“Death and taxes.” We’ve heard it time and time again—the common idiom referring to the inevitability of mortality and taxation, famously coined by Benjamin Franklin in 1789. And today is tax day, the deadline to file federal taxes (or request an extension).

Of course, as of the of March, the IRS said it had received approximately 86.9 million electronically filed returns, with total processed returns reaching over 87.5 million for the 2026 filing season. The agency is expecting around 164 million individual returns total, suggesting that over half of taxpayers have already filed, with a high volume of taxpayers (46%) relying on refunds to help pay bills or cover waiting expenses.

Refunds are one of the biggest cash windfalls many households see all year—and when they fall short, so do plans to pay down debt, save or spend. According to Axios, tax refunds are up this year, but still falling short of expectations for many Americans, despite new tax breaks meant to put more money in taxpayers’ pockets.

This is the first filing season reflecting changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including new deductions that were expected to boost refunds for millions. The average check is about $3,462, up 11% from $3,116 last year, according to IRS filing season data through April 3rd. The number of refunds issued is up 3.1% year over year, with the final picture still taking shape. The typical increase is closer to $300, not the $600–$700 many expected.

And early data suggests the new deductions have had mixed uptake so far, adding to those uneven results, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. But with a battered Internal Revenue Service, which shed thousands of enforcement employees over the past year, the Wall Street Journal reports that more taxpayers appear eager to cheat this year. I guess that old American tradition of cheating on your taxes is pretty inevitable, too.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S.-Iran peace talks may resume “over the next two days” in Pakistan. But after weekend negotiations in Pakistan failed to reach a deal, Vice President JD Vance said it was up to Iran to “take the next step.” Trump, who last week declared a two-week pause in the now six-week war, has maintained that increased U.S. pressure on Iran, including a blockade of its oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, will eventually force the regime to give in to his demand that it will “never have a nuclear weapon.”

The U.S. military turned back six ships in the first 24 hours of its Iranian port blockade, which is being enforced by more than 10,000 U.S. troops. But now the blockade is causing deeper problems—the global economy faces a “major test” from the outbreak of war in the region, the International Monetary Fund said.

China issued its most forceful criticism yet of U.S. action, calling the blockade “dangerous and irresponsible.” President Xi Jinping said the world must not be allowed to “revert to the law of the jungle.” The New York Times reports that Trump is expected to land in Beijing in four weeks, in what was imagined as a carefully planned, highly orchestrated effort to recast the relationship between the world’s two largest economies. The president has already delayed the trip once, and White House officials insist there is no discussion of putting it off again, even if the United States is still choking off Iranian oil exports.

When the world is chaotic, many of us some pleasure relaxing with bad TV and even worse snacks. “I’ll work it off in the gym”, I often think. But those bags of chips and other ultraprocessed foods could be damaging our muscle health.

A study in the journal Radiology that analyzed over 600 participants found that people who regularly ate chips, soda, and drive-thru dinners had more fat threaded through their thigh muscles—regardless of their weight, calorie intake, or exercise habits. That streaky “marbling” between muscles, known as intermuscular fat, is tied to a higher risk of osteoarthritis in the knees and can change how muscles function, researchers say. “We thought maybe it was just obesity or belly fat ... but it was more than that,” senior author Dr. Thomas Link of UCSF tells NBC News.

Ultraprocessed foods have been linked to weight gain and obesity and the development of chronic conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and depression. Such foods may even shorten life, reports CNN. And sadly, more than 50% of the calories consumed by adults in the US come from ultraprocessed foods, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In children? That number rises even higher to 62%.

The shift from spring to summer is less about a hard pivot and more about refinement, right? We’re talking about lighter layers, softer tailoring and pieces that work just as well now as they will in peak heat. This is the moment to invest in wardrobe upgrades that balance versatility with intent: breathable fabrics, relaxed silhouettes and understated staples that carry you through fluctuating forecasts and changing plans. Whether it’s an unstructured blazer, elevated knitwear or easygoing footwear, MR PORTER has the additions that will define your summer wardrobe before it officially begins.