The IRS added that the total number of tax returns that the agency has received and processed is...
mt

Read Online  |  February 26, 2026  |  🎧 Listen

I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well.

— Johann Sebastian Bach

📰 Top Stories

The top of a form for the 1040 individual income tax return for 2005, at the Des Plaines public library in Des Plaines, Ill., on March 23, 2006. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

IRS Reveals Tax Refund Boost

The IRS added that the total number of tax returns that the agency has received and processed is...

Read more
Read more

Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor 

Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor 

Good morning. It’s Thursday. Here are today’s top stories:

  • Leaders in big tech are expected to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House next week to pledge that their data centers will not increase the energy bills of Americans living near the facilities.
  • Vice President JD Vance announced new efforts to combat fraud nationwide. The federal government is temporarily deferring $259 million in Medicaid payments to the state of Minnesota, citing widespread fraud. Gov. Tim Walz has 60 days to respond.
  • Cuban officials said Wednesday that the country’s coast guard killed four people in an exchange of gunfire with a U.S.-registered boat that entered its waters from Florida.
  • Relative calm was gradually returning to Mexico on Wednesday after a wave of cartel violence in response to the killing of drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” which paralyzed highways, grounded flights, and sent residents and tourists scrambling for safety.
  • 🍵 Health: Six simple ways to turn everyday herbs into healing remedies.

3-Day Flash Sale: $1 for 6 months

Today, you can become a Epoch Times subscriber with $1.

This is a rare opportunity and we make no promise whether we would keep this deal in the new year. While it’s available, you’re invited to explore our entire treasure trove of content as much as you like for a full 6 months. After that, your subscription will renew at our regular rate.

During our flash sale, you have the opportunity to enjoy a full subscription for $1 for 6 months.

Subscribe Now
 

🗞️ More Top News

US POLITICS

Trump Makes Major Fraud Announcement

US NEWS

FBI Raids Home, Office of Los Angeles Schools Superintendent

IN PHOTOS

In Photos: 2026 State of the Union Address

 

📊 Poll

(Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images; Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)

Supreme Court Limits Tariffs. Trump Threatens 15 Percent. Your View?

Dear Reader,

On Feb. 20, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the president’s emergency powers do not authorize him to impose broad tariffs. President Donald Trump responded by threatening a 15 percent universal import tariff for up to 150 days. Other previously imposed tariffs remain in effect. What is your take on this?

The results will be featured in an article published this Saturday. (Take the Survey)

 

✨ Inspired

"The Xinjiang Procedure" by Ethan Gutmann verifies the horrors in Xinjiang Province. (Armin Lear Press/Olli Torma)

‘The Xinjiang Procedure’: Inside China’s Organ Harvesting Nightmare

Ethan Gutmann expands his investigation into the CCP’s human rights abuses. (Read more)

 

✍️ Opinion

CONRAD BLACK

Conrad Black: Trump Connects Policy Success to Patriotic Heroes in Masterful State of the Union Address

President Trump’s State of the Union speech was a tactical and substantive masterpiece. Though it continued for an hour and 47 minutes, it was not rambling or discursive but proceeded in logical sequence and attached policy aims and accomplishments of the administration explicitly to heroic individuals who were commended and decorated. (Read more)

MOLLIE ENGELHART

Love in the Small Things

As you can imagine, my life can feel chaotic. Four young children. Guests coming and going on the ranch. The Barn restaurant running full speed. Animals that don’t care what day it is. Tiny houses that always need more toilet paper and soap. There is always something. (Read more)

 

🧩 Games

Spot the Difference is our readers’ favorite. Play it here. 

Find more games on EpochFun →

Copyright © 2026 The Epoch Times, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is: The Epoch Times. 129 West 29th Street, Fl 8, New York, NY 10001 | Contact Us

 

*When sharing an article, giftaccess@TheEpochTimes.com is added to the list of recipients. If your friend is not already a subscriber, we will send them a special link for free access to the article.

Our Morning Brief newsletter is one of the best ways to receive the most up-to-date information. Manage your email preferences here or unsubscribe from Morning Brief here.