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by Sarah Kuta Last updated: 2:00 PM ET, Wed December 31, 2025 Boat Bike Tours is offering a unique tour of Egypt for the new year.With special permission from the government, guests will explore the country on e-bikes, traveling on quieter roads through the Nile’s fertile farmlands, small villages and immense monuments, including the Great Pyramids outside Cairo. Off their bikes, they’ll enjoy the comforts of deluxe hotels and an all-suite ship during the 13-day trip, which starts at $6,215 per person based on double occupancy.Licensed Egyptologists, guides, support vans and local escorts will accompany travelers.Visas, transfers and an internal…

Unless if you’re really in the know about nascent platforms, you probably didn’t know what Mastodon was until Elon Musk bought Twitter and renamed it X. In the initial aftermath of the acquisition, as users fretted over what direction Twitter would take, millions of users hopped over to Mastodon, a fellow microblogging site. As time went on, users would also try out Bluesky, or Instagram’s Threads app — but because Mastodon was founded in 2016, it had years to develop its own identity as more than just an alternate Twitter. What is Mastodon? Mastodon was founded in 2016 by German…

Rained poured down on the iconic Rose Parade on Thursday for the first time in 20 years, as flood warnings and evacuation orders in Southern California joined snow squalls and frigid temperatures in the country’s midsection to mark the first day of 2026.Marching bands, floats and throngs of spectators were soaked by one to two inches (2.5 to 5 centimeters) of New Year’s Day rain at the 137th Rose Parade in Pasadena. The mercury stood at a chilly 58 degrees Fahrenheit (14.4 degrees Celsius) at the 8 a.m. start of the parade. Across the country, in New York City, hats…

OpenAI is betting big on audio AI, and it’s not just about making ChatGPT sound better. According to new reporting from The Information, the company has unified several engineering, product, and research teams over the past two months to overhaul its audio models, all in preparation for an audio-first personal device expected to launch in about a year. The move reflects where the entire tech industry is headed — toward a future where screens become background noise and audio takes center stage. Smart speakers have already made voice assistants a fixture in more than a third of U.S. homes. Meta…

by Mia Taylor Last updated: 12:55 PM ET, Wed December 31, 2025 Donna Rae Garff Marriott, the wife of Marriott International’s Chairman Emeritus J.W. “Bill” Marriott Jr., has passed away.A statement released today by the global hotel company said Garff Marriott passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones on December 30. She and J.W. “Bill” Marriott Jr. had recently celebrated 70 years of marriage.  Born June 10, 1935, in Evanston, Illinois Garff Marriott grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she developed a love for music and dance and attended the University of Utah. In 1955, she married Bill…

NEW YORK (AP) — Incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani took his midnight oath of office on a centuries-old Quran, marking the first time a mayor of New York City uses Islam’s holy text to be sworn in and underscoring a series of historic firsts for the city.The 34-year-old Democrat became mayor in a long-closed subway station beneath City Hall, the first Muslim, first South Asian and first African-born person to hold that position. These milestones — as well as the historical Quran — reflect the longstanding and vibrant Muslim residents of the nation’s most populous city, according to a scholar who…

For North American travelers, European cruising often comes with a familiar template: Broadway-style shows, American dining patterns and an overall comfort-first atmosphere that feels like home. Costa Cruises flips that expectation on its head — and that’s precisely what makes it so appealing to the right clients. With more than 75 years of maritime history, Costa leans confidently into its heritage as the only Italian-flagged passenger cruise line. Approaching things the Italian way translates into the overall onboard experience, including the food, ambiance, entertainment and general rhythm of goings-on. For advisors looking to differentiate their European cruise recommendations, Costa presents something…

Every year, TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield pitch contest draws thousands of applicants. We whittle those applications down to the top 200 contenders, and of them, the top 20 compete on the big stage to become the winner, taking home the Startup Battlefield Cup and a cash prize of $100,000. But the remaining 180 startups all blew us away as well in their respective categories and compete in their own pitch competition. Here is the full list of the media/entertainment Startup Battlefield 200 selectees, along with a note on why they landed in the competition.  Alltroo  What it does: Helps celebrities manage their charity giveaways and…

2027 Ram 1500 SRT TRXStellantisDETROIT — Stellantis is resurrecting a V-8-powered Ram pickup truck called the TRX as the company faces fewer federal emissions regulations and enacts a U.S. sales turnaround plan for its brands. The automaker said Thursday that the 2027 Ram 1500 SRT TRX will be available late in 2026 for around $100,000. It was first produced for the 2021-2024 model years before being canceled as the company de-emphasized V-8 engines.The TRX is powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter “Hellcat” gas engine capable of 777 horsepower and 680 foot-pounds of torque. The automaker is calling it the “fastest and…

by Lacey Pfalz Last updated: 8:35 AM ET, Wed December 31, 2025 Hyatt Hotels Corporation has officially closed the sale of Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V.’s real estate portfolio to Tortuga Resorts, a real estate and asset management platform. The deal was made for $2 billion and follows Hyatt’s asset-light business model, which focuses on keeping direct ownership of property low. According to the hotel giant, certain operating thresholds could net the company $143 million in earnout, and Hyatt has also retained $200 million of preferred equity in Tortuga. The transaction includes a 50-year management agreement for 13 of the 15 resorts…