Artiemedvedev | Istock | Getty Images The average tax refund is 11.1% higher so far this season, compared with about the same period in 2025, according to the latest IRS filing data. As of April 3, the average refund amount for individual filers was $3,462, up from $3,116 about one year ago, the IRS reported on Friday. The IRS…
Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images The White House last month warned staff in an email not to make prediction markets bets related to the Iran war, a Trump administration official confirmed Friday. The warning came amid increasing concern about insider trading on prediction markets such as Polymarket after a series of suspiciously timed…
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media before boarding Air Force Two for expected departure to Pakistan for talks on Iran, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., April 10, 2026. Jacquelyn Martin | Via Reuters Vice President JD Vance said on Friday that he thinks negotiations with Iran to end the six-week war…
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Kuomintang party chair Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, the first encounter between Xi and a sitting Taiwanese opposition leader in nearly a decade. In a readout released by Chinese state media, Xi said Beijing “welcomes any proposals conducive to the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.” That’s according to…
A general view of Navigator Terminals, an Oil storage depot along the River Thames on March 10, 2026 in London, England. Dan Kitwood | Getty Images News | Getty Images The fluctuating price of dated Brent, the global benchmark for real-world barrels of crude, has prompted energy analysts warn to that acute stress in the…
A maze of crude oil pipes and valves is pictured during a tour by the Department of Energy at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas. Richard Carson | Reuters Oil prices edged higher in choppy trading Friday as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz deepened, with the vital shipping lane still largely closed despite…
Kevin Warsh, Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New York City, U.S., May 8, 2017. Brendan McDermid | Reuters An expected nomination hearing for Federal Reserve chair candidate Kevin Warsh has been delayed, a person familiar with the…
President Donald Trump speaks to press at the White House, in Washington, April 6, 2026. Kyle Mazza | Anadolu | Getty Images President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Iran “better stop now” if it’s charging fees to oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s warning in a Truth Social post put even…
A US Postal Service (USPS) post office is near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 5, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images The U.S. Postal Service, citing what it called a “severe financial crisis,” on Thursday announced a proposed set of price hikes across its mail products,…
US First Lady Melania Trump speaks in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, DC on April 9, 2026. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images First lady Melania Trump on Thursday blasted what she described as an array of false claims about her and notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “I am not…
