Milan Markovic | E+ | Getty Images The average tax refund is 11.2% higher this season, compared with about the same period in 2025, according to the latest IRS filing data. As of April 10, the average refund amount for individual filers was $3,397, up from $3,055 about one year ago, the IRS reported on Friday. The IRS data…
Energy shipments are increasingly being used as a foreign policy tool as the Trump administration attempts to hold down two blockades on opposite sides of the globe. The U.S., under the direction of President Donald Trump, has initiated a naval blockade targeting Iranian vessels in and around the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, seeking to…
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 15, 2026. Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images After filing your 2025 tax return, there’s plenty of time for 2026 changes that could improve your situation for next season, experts say….
Iran on Friday declared the Strait of Hormuz completely open to commercial traffic during the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a…
My top 10 things to watch Friday, April 17 1. The S & P 500 is headed for a higher open this morning after Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial traffic during the Israel-Lebanon 10-day ceasefire. Oil prices sank more than 9%. President Donald Trump said the U.S.-Iran war “should be ending…
President Donald Trump on Thursday said that “the war in Iran is going along swimmingly.” “It should be ending pretty soon,” Trump said at an event in Las Vegas, echoing similarly rosy predictions about the end of the war that he has made since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late…
Kazuhiro Nogi | AFP | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets opened lower Friday, as cautious optimism over the Middle East conflict tempered sentiment, diverging from Wall Street’s record-setting rally. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said that the war in Iran “should be ending pretty soon,” reiterating rosy predictions about the end of the conflict. Hours earlier,…
Outdoor enthusiasts travel by canoe through several of the hundreds of fresh water lakes that make up the Boundary Waters in the northern woods of Minnesota. Andrew Lichtenstein | Corbis News | Getty Images The Senate on Thursday overturned a mining moratorium in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, a boon for a Chilean mining company subsidiary…
Rear Admiral Erica G. Schwartz. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Erica Schwartz to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concluding a monthslong effort to choose a permanent leader of the embattled health agency. Schwartz, who will have to be confirmed by the…
President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on April 16, 2026. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images President Donald Trump on Thursday brushed aside concerns about much higher gas prices because of the Iran war, even as a new poll showed that most U.S….
