WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department is defending the declining numbers of tax refunds being issued so far this year, saying that taxpayers already saw the benefits of the new tax law in their paychecks.

The number of tax refunds issued so far fell nearly 16 percent to 11.4 million, compared with 13.5 million at the same point in the tax filing season last year, according to Treasury data published Thursday. The average amount of those refunds dropped to $1,949, compared with $2,135 in 2018.

“Most people are seeing the benefits of the tax cut in larger paychecks throughout the year, instead of tax refunds that are the result of people overpaying the government,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. “Smaller refunds mean that people are withholding appropriately based on their tax liability, which is positive news for taxpayers.”

The data, which reflects the first two weeks of the filing season, has been a sore point for some taxpayers who discovered that their refund is smaller than last year as a result of the late-2017 tax overhaul, which altered available deductions and credits and revised withholding tables.

In some cases, taxpayers who were counting on a refund found they owed the government instead.

The IRS has been off to a slow start this filing season after a 35-day government shutdown left the agency with a fraction of its staff just before the filing season launched Jan. 28.

The IRS is urging taxpayers who unexpectedly owe money to pay what they can if they can’t cover it all at once and then use the agency’s payment plan.

U.S., Facebook are negotiating record multibillion-dollar fine

WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission and Facebook are negotiating over a multibillion-dollar fine that would settle the agency’s investigation into the social media giant’s privacy practices, according to two people familiar with the probe.

The fine would be the largest the agency has ever imposed on a technology company, but the two sides have not yet agreed on an exact amount.

Previously, the largest fine imposed on a tech company for breaking an agreement with the federal government to safeguard consumers’ data was $22.5 million that Google paid in 2012.

The FTC’s probe of Facebook began as a response to reports about the social giant’s entanglement with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that improperly accessed data on 87 million of the social site’s users.

Egypt lawmakers OK possible rule by president until 2034

CAIRO — Egyptian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to extend term limits for President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi until 2034, part of a package of constitutional amendments also set to further enshrine the military’s role in politics that will now face a national referendum.

Of the 596-seat Parliament, 485 lawmakers backed the amendments, which could see the former general ruling for the length of five U.S. presidential terms.

Critics of the move argue that Egypt is slipping back into authoritarianism, eight years after a pro-democracy uprising ended Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade rule, and nearly six years after el-Sissi led a popular military overthrow of the country’s first freely elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.

Several dozen miners believed trapped after Zimbabwe floods

KADOMA, Zimbabwe — Hundreds of relatives, community members and others on Thursday sat on piles of soil and rocks or wandered around at a site in Zimbabwe where dozens of artisanal miners are feared dead after heavy rains flooded mines while they were underground.

About 40 people were trapped underground, a police spokesman said. Artisanal miners at the forefront of the rescue operation said the figure could be higher. The mine is on the outskirts of Kadoma, west of Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare.

The tunnels where the artisanal gold miners are trapped run as deep as 160 feet, making the rescue operation difficult, the spokesman said.

Rescue teams and pumps to drain the water were mobilized, but hopes of pulling out survivors were fading.

Trump gains weight, now considered obese

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has put on some pounds and is now officially considered obese.

The White House on Thursday released results of his most recent physical, revealing that his Body Mass Index is now 30.4. That’s based on the fact that doctors say he’s now carrying 243 pounds on his 6-foot, 3-inch frame.

An index rating of 30 is the level at which doctors consider someone obese under this commonly used formula.

Despite gaining four pounds from last year, Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s physician, said the 72-year-old president “remains in very good health overall.”

His resting heart rate is 70 beats a minute and his blood pressure reading was 118 over 80. His total cholesterol reading improved since last year, dropping from 223 to 196.

Maduro: Aide had secret meetings with U.S. envoy

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Nicolas Maduro is inviting a U.S. special envoy to come to Venezuela after revealing in an AP interview Thursday that his foreign minister recently held secret meetings with the U.S. official in New York.

The second of two meetings took place four days after the envoy, Elliott Abrams, said the time for dialogue with Maduro’s government had long passed.

Even while criticizing President Donald Trump’s confrontational stance, Maduro said he hopes to meet Trump to resolve an impasse over U.S. recognition of Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s leader.

Maduro said he won’t give up power and called the U.S. humanitarian aid sitting on the border with Colombia mere “crumbs” after the U.S. froze billions of dollars in Venezuela’s assets.

In Colorado: Denver teachers ended a three-day walkout and returned to their classrooms Thursday, after their union reached a tentative deal raising their pay as much as 11 percent.

Teachers were encouraged to return to their classrooms, even though the deal awaits ratification by the union membership.

In Louisiana: Louisiana State University announced the arrests Thursday of nine Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity members on charges ranging from misdemeanor hazing to felony second-degree battery for crimes that included ordering pledges to lie on broken glass, kicking pledges and urinating on them.