The owner of Facebook and Instagram plans to lay off about 10% of its global workforce, or nearly 8,000 people, in the first phase, one of the people said.

The company is planning further job cuts in the second half of this year, three people said, but details of the cuts, including their schedule and scale, have not yet been determined. Executives may adjust plans as they monitor developments in artificial intelligence capabilities, the sources added. Reuters reported last month that the company plans to lay off more than 20% of its global workforce.

Mehta declined to comment on the timing or scope of the planned cuts.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI as he dramatically restructures the company’s internal workings around technology, reflecting a broader pattern this year at major U.S. companies, especially in the technology sector.

The Alliance on Aging, a nongovernmental advocacy group, uses inflation data released monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to predict future COLAs. The official release date will be in October, as it is based on third-quarter inflation data. But there is already some tough news for retirees.

Rising inflation is bad news for retirees

The Federation of Senior Citizens projects that the COLA in 2027 will be approximately 2.8%. This number has remained unchanged since January, when the organization predicted a 2027 COLA of 2.5%.

The good news for retirees is that next year’s adjustment is likely to be about the same as or even higher than the 2026 raise. The bad news is that it’s because inflation is surging again.

Penny preservationists have warned that the penny’s death could have dire consequences. Confusion about how to pay bills that don’t end in 0 or 5. And as greedy retailers started cutting up everything, prices went up.

But aside from scattered penny shortages, American society appears to have weathered the loss of its least valuable coin.

Will nickel be next?

This question is logical. President Donald Trump killed the penny because the government lost money every time it pushed a penny. Nickel is also a loser.

In fact, nickel has lost more money. The Mint spent 3.69 cents to create a penny in 2024. The government spent 13.78 cents on every nickel, a loss of nearly 9 cents per coin.

Add this up and the government lost about $18 million in penny minting in 2024. On nickels, the Mint lost $85 million.

“The argument for eliminating nickel is that nickel is expensive to produce and is actually much more expensive than its face value,” said David Smith, an economist at Pepperdine University.

Nickels are larger than pennies and are made from expensive materials, 75% copper and 25% nickel, making them more expensive to manufacture. Although pennies look like copper, they are actually, or were, made mostly of zinc.

Throwing away Penny was ‘easy’

It was “a no-brainer” to eliminate the penny from America, said Robert Whaples, an economist at Wake Forest University who has long advocated abolishing the penny.

“We got rid of the penny, and I think we should, because the value of the penny was so small that it wasn’t worth the time to use it,” he said.

Whales reasoned that America’s growing disdain for the penny was inevitable. Decades ago, Gumball could be bought for a penny. Currently, the average worker earns about a penny per second. If you spend more than a second on a penny, “you’ve wasted your time,” says Whatples.

Last penny minted in the US sells for millions of dollars at auction

The last U.S. penny ever minted sold at auction for millions of dollars.

Pennies were in short supply long before the Mint stopped putting pressure on them. One big reason is that Americans stopped picking them up. Pennies fell between couch cushions and on the closet floor, clogging vacuum cleaners and landfills.

Many Americans consider nickels and pennies to be more of a nuisance than currency. According to the Federal Reserve, the typical household holds between $60 and $90 in abandoned coins, the equivalent of one or two pint-sized beer mugs. Americans throw away millions of dollars in coins every year, literally treating them like trash.

Is Nickel living on borrowed time?

But Whaples and other coin experts say the U.S. Treasury has no official plan to phase out nickel.

Americans seem to prefer nickels to pennies. Consumers are likely to keep the nickels in circulation by carrying them around in their pockets and returning them to stores, Mr. Whatples said.

The Treasury only pressed 113 million nickels in 2024, but minted 3.2 billion pennies.

“I don’t see any excitement toward abolishing nickel,” Mr. Whatples said.

Still, the era of nickel may be over.

The death of the penny leaves the nickel as the least valuable coin. Inflation erodes the purchasing power of a coin every year. Stamps have cost less than a nickel since 1968. Calling at a payphone has cost less than a nickel since 1951 (not many people use payphones anymore).

Is the nickel the new penny?

Coin experts reason that once the penny is gone, consumers and store owners will rely more on the nickel. The Mint will probably end up producing more products, and losses will increase even more.

After the death of the penny, one big unknown was how retailers would handle rounding calculations for cash transactions. Will they round up and save the consumer a few cents, or will they round up and make themselves a few cents?

The Common Cent Act, introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers in 2025, would round cash transactions to the nearest 5 cents and could be a fairer solution. Although the bill has not progressed, some states are pursuing their own “rounding” laws.

If the nickel is abolished, there is a high possibility that the debate over revaluation will rise again.

“Let’s say you only pay $5 for an item that costs $4.91,” said Ute Wartenberg Kagan, executive director of the American Numismatic Association. “That’s a nine cent difference. It adds up to a lot of money.”

Wartenberg-Kagan said that in the world of coins, the Darwinian struggle for survival favors coins with higher value. America earned 10 cents ($36 million) and a quarter ($166 million) in 2024. She said the Mint could make a sizable profit from dollar coins if more Americans just used them.

“Governments throughout history have had the problem that it’s very cost-effective to make big money. But ordinary people need small amounts of money. That’s the paradox,” she said.

Government researchers have spent years studying ways to reduce the cost of producing nickel, perhaps by using cheaper combinations of ingredients. The goal, of course, is to keep manufacturing costs below 5 cents per coin.

But some observers are predicting the nickel’s eventual demise, given steadily rising inflation and the gradual decline in the purchasing power of the nickel.

“It’s going to be a long time before we get rid of the nickel,” Pepperdine’s Smith said. How long? “It will take 10 to 15 years,” he estimates.

“My sense is that at some point it’s inevitable. But it won’t be right away.”

The difference between “good” and “good” can jump as much as $50,000.

Usually, when a book is purchased by a publisher, the transaction is shrouded in mystery. Even when announced on Publishers Marketplace, deals range from $0 to over $500,000 and are categorized as “Excellent,” “Very Good,” “Good,” “Significant,” and “Major.” Unless the author volunteers the exact amount, only those involved in the transaction will know the amount.

Can anyone give me a book deal? What you need to become a novelist in 2026.

For aspiring writers scrolling through contract announcements on industry sites and social media, these vague labels can fuel both dreams and misunderstandings. A “good” deal may sound life-changing. A “big” trade may suggest instant wealth. But for most writers navigating the publishing world of 2026, the economic reality is far more complex.

Let’s take a look at why there are so many secrecy surrounding the publishing industry and how novel writers are coping.

Advisers say age 69 is the last stage before mandatory minimum distributions (RMDs) begin at age 73, but is still early enough to take steps to keep taxes low. For example, Americans may find the period between ages 69 and 73 to be the best time to convert to a Roth, the advisers said. Withdrawals from a Roth account are tax- and penalty-free as long as you are age 59 1/2 or older and the funds have been in the account for at least five years.

According to Citizens Bank, taxes are one of the biggest unexpected expenses for retirees. Withdrawals from traditional IRAs and 401(k)s count as taxable income. Depending on how high it is, you could also be taxed on Social Security or end up paying thousands of dollars more each year in Medicare premiums, so planning is important.

Sheena Gray, CEO of the African American Financial Advisors Association, said these years will be the “last window to manage your taxable income and manage your future taxes.” “They can determine whether your wealth is preserved or lost for generations.”

According to the Lottery, the jackpot has been won nearly 200 times since Powerball was introduced in 1992.

In 2026 alone, three tickets won the top prize. A $209.3 million prize from a ticket sold in North Carolina on January 21st, a $250.8 million jackpot win in Arkansas on March 2nd, and most recently a $231 million win in Delaware on April 6th ended weeks without a jackpot winner.

The largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history remains the $2.04 billion Powerball prize won by California’s Edwin Castro in 2022.

The six new stores will be located in Arizona, Missouri, New Jersey and North Carolina and will all open on May 17, according to a Target news release. Target plans to employ approximately 870 people across the six stores.

Five of the new stores are some of Target’s largest stores, exceeding the retailer’s average size of 125,000 square feet, the news release continued. The largest new location will open in St. Louis, Missouri and will be 149,000 square feet. The additional space will allow for an expanded grocery selection and a backroom five times larger than the traditional store.

Take a closer look at where Target will open new stores this spring.

opinion: The Target trip cost me $300. Will we be stuck with high prices forever?

Where will Target open new stores?

Can’t see the map above? Visit infogram.com/1pe2v397j72gyxum2pdkq5vr5qhlg0m1y9l.

• Arizona: 1355 N. Verrado Way in Buckeye* and 951 N. Promenade Parkway in Casa Grande*
• Missouri: 8645 Olive Boulevard, St. Louis*
• New Jersey: 381 Route 440 in Jersey City
• North Carolina: 5623 Carolina Beach Road* in Wilmington and 551 St. Mark Ave.* in Selma.