Trump touted bigger tax refunds this year, but Americans will likely spend them on gas
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U. S. economy was supposed to start the year with a bang, fueled by an unusually large jump in tax refunds from President Donald Trump's tax cut legislation. Yet spiking gas prices are on track to eat up those refunds, leaving most Americans with little extra to spend. “Next spring is projected to be the largest tax refund season of all time,” Trump said in a prime-time speech in December that was intended to address voters' concerns about the economy and stubbornly...
Read MoreSun, 22 Mar 2026
- Trump touted bigger tax refunds this year, but Americans will likely spend them on gas
- California sheriff running for governor seizes more than a half million ballots from 2025 election
- Iran threatens to close Strait of Hormuz and hit power plants after Trump's 48-hour ultimatum
- Cuba begins to restore power after nationwide grid collapse
- Enhanced role for immigration officers at US airports as shutdown frustrates travels and screeners
- France holds the final round of municipal elections ahead of 2027 presidential race
- Democrats sharpen criticism of Vance as they look past Trump to the 2028 presidential campaign
- Women farmworkers who built their own fight against sexual assault cope with Chavez allegations
- Bryson DeChambeau wins again by beating Jon Rahm in a LIV playoff in South Africa
- Israeli settlers smash cars and set fires in attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank
- Cast a ballot and wait for the plane. In Alaska, a grace period for ballots is seen as a necessity
- Goggia wins to lock up World Cup super-G title. Aicher further closes gap on overall leader Shiffrin
- Welcome to allergy season. Here's how to protect yourself
- Slovenia's governing liberals face right-wing populists in a tight parliamentary election
- A strike on a hospital in Sudan killed at least 64 people, WHO says
- Nonprofits, unions and airports rally to feed TSA officers as shutdown drags
Sat, 21 Mar 2026
- Hawaiis worst flooding in 20 years threatens dam, prompts evacuations, as more rain looms
- Trump's mixed messages on Iran: 'Winding down' the war and easing sanctions but adding more troops
- Detained immigrant children still face concerning conditions at Texas facility, lawyers say
- Cubas power grid collapses leaving it without electricity for the 3rd time this month
- Iran strikes near Israeli nuclear research center as Trump threatens attacks on Iranian power plants
- Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who investigated Russia-Trump campaign ties, dies
- For airline travelers, the shutdown answer is simple: Pay TSA officers
- ICE officers soon will help with airport security unless Democrats end shutdown, Trump says
- Senate blocks amendment on transgender athletes during weekend session on voting bill
- Newly discovered photos show astronaut Neil Armstrong after the Gemini 8 emergency
- As Netanyahu prepares for elections, his foes in Iran and Lebanon could get a vote
- Surprise, embarrassment, unease in Japan after Trump uses Pearl Harbor to defend Iran war
- Congress looks for Trump's exit plan as the Iran war drags on
- The Latest: Israel says attacks on Iran to ramp up as Trump mulls winding down military operations
- Big money flows into state attorney general races as legal battles shape American politics
- It's not just vaccines parents are refusing other routine preventive care for newborns
- Wimbledon introduces video review on six courts for this year's tournament
- BTS returns with comeback concert in Seoul after 4-year hiatus
- Russia thwarts protests over the blocking of a popular messaging app, but frustration persists
- Iran war halts Qatar helium output, threatening global tech supply chains
- 230 people are rescued as flash flooding hits Hawaii and officials warn 120-year-old dam could fail
- Israel strikes Hezbollah's civilian as well as military wings in an attempt to crush the group
- Judge orders Voice of America be put back together again. What are the chances that will happen?
Fri, 20 Mar 2026
- Iran threatens tourism sites and US sends more Marines to Middle East as Trump hints at wind-down
- Tons of aid flows into Cuba as humanitarian convoy arrives on the struggling island
- TSA officers are quitting as a funding standoff forces them to staff airports without pay
- High oil prices knock down stocks and erase Wall Street's hopes for a cut to interest rates
- Judge sides with New York Times in challenge to policy limiting reporters access to Pentagon
- DEA names Colombian president 'priority target' as US prosecutors probe ties to drug traffickers
- Trump administration sues Harvard, saying it violated civil rights law and seeking to recover funds
- Feds move to dismiss charges against officers accused of falsifying warrant in Breonna Taylor raid
- CBS News shutters its storied radio news service after nearly a century, ending an era
- Ukraine faces growing pressure because of the war in Iran as Russia readies a new offensive
- Chuck Norris, martial arts master and actor whose toughness became internet lore, dies at 86
- Jehovah's Witnesses ease policy on transfusions, allowing storage and use of one's own blood
- Records shattered as summer heat hits Southwest in March; 'This is what climate change looks like'
- White House urges Congress to take a light touch on AI regulations in new legislative blueprint
- Ukraine is using its drone expertise to help 5 countries against Iran attacks, Zelenskyy says
- NASA hauls its repaired moon rocket from the hangar back to the pad for an early April launch
- Pete Hegseths Christian rhetoric draws renewed scrutiny after the US goes to war with Iran
- Many states count mail ballots that arrive after Election Day. Those grace periods could go away
- Fire at South Korean auto parts factory injures at least 55
- Drone video from inside a Fukushima reactor shows a hole in pressure vessel, likely fuel debris
- High Point's upset starts run of 4 wins by double-digit seeds, busting March Madness brackets
- Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy
- Clergy seek court order to allow pastoral access to immigrants held at Minneapolis ICE facility
- Democrats aim to turn Trump's tariffs against GOP in campaigns for governor
- Teenagers sue Musk's xAI claiming image-generator made sexually explicit images of them as minors
Thu, 19 Mar 2026
- Japan's Takaichi tries to reaffirm alliance with Trump as he seeks help securing Strait of Hormuz
- Israel hits Tehran with airstrikes on Persian New Year as war jolts energy markets
- Student loans to go to Treasury Department as Trump continues to dismantle Education Department
- ABC cancels 'Bachelorette' season with Taylor Frankie Paul, citing 2023 video
- The body of an American student who went missing in Barcelona has been found, police in Spain say
- Brent crude briefly tops $119 per barrel, before receding, and shakes stock markets worldwide
- California's Gov. Newsom supports move to rename Csar Chavez Day over alleged sexual abuse
- Chavez name, once an honor, now carries a stain that officials want to scrub
- What Americans are giving up to afford ACA health insurance, according to a new poll
- Belarus releases 250 political prisoners in a deal with the US to lift some sanctions
- Pentagon seeks $200 billion in additional funds for the Iran war, AP source says
- Mullin's DHS nomination advances to full Senate despite opposition from Republican Rand Paul
- Trade with Cuba collapses as Trump escalates pressure on Communist Party leadership
- The Latest: Pentagon seeks $200 billion in additional funding for the Iran war, AP source says
- RFK Jr. makes food sound like a miracle drug. Researchers say he often overstates the science
- Dolores Huerta ends her silence, champions decades of advocacy for marginalized groups
- EU leaders balk at joining Middle East fight, grapple with high energy prices
- Trump faces his most difficult Iran war decision: Will he deploy US troops to seize uranium?
- Tulsi Gabbard says Iran's government still intact but refuses to discuss talks with Trump about war
- EU scrambles to contain energy costs from war in Middle East
- In Lebanon, war and displacement mar run-up to Eid al-Fitr holiday for many
- Joe Kent's resignation over Iran war reignites antisemitism fears and debate over Israeli influence
Wed, 18 Mar 2026
- Csar Chavez and Dolores Huerta led a movement that won better wages and conditions for farmworkers
- California community ties all-time March temperature record in the US
- Strikes hit world's largest natural gas field in Iran, and Tehran retaliates with more attacks
- Gov. JB Pritzker criticizes AIPAC after pro-Israel group spent heavily in Illinois primary
- Democrats storm out of Justice Department leaders' briefing on the Epstein files
- Fed keeps key rate unchanged as Powell vows to stay until DOJ investigation is finished
- Csar Chavez accused of sexually abusing labor rights leader Dolores Huerta and others
- US stocks slump on worries about higher oil prices, inflation and interest rates
- A landmark WNBA labor deal nears reality, paving the way for the first million dollar players
- Trump pays his respects in Delaware to 6 US service members killed in the Middle East
- Mullin makes his case as a steady hand for DHS but faces Senate pushback over his temperament
- The Latest: A rare statement from Irans supreme leader signals retaliation over Larijanis killing
- Pakistan and Afghanistan announce temporary pause in fighting, 2 days after deadly Kabul strike
- Winds, blizzards and triple-digit heat put over half of the US in the path of extreme weather
- UConn teammates Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd headline AP All-America first team
- US eases Venezuela oil sanctions as Trump seeks to boost world oil supply during Iran war
- Trump's failed strong-arming of allies on Iran shows that pressure is losing its effect
- French bulldog frenzy may be cooling in US, but dachshunds are riding high
- Trumps tariffs are hurting American manufacturers instead of helping them
- Venezuela beats US 3-2 on Surezs 9th-inning double to win first World Baseball Classic title
- About 90 ships cross the Strait of Hormuz as Iran exports millions of barrels of oil despite the war
- Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton wins Democratic primary for US Senate
Tue, 17 Mar 2026
- Gunman killed and employee hospitalized after a shooting at a Georgia VA clinic, police say
- Iran launches barrage of missiles after Israel kills 2 of its top officials
- A prolonged and unusual March heat wave is gripping cities across the West
- Flight cancellations and delays continue after US storms dump snow in the Midwest and head east
- Republicans are launching a voting bill debate that could last days or even weeks
- Attorney General Pam Bondi subpoenaed to answer questions from Congress about the Epstein files
- Vatican appeals court declares mistrial in the 'trial of the century' against a cardinal
- Rubio calls for new Cuban leaders as latest blackout underscores deepening economic crisis
- How many rate cuts? Iran war upends Federal Reserve's next steps
- Top counterterrorism official Kent resigns over Trump's Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat
- Broncos get star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle from Dolphins in a blockbuster trade, AP sources say
- Trump postpones his China trip to focus on the war in Iran
- Oil prices resume their rise, but US stocks hold steadier this time around
- Afghanistan says more than 400 dead in Pakistan airstrike on Kabul hospital
- 23 killed, 108 wounded in suspected suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria
- Zelenskyy in London to press for peace and Russia sanctions as Iran war steals focus
- Scottish lawmakers to vote on whether to let terminally ill people end their lives
- The Latest: Israel says it killed a top Iranian security official and the Basij force chief
- Trump team applying pressure to media: Tell the war's story the way we see it
- Trump's homeland security pick Mullin is poised to inherit a department beset by challenges
- What's in the voting bill that Republicans are pushing to the Senate floor
Mon, 16 Mar 2026
- United Arab Emirates briefly closes airspace as Israel strikes Lebanon and Tehran
- A Utah woman who wrote a book on grief after husband's death found guilty of murdering him
- Islandwide blackout hits Cuba as it struggles with deepening energy crisis
- Afghanistan says 400 people killed in Pakistan strike on Kabul hospital
- Bombs explode in northeastern Nigeria, leaving scores killed and injured, authorities say
- Last protester in immigration detention after Trumps campus crackdown has been released
- Trump side-stepped diplomacy on his way to war in Iran. Now, he's asking China and others for help
- Storms cancel more US flights as TSA remains under pressure from partial government shutdown
- Judge blocks US government from slimming down vaccine recommendations
- Supreme Court to hear arguments over push to end legal protections for migrants from Haiti, Syria
- Falling oil prices send Wall Street to its best day since the Iran war began
- Trump faces new pressure on mass deportations as Republicans weigh Homeland Security nominee
- Duke heads into March Madness ranked No. 1 in AP Top 25, Purdue, St. John's back in top 10
- Trump says chief of staff Susie Wiles has breast cancer but will keep working through treatment
- 3,800 workers are on strike at one of the largest meatpacking plants in the US
- UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina, all No. 1 seeds, top final AP Top 25 before March Madness
- 'Radiant' mother from Kentucky was among 6 US service members killed in air crash in Iraq
- Poland is now among the world's 20 largest economies. How it happened
- Aaron Judge hails World Baseball Classic crowds as 'bigger and better than the World Series'
- Iranian womens team leaves Malaysia for Oman after asylum reversal
- Oldest known whale recording could unlock mysteries of the ocean
- Key Oscar moments: Paul Thomas Anderson and Amy Madigan wins, outstanding songs and sad goodbyes
- Trump says that he's asked 'about 7' countries to join coalition to police Iran's Strait of Hormuz
- The Latest: Trump calls for help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz
- Republicans resist calls for Iran war hearings, creating a new standoff with Democrats
- The Latest: One Battle After Another takes best picture
- Tricky negotiations begin Monday to renew a trade pact between the United States, Mexico and Canada
Sun, 15 Mar 2026
- 'One Battle After Another' triumphs at 98th Academy Awards in coronation for Paul Thomas Anderson
- Analysis: Two weeks into war with Iran, Trump has been knocked back on his political heels
- The Latest: Selection Sunday: Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida claim No. 1 seeds in mens bracket
- Duke, Arizona, Michigan, Florida get top seeding for March Madness. Miami (Ohio) gets a shot
- Israeli military claims brother of man who attacked Michigan synagogue was Hezbollah commander
- Snow and wind batter parts of US, with threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes starting later Sunday
----------
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright © 1996 - 2026 CoreComm Internet Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | View our Privacy Policy
CoreComm is not responsible for content on external sites. Please review the privacy and security policies of each vendor before making online purchases or providing personal information. Forecast Information Provided by AccuWeather.