALS

Cancer research doctors also say further sequester funding cutbacks could ultimately cost lives.

Dr. Scott Lippman, director of the University of California-San Diego Moores Cancer Center, said the sequester will mean fewer clinical trials for promising therapies, and some patients ultimately will be turned away from these trials. Research on new treatments also could be slowed.

"This going to harm patients," Lippman said. "This is going to prevent patients from getting treatments that could save their lives."

At a time when advancements in cancer research are moving very quickly with new gene-based discoveries, he said now is "not the time to be slamming on the brakes."

While no trials have been canceled yet due to sequester alone, research centers are working hard to try to cut everything else that they can, said Dr. Edward Partridge, director of the University of Alabama-Birmingham's Comprehensive Cancer Center. But the choices will be difficult.

"We will do everything we can to maintain our current clinical trial volume," he said. "Even if it's at the expense of new discovery. I hope (sequester) doesn't last too long so that we have to withdraw the possibility of clinical trials for patients. That would be a disaster."

(Reporting By David Lawder; Editing by Fred Barbash and Bill Trott)

Fossils of at least five species of vegetarian birdlike dinosaurs known as caenagnathids have been found from West Texas to Canada with wide variation in their beak shapes and body size, giving scientists clues about how the small creatures could coexist by carving out different dietary niches.

Charlesby natural selection was famously inspired by the diversity ofon the Galapagos Islands, which he took as a sign that the birds had somehow adapted to the specific environments where they lived. More recent research has shown that Darwin's finches can evolve quite quickly. For instance, one speciesto better compete with another bird for small seeds in a mere two decades. []

Millions of years ago, different species of caenagnathids may have similarly adjusted their beak size across western North America.

"Each species has a different beak structure. You could have a lot of different species in one environment, because they ate different kinds of foods, which is how different species of Darwin's finches coexist," Nicholas R. Longrich, a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University, said in a statement. "So, in a way, the evolution of modern dinosaurs birds provides insight into ancient, extinct dinosaurs."

Fossil collectors in Texas recently found a new species of the turkey-sized dinosaur, dubbed Leptorhynchos gaddisi, in the Aguja Formation near Big Bend National Park. The 75-million-year-old remains of this species suggest it had a more rounded chin and a less upturned beak than its Canadian relative, Leptorhynchos elegans. The short deep mandible of the new species also suggests it ate tougher, more fibrous plants than its neighbors known as Chirostenotes and Caenagnathus, researchers say.

"These are subtle differences, but they mean we're dealing with different species," Longrich said. "If you look at modern birds, one of the things that distinguishes a crow from a raven, or two types of albatrosses from each other, is the beak proportions. We can do the same thing with dinosaurs that we do with modern birds, and identify them using beak shapes."

Considering that small dinosaurs have a poor fossil record in North America, having at least five known specialized species of caenagnathids some of them living side-by-side suggests the group had relatively high diversity, the researchers say.

The findings were detailed April 26 in the Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Follow Megan Gannon onandFollow us ,& . Original article on .

The 37-year-old known for a squeaky-clean image told "Good Morning America" that she and talent agent husband James Toth showed "poor judgment" by driving after "one too many glasses of wine" at dinner in Atlanta, where she is filming a movie.

Toth, 42, was pulled over when he drove across a double line on the road and then failed blood-alcohol breath and field sobriety tests, according to a police report.

Police said Witherspoon, who was charged with disorderly conduct, ignored an order to stay in the car and asked an officer if he knew who she was.

"I said all kinds of crazy things," Witherspoon said in the television interview. "I told them I was pregnant. I'm not pregnant ... I have no idea what I was talking about. And I am so sorry. I was so disrespectful to him."

"I know better," she said. "It's just unacceptable."

A mother of three, Witherspoon said she was embarrassed and would take responsibility for her actions. The "Legally Blonde" star who won an Oscar in 2006 for her role as country singer June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line" is due in court on May 22.

"I think I played a lawyer in a movie so many times I think I am a lawyer," she said. "And, clearly, I'm not a lawyer because I got arrested. I learned a lot."

(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Scott Malone and Sofina Mirza-Reid)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 advanced to all-time closing highs on Friday, with major indexes jumping 1 percent after an unexpectedly strong April jobs report eased concerns about an economic slowdown.

The S&P closed above 1,600 and the Dow briefly traded above 15,000 for the first time as stocks extended this year's rally. Bellwether companies, including Chevron Corp , Boeing Coand Johnson & Johnson , reached 52-week highs.

The Russell 2000stock index of mid- and small cap companies also hit a record, confirming the broadness of the rally. About 70 percent of stocks on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq ended in positive territory.

Non-farm payrolls rose by 165,000 last month and the unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent, a four-year low, from 7.6 percent, the government said. In addition, hiring was much stronger than previously thought in February and March.

Investors welcomed the gains after weeks of disappointing data, including tepid manufacturing reports, that suggested the economic recovery was losing steam.

"We were all wringing our hands over the past month but this alleviates fears about a sharp spring slowdown," said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector analysis at Charles Schwab in Denver.

The Dow Jones industrial averagewas up 140.61 points, or 0.95 percent, at 14,972.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 Indexwas up 16.63 points, or 1.04 percent, at 1,614.22. The Nasdaq Composite Indexwas up 38.01 points, or 1.14 percent, at 3,378.63.

Both the Dow and S&P ended at all-time closing highs. For the week, the Dow rose 1.8, the S&P gained 2 percent and the Nasdaq rose 3 percent in its biggest weekly climb since the first week of the year.

Sectors tied to the pace of economic growth and to commodity prices were among the strongest gainers. U.S. Steel Corp rose 6.3 percent to $18.14 while WPX Energy Incwas up 5 percent to $16.56. U.S. crude oil futures rose 1.5 percent to settle at $95.43 a barrel.

"Commodity stocks are outperforming with the jobs number alleviating fears over a slowdown," said Sorensen. "The group has pulled back over the past months and they got a bit overdone. There are still really good growth opportunities there."

Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Incclosed up 2.6 percent at $31.13, after prices of copper posted the biggest daily gain since late October 2011.

General Electric , up 1.1 percent at $22.57, led gains among industrials after it won approval to buy oilfield pump maker Lufkin Industriesfor about $3 billion. The deal will allow GE to sharply increase its presence in the market to extract oil and natural gas from shale.

Gilead Sciencesshares rose 5.7 percent to $55.15 after reaching a record high of $56.35. The world's largest maker of branded HIV drugs reported a big rise in quarterly profit late on Thursday.

LinkedIn Corpshares fell 13 percent to $175.59 a day after the social network reported disappointing revenue forecasts.

Of the 404 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 68.3 percent have beaten earnings expectations, but only 46.3 percent have reported revenue above expectations. Over the past four quarters, 67 percent of companies beat on earnings and 52 percent beat revenue estimates.

In other economic reports on Friday, U.S. factory orders fell sharply in March while the pace of growth in the vast U.S. services sector eased in April to the slowest pace in nine months.

About 6.33 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, below the daily average so far this year of about 6.36 billion shares.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry and Nick Zieminski)

[More from BGR: ]

Beyond the money that Apple manages to rake in each quarter from iPad and iPhone sales, these devices have also spawned an accessory market worth an estimated $2.3 billion. but despite the sales increase prompted by lower prices, Digitimes reports that accessory sales to consumers are sinking.

[More from BGR: ]

Because the prices [of 10-inchtablets] are high, consumers tend to buy accessories such as covers to protect the products, and the profit margins on accessories are usually high, DigitimesJackie Chang wrote. However, prices of 7-inch products are relatively low and distributors stated that consumers are less likely to purchase accessories to protect them. This has been eroding profits for distributors.

Tightening margins for vendors declining accessory sales that are eating into distributors profits a potential new threat from or perhaps a cheaper previous-generation iPad mini once the sequel launches , though one cant help but wonder how far vendors and distributors will go before theyve finally gone too far.

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