Alas, it’s not all warm fuzzies in the U.S. retail space, following Walmart and TJX’s recent decisions to increase minimum wages.  Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) announced Tuesday that it will be laying off “several thousand” employees, primarily in United States and Indian locations, as part of its broader plan to save $2 billion between now and 2017.

The budget cut initiatives are an important facet of Target Chief Executive Brian C. Cornell’s plans to go “lean and mean” in business parlance – in specific, he plans to have the company focusing on significantly fewer product lines, particularly those that are of higher quality and/or lower price, as well as spending money on increasing its online presence.  Cornell was also quoted as saying that Target may also be working on agility at a management level, and shifting corporate culture from a process-based one to a consumer-focused one.  Regarding consumers, Cornell wants Target to draw in more Millennial and Hispanic customers, with both sectors vital to driving a potential revival of fortunes.

According to Target, the layoffs will mainly be centered on its Minneapolis and India corporate offices, which employ a combined 26,000 individuals; the retailer added that the layoffs will not affect its 1,800 physical stores in the United States.  With the job cuts and a $1 billion investment in technology and supply chain upgrades, Target hopes that its profit margins remain between 9.5 percent and 10 percent over the coming five years.

Former Walmart and PepsiCo executive Cornell took over from former CEO Gregg W. Steinhafel in August 2014, and has been aggressive in helping rebuild Target’s damaged PR following a massive customer data hack that took place late in 2013. But in his commitment to making Target a more profitable and agile company, he has also made some bold moves, including eating a $5.4 million loss when it decided to leave the Canadian market in January.

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The Independent Na­tional Electoral Commission (INEC) has accredited and trained 134,000 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to serve as ad hoc staff during this month’s general elections.

Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawunmi, made the disclosure at a press conference held to announce the NYSC President’s Award cer­emony at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday.

He said although about 34,000 corps members who passed out recently had been trained and accredited by the electoral body to be on duty during the elections, they would neither wear NYSC uniform nor be under the care of the scheme.

On the number of corps members mobilized for the general elections, he said: “You are all aware that we have an existing MoU with INEC on the participa­tion of corps members on elec­tion duties.”

“However, for this 2015 election, INEC brought a new dimension by asking interested corps members to reg­ister online and as at the close of registration in January this year, we had about 168,000 registered corps members to serve as ad hoc staff”.

Continuing, the D-G stated that “At every period, we have three batches of corps mem­bers, but due to postponement of the elections, the batch A of last year that registered to participate in the elections, passed out February 19 this year.

“Initially, our plan was to use them for both February 14 and 28 elections, but since keeping them due to the post­ponement of the elections will violate the NYSC Act, we had to pass out the corps members totalling about 34,000.

“We wrote to INEC to ex­plain to them that about 34,000 corps members registered and trained for the elections had finished their services with us and will no longer partici­pate in the elections as corps members.

“However, we made it clear that since they had been trained for the elections, INEC can still use them as ad hoc staff on the condition that they will not wear the NYSC uniform or be under our care”.

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European shares dipped on Friday morning, pausing after their best start to the year since regional benchmarks began in late 1986, while Airbus rallied after posting a sharp rise in operating earnings.

Shares in Airbus were up 6.1 percent, representing a gain in market value of 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion), roughly the price of six A380 superjumbos.

Shares in International Airlines Group surged 4.4 percent after the owner of British Airways upgraded its 2015 profit forecast by more than 20 percent, after reporting a 81 percent jump in profit last year as oil prices tumbled.

The 50 percent drop in crude prices since mid-2014 has greatly reduced input costs for airlines overall, as jet fuel accounts for around a third of the sector's operating costs.

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Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched large-scale naval and air defense drills near a strategic Gulf waterway on Wednesday in which dozens of speedboats swarmed a replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier.

The drill, named Great Prophet 9, was held near the Strait of Hormuz, through which one fifth of the world's oil passes. Iran's regular army carried out naval drills near the strait in December.

State TV showed footage of missiles fired from the coast and the fast boats striking the mock U.S. aircraft carrier. The drills, which also included shooting down a drone and planting undersea mines, were the first to involve a replica of a U.S. carrier.

"American aircraft carriers are very big ammunition depots housing a lot of missiles, rockets, torpedoes and everything else," the Guard's navy chief, Adm. Ali Fadavi, said on state TV, adding that a direct hit by a missile could set off a large secondary explosion. Last month Fadavi said his force is capable of sinking American aircraft carriers in the event of war.

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Janet Yellen will enter the lion's den this week.

For the first time since becoming head of the U.S. central bank last February, Yellen will confront a Congress that's controlled by Republicans in both the House and the Senate.

It's not exactly Yellen's first rodeo -- the 68-year-old Fed chair has had plenty of practice being in the hot seat, having endured numerous hours-long congressional hearings and nationally televised Fed press conferences in her first year on the job.

But her Hill appearances this week comes at a critical juncture for the economic recovery, and her answers to lawmakers' questions -- particularly those that address the issue of when the Fed plans to hike interest rates -- will come under heightened scrutiny.

Her back-to-back testimonies also come as congressional criticism of the Fed -- particularly from Republican lawmakers -- has noticeably intensified in recent years. With Republicans now setting the agenda in both chambers of Congress, Fed watchers are anticipating plenty of sparks to fly.

"Recent criticisms of the Fed have come mainly from Republicans," said Alan Blinder, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve board. "With a Republican majority on the Senate Banking Committee, and an even bigger majority in the House, it seems a reasonable guess that Chair Yellen might face some tough questioning."

On Tuesday, Yellen will face members of the Senate Banking Committee led by the panel's new chairman, Republican Sen. Richard Shelby. The veteran Alabama senator has long been a vocal critic of the Fed's policies and voted against Yellen's nomination for Fed chair, citing concerns that the central bank had become the an out-of-control enabler of U.S. debt.

"He is deeply skeptical of the Fed's performance, particularly on regulation and supervision of big financial institutions," said Sarah Binder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies the Fed's relationship with Congress.

Things won't get any easier for Yellen later in the week, when she faces a much larger -- and typically more combative -- group of lawmakers in the House Financial Services Committee.

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Greece formally requested a six-month extension to its euro zone loan agreement on Thursday as it races to avoid running out of cash within weeks and overcome resistance from skeptical partners led by Germany.

With its EU/IMF bailout program due to expire in little more than a week, the government of leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urgently needs to secure a financial lifeline to keep the country afloat beyond late March.

Specifically, Athens asked for an extension to its so-called "Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement" with the euro zone, the official told Reuters. However, Greece is proposing that the terms are different from its current bailout obligations, the official said.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, chairman of the Eurogroup of finance ministers of the currency area, confirmed the news, tweeting: "Received Greek request for six-month extension." He gave no further details.

The request boosted hopes for a last minute compromise to avert a Greek bankruptcy and exit from the euro zone however it was not clear if the proposal would be acceptable to euro zone partners who insist Athens comply with all bailout terms.

Senior euro zone officials were due to hold a teleconference later on Thursday to discuss the Greek application. If they are satisfied, then Eurogroup finance ministers will hold a conference call on Friday to conclude an agreement, euro zone sources said.

The wording chosen could help satisfy at least some of the concerns that have held up agreement over the past two weeks, allowing Athens to avoid saying it is extending the current program that it opposes while creditors can avoid accepting a "loan agreement" without strings attached.

However, crucial details remain to be clarified on fiscal targets, labor market reforms, privatizations and other measures due to be implemented under the existing program.

Government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis dismissed a German newspaper report that Athens was under pressure to impose capital controls, telling Reuters that such a scenario "had no bearing on reality".

An ECB spokeswoman also denied the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung report, saying there had been no discussion of capital controls at a meeting of the central bank's governing council on Wednesday, which slightly raised the limit on emergency lending to Greek banks.

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GERMAN-owned luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce on Wednesday unveiled plans to launch its own sports utility vehicle, mirroring recent moves by fellow upmarket rivals Bentley and Jaguar.

The British brand, which is owned by Germany's BMW, revealed in an open letter from Rolls-Royce chairman Peter Schwarzenbauer and chief executive Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes that it was in the process of developing its first-ever 4x4 car.

"Today we confirm that we are developing an all-new Rolls-Royce with exceptional presence, elegance and purpose ... A car that offers the luxury of a Rolls-Royce in a vehicle that can cross any terrain," the letter read.

The automaker added that the new model would be "a high-bodied car, with an all-new aluminium architecture", but gave no indication of price or when production would begin.

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Mobile game maker King Digital Entertainment's quarterly revenue and profit handily beat market estimates as newer games such as Candy Crush Soda Saga more than made up for the declining popularity of older titles.

King Digital, whose shares jumped 18% in extended trading yesterday, also said it would buy Seattle-based game developer Z2Live.

Total gross bookings, an indicator of future revenue, increased 8% to $586 million in the fourth quarter ended 31 December from the third quarter 2014.

Analysts on average had expected bookings of $541.4 million, according to market research firm StreetAccount.

Candy Crush Saga, a free game that makes money by selling virtual items to gamers who move candies to line up at least three of the same color, accounted for about 45% of the bookings.

Bookings from the game, however, declined from a quarter ago.

Candy Crush Soda Saga, a sister title of the original, also follows a similar match-three format.

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Tickets in North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas have matched all six numbers to split a $564.1 million Powerball jackpot, lottery officials said Thursday.

Sue Dooley, senior drawing manager and production coordinator for the Multi-State Lottery Association, said the Puerto Rico ticket was the first Powerball jackpot winner ever sold outside the continental United States.

Puerto Rico joined Powerball less than a year ago. Besides 44 states and Washington, D.C., the game is also played in the Virgin Islands, but there has never been a jackpot winner there, Dooley said.

The Texas Lottery posted on Twitter early Thursday that one of the winning tickets was sold at Appletree Food Mart in Princeton, Texas. There was no immediate information on the cities or stores that produced the winners in North Carolina or Puerto Rico.

It had been nearly a year since a Powerball prize reached the giant number people have come to expect recently. That was last February, when someone won $425.3 million.

Wednesday's jackpot was the third-largest in Powerball history and the fifth-largest U.S. lottery prize. The last time a Powerball jackpot climbed so high was May 2013 when a Florida ticket won a $590.5 million prize.

Should the winners select the lump sum option, each would get a one-third share of $381,138,450.16 before taxes. The other option is an annuity, under which the lottery would make payments 30 times over 29 years.

The largest payout in U.S. history was to three ticketholders in the Mega Millions game, the other national lottery drawing. That was a $656 million prize won in March 2012 by players in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland.

In 2012, state officials who run Powerball and Mega Millions changed ticket prices and lowered the odds of winning jackpots in hopes the moves would increase the number of huge prizes and draw more players. The new rules worked, causing jackpots to repeatedly climb to record levels. More than half of the top 10 US jackpots have been reached in the past couple of years.

The winning numbers in Wednesday's drawing were: 11, 13, 25, 39, 54 and the Powerball 19.

The jackpot now goes back to $40 million for the next drawing on Saturday.

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The company added to its trophy case Tuesday when its value surpassed $700 billion. That wasn't just a record for Apple, it was a new record for any U.S. company.

(Apple briefly touched this valuation in November, but Tuesday marked the first time it closed at that level, a far more significant achievement.)

Apple is in a league of its own. The next largest company, Exxon Mobil, (XOM) is worth $382 billion.

The stock rallied after Apple announced a partnership with First Solar (FSLR) on a nearly 3,000-acre solar energy farm that will funnel electricity to the tech giant's offices in California. That comes on the heels of Apple's best quarterly earnings ever in January and the ongoing expansion of Apple Pay.

Beyond that bright news, the company had a very successful bond sale last week, another indicator of just how excited investors remain about the company.

The stock closed at an all-time high of $122 a share Tuesday, and it's up 64% over the past year. Billionaire hedge fund manager Carl Icahn has predicted the stock could go to $200.

When Steve Jobs passed, there were concerns whether Tim Cook could lead the company. Those concerns seem quelled now.

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