The admission came after Britain's Guardian newspaper published on Wednesday a secret court order related to the records of millions of Verizon Communications customers. The surveillance appears to have involved the phone records of millions of Americans.

Privacy advocates blasted the order as unconstitutional government surveillance and called for a review.

A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not specifically confirm the report, but noted the published court order pertains only to data such as a telephone number or the length of a call, and not the subscribers' identities or the content of the telephone calls.

The order requires the government to turn over to the National Security Agency so-called "metadata" such as a list of numbers that called other U.S. or international numbers as well as other transactional information on the time and location of calls. The NSA is the main U.S. intelligence-gathering agency tasked with monitoring electronic communications.

"Information of the sort described in the Guardian article has been a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats to the United States, as it allows counterterrorism personnel to discover whether known or suspected terrorists have been in contact with other persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities, particularly people located inside the United States," the senior administration official said.

The revelation renewed concerns about the intelligence-gathering effort - criticized by human rights and privacy advocates - launched in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and raised questions about its oversight.

It also drew fresh attention to President Barack Obama's handling of privacy and free speech issues. His administration already is under fire for searching Associated Press journalists' calling records and the emails of a Fox News Channel reporter as part of its inquiries into leaked government information.

Verizon has declined to comment. It remains unclear whether the practice extends to other carriers, though several security experts and at least one U.S. lawmaker said that was likely.

The Alibaba offering may come as early as the end of 2013 and is likely to rival last year's $16 billion IPO by Facebook Inc in terms of size.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has yet to officially announce that it will hold an IPO, but people familiar with the matter say the company has over the past few weeks intensified its meetings with investment banks.

In a sign of how much revenue is at stake, many banks have flown over top executives for the meetings - Citigroup Inc CEO Michael Corbat was recently in China to meet Alibaba executives, according to one person with knowledge of the visit.

Alibaba has yet to shortlist or formally mandate any bank for the IPO, but bankers expect the listing to take place in Hong Kong by the end of this year or early 2014.

Credit Suisse Group AG's transaction history with Alibaba has increased the bank's chances of a key role in any issue, the people familiar with the matter said, adding that Morgan Stanley is also likely to land a top role.

Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Alibaba declined to comment. "As a matter of policy we don't comment on rumor and speculation," Alibaba spokesman John Spelich said.

Last month, billionaire founder and Chairman Jack Ma told the Wall Street Journal the company was ready for an IPO.

The strategic partnership, announced on Thursday, means that WPP and its agencies such as GroupM and Kantar, will use Twitter's data trove to gain insight into customer behavior to pinpoint where to spend its ad dollars.

"Twitter's relevance continues to grow - not only as a social platform, but also as a window into consumer attitudes and behavior in real time," WPP CEO Martin Sorrell said in a statement.

With more than 200 million users, Twitter has made serious efforts in recent months to court Madison Avenue as a means to boost its revenue to better compete with rivals Facebook and Google.

The governmental agency banned the importation of Apple's older iPhones (before the 4S) and cellular iPads (before the third-generation iPad 4G) into the U.S. market. These devices were found to violate a Samsung patent necessary to connect with AT&T's cellular network. Simply put, if you're an AT&T customer, your phone is not a phone without a technology that Samsung owns.

Customs officers will hold any Apple shipments coming from China in 60 days if they contain those older products unless an appeals court sides with Apple or President Barack Obama vetoes the order.

The president has delegated this decision-making power to the U.S. trade representative, but obviously, he can still do what no U.S. president has done in decades.

However, he shouldn't get mired in this particular battle.

A veto would be consistent with a set of patent reform proposals the White House unveiled a few hours before the ITC's decision, which would make it harder to obtain such bans. But it would mean depriving Samsung of its most significant victory in a bitter legal spat with Apple and interfere in the intense two-horse race going on in the smartphone market.

A veto would also snub a major U.S. trading partner and geopolitical ally: South Korea, where Samsung accounts for about a fifth of the national economy. The South Koreans would certainly cry foul over "protectionism."

The good news for Apple is that most of the affected products are no longer on sale. The ones that are still being sold are Apple's lowest-priced entry-level offerings. As soon as Apple launches the iPhone 5S , the iPhone 5 will replace the 4S as the mid-priced product. The iPhone 4S, which is also safe, will then become the low-end iPhone.

Until this happens, we're talking about 1% of Apple's sales -- less, actually, because AT&T can buy as many iPhone 4 and iPad 2 units over the next 60 days as it wants and sell them afterward. And customers still have different models from which to choose.

But there's a bigger reason for concern.

What Samsung dropped on those older Apple products is the patent equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and a U.S. government agency with court-like powers said: "Yes, Samsung, you're in your right to use this lethal weapon, and we don't care that Apple claims it's been universally outlawed."

The Mediterranean country already boasts the world's biggest generic drug maker and a host of smaller research-oriented companies.

Now it aims to build on that foundation, offering incentives to multinationals to invest in a biopharmaceutical incubator fund, set up research centers and collaborate with local firms.

High-tech has been one of Israel's main growth engines and companies such as Intel Inc, IBM and Google Inc have major R&D centers in the country.

Such companies make significant contributions to the tech sector's advancement, says the government's Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS), which hopes to see the creation of similar R&D hubs in the pharmaceutical industry.

The OCS has increased the portion of its budget aimed at life sciences to nearly 30 percent and launched several programs to fuel the industry, such as the $220 million OrbiMed venture fund.

It also expects to announce soon the winner of a tender to operate a biopharma incubator that will include more than a dozen projects. Bidding groups must include at least one multinational with revenue of at least $5 billion.

Now the OCS is considering a program aimed at encouraging foreign companies in life sciences to conduct or support research in Israel, either by operating a local R&D centre or through collaboration with Israeli companies.

Any company which does so will find a vibrant scene.

Israel is first in the world for the number of medical device patents per capita and second in biopharmaceuticals. And its life science industry is young but growing fast, featuring firms such as Protalix, Kamada and Gamida Cell.

"That is a core from which something else can happen," said Ruti Alon, a general partner in Pitango, Israel's biggest venture capital firm.

"We don't have a big company in pharma from whom you can learn the processes required in R&D, clinical trials and regulatory, so people are finding their way on their own," Alon said ahead of an annual biomed conference that she co-chairs.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was in line with economists' expectations.

Claims have been volatile in recent weeks, but there is little in the numbers to suggest a shift in the moderate pace of job gains, even though the broader economy is struggling under the weight of higher taxes and deep government spending cuts.

Still, the improvement in labor market conditions lacks enough vigor to compel the Federal Reserve to scale back its expansive monetary stimulus.

The Fed's policy-setting committee meets June 18-19. With data ranging from manufacturing to consumer spending showing the economy hit a soft patch early in the second quarter, it is unlikely the U.S. central bank will announce a tapering of the $85 billion in bonds it is buying each month at that meeting.

"The U.S. labor market is still improving steadily, just not at a strong enough pace to warrant Fed tapering yet," said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto.

The four-week moving average for new claims, which irons out week-to-week volatility, rose 4,500 to 352,500.

U.S. financial markets were little moved by the data as investors shifted focus to the euro zone, where the European Central Bank kept its main interest rate steady at a record low. Investors also moved to the sidelines ahead of Friday's release of the government's closely watched employment report for May.

LAYOFFS ABATING

Last week's claims data has no bearing on the employment report, given that it falls outside of the survey period for the monthly jobs tally.

Employers are forecast to have added 170,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, slightly up from April's 165,000 count, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The unemployment rate is seen holding at an almost 4-1/2 year low of 7.5 percent.

There is a risk, however, that job gains could have been less than expected in May.

Reports from the Institute for Supply Management showed a measure of employment in the services sector hit a 10-month low in May, while a gauge of factory jobs slipped a bit.

In addition, the ADP National Employment Report showed private hiring in May fell well below expectations.

Despite the slowdown in growth momentum, companies are not responding by reducing their workforces. There is still no sign of layoffs related to the deep government spending cuts.

China, the world's second-largest economy, will in the next five years import $10 trillion worth of goods globally and invest $500 billion abroad, Zhang told a forum of Fortune 500 business leaders in Chengdu.

"We will accelerate change to the development model and vigorously improve and optimize the economic structure," Zhang said, adding that the country will work to expand consumer demand.

Zhang also said the impact of the global financial crisis cannot be smoothed out in the short term, and China would face a test over the "middle income trap" - when growth in developing economies stagnate due to loss of cost competitiveness and an inability to innovate.

"We must never lay undue emphasis on the speed of growth," Zhang said, emphasizing the need for steady development to relieve "stresses" in the economy accumulated over long years of rapid growth.

Earlier this week, the European Union said it will impose duties on imports of Chinese solar panels, infuriating Beijing despite European attempts to soften the blow with a reduced rate. China in response announced on Wednesday its own anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probe into imports of wine from the EU.

The official People's Daily newspaper said on Thursday that China still has plenty more cards to play in the dispute with the EU and accused Europe of not realizing its global power was waning.

"We are firmly opposed to protectionism of all forms and stand for the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment," said Zhang.

Zhang, who made the remarks as China's President Xi Jinping is due to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama for a summit in Florida, said China is committed to achieving fair foreign trade growth and will "attach equal importance to imports and exports" and ensure that imports are expanded.

Forbes estimates Woods' earnings for the 12 months to June 1 this year total $78.1 million, putting him ahead of tennis ace Roger Federer -- who topped the 2012 list.

The top 10 features two golfers, three soccer players, two NFL quarterbacks, two NBA stars and one tennis player.

The 100-strong list compiled by the influential business magazine features just three women, the highest-ranked of which is world No. 2 tennis player Maria Sharapova in 22nd place with earnings of $22 million.

Woods has started 2013 in fine form, winning four PGA Tour titles so far this year. The 37-year-old pocketed $13.1 million in winnings over the last 12 months. He has also cashed in on appearances fees, collecting over $10 million for playing in Abu Dhabi, China, Malaysia and Turkey.

Federer has won more grand slams than any other male tennis player in history with 17. The Swiss had total earnings last year of $71.5 million -- $14 million of which came from playing six exhibition events during a tour of South America.

Like Woods, Federer earns an estimated $65 million through endorsements, and both players are long-term members of Nike's stable of athletes. According to his agent Mark Steinberg, Woods is close to signing a new deal with the American sportswear giant. NBA icons Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are third and fourth on the list respectively. Bryant's salary with the Los Angeles Lakers is the highest in basketball at $27.85 million a year, $7 million more than any other player.

Miami Heat's "King James" earns $42 million from endorsements with major companies like Nike, McDonald's, Coca Cola and Samsung.

Quarterbacks Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers benefited from lucrative playing contracts worth $100 million and $110 million respectively.

Golf's Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson is seventh on the list after making $48.7 million, with soccer trio David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi completing the top 10.

Former England captain Beckham recently ended his playing career with a five-month spell at French side Paris Saint-Germain. The $5.2 million salary he was paid during that time was donated to charity.

Beckham took home $47.2 million, profiting from commercial deals with Adidas, H & M and Samsung.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled on Tuesday that the Silicon Valley giant had infringed on a patent owned by Samsung that involves the ability of devices to transmit multiple services simultaneously and correctly through 3G wireless technology.

The independent federal agency slapped a ban on the import or sale of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G distributed by AT&T, the biggest seller of Apple devices in the United States when Samsung filed its complaint in 2011. The products are assembled in Asia.

U.S. President Barack Obama has 60 days to review the ruling. If he does not veto the order, it will go into effect.

It is not immediately clear what the impact could be on Apple or AT&T should Obama let the ruling stand, since the decision remains subject to a potentially prolonged appeals process.

While the products targeted are more than a year old, some models such as the iPhone 4 remain solid sellers.

The most recent version covered by the ITC's decision - the iPhone 4 - is now given away with a contract offered by carriers including Verizon Wireless, which is not affected by the ruling. The iPhone 4 could be phased out within a year should Apple stick to schedule and release a new version of the iPhone 5 in the fall as many in the industry expect.

Still, if the import ban goes into effect, U.S. customs agencies enforcing the ban could well end up delaying other Apple products, said Susan Kohn Ross, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp.

"This is going to create a huge distortion for Apple," she said. "Customs has a very difficult job now. They have to look at every shipment."

The iPhone accounts for about half of Apple's revenue. While the company doesn't disclose sales data on individual smartphones and tablet models, the most current version of the iPhone typically accounts for the biggest chunk of iPhone shipments of more than 100 million units annually.

GLOBAL WAR

Shares in Apple were little changed at $446.26 in after-hours trade. Samsung stock was also holding steady at about 1.54 million won.

Apple has waged an international patent war since 2010 as it seeks to limit the growth of Google's Android, the world's most-used mobile software today. That fight has embroiled Samsung, HTC Corp and others that use Android, a direct competitor to Apple's iOS.

The first four of these screens will open from June 8 through July 7 in busy parts of New York City, such as the lower east side and Soho. They will sell 30 items from Kate Spade Saturday, a new fashion brand launched this year by apparel retailer Fifth & Pacific Companies Inc.

EBay set up a window display in New York City in late 2011, but those storefronts did not let shoppers order products on the screen.

The new screens measure about 9 feet across and 2 feet (0.6 meter) high and will appear on the front windows of closed stores. Shoppers will be able to touch the screens to order and have products delivered to them within an hour via courier. Payment will be accepted by the couriers through PayPal Here, a mobile payment service developed by eBay.

This is the latest effort by eBay to work more closely with large retailers that are looking to reach more online and mobile shoppers. The company has attracted some large retailers, such as Target Corp, to its online marketplace, while developing mobile shopping technology for other retailers such as Macy's Inc.

EBay's "shoppable windows" are an extension of the shift to mobile shopping, according to Steve Yankovich, head of the company's Innovation and New Ventures group, which developed the technology.

"This extends the boundary of the store. Suddenly the physical store, by virtue of online technology, extends to any space that's interesting to use," Yankovich said.

For Fifth & Pacific, the windows will help launch its new Kate Spade Saturday brand without opening new physical stores, at least initially, according to Chief Executive William McComb.

However, the company also plans to use the technology in existing stores of its other brands, such as Juicy Couture and Kate Spade New York, he added.

"This gives us the ability to produce more from our retail space," McComb said. "My nickname for it is the Wall as a Mall."

McComb said he is considering putting shoppable windows in small Juicy Couture stores that will offer about 200 different shoes to buy.

The company may also use the windows in Kate Spade New York stores to sell home furnishings, bedding, linens and towels.

In a volatile Internet industry where companies can rise and fall almost overnight, one might even say that the nine-year-old Facebook Inc is suffering a mid-life crisis.

Yet even if the social network falls short of its goal of becoming an all-encompassing Web destination that consumers turn to for everything from messaging to shopping, experts say Facebook has likely achieved enough scale and ubiquity to assure its staying power.

"They've gotten so big that it's one of those things you have to use," said Dan Niles, chief investment officer of tech-focused hedge fund firm AlphaOne Capital Partners, which does not have a Facebook position. "You may not like the electricity company but I guarantee you you're still getting electricity."

Concerns that Facebook is losing its grip on consumers, underscored by a recent report from Pew Research that showed declining enthusiasm among some teens, have kept a lid on the company's share price even as stock markets rallied. Facebook shares closed at $23.52 on Tuesday, near their six-month low and almost 40 percent below the company's May 2012 IPO price.

With 1.11 billion users, a rich trove of data on those users' interests and relationships, vast personal collections of photos and online identity profiles that serve as the log-in for many other services, Facebook faces little near-term risk that consumers will abandon it in large numbers.

Consumers spend significantly more time on Facebook than on competing online properties such as Google, Microsoft or Yahoo, according to Nielsen Media Research. And the number of Facebook users who visit the site every day increased to 59.9 percent in the first quarter, compared to 58.3 percent in the fourth quarter.

"The newer, exciting stuff is coming from startups, but Facebook is really going to be the glue at the middle," said Bill Lee, an entrepreneur who has started several Web companies.

Cyber security is a major