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McDonald’s restaurant in San Diego, California, U.S., Oct. 31, 2025. Mike Blake | Reuters”Value” was the buzzword du jour for restaurant executives that lasted all year — and it will likely stick around in 2026, too.Over the last year and a half, diners, particularly those who make less than $40,000 a year, have been eating out less frequently and spending less money when they do. Higher costs, like rent and child care, have put pressure on consumers’ wallets. Plus, uncertainty about the economy, President Donald Trump’s higher tariffs, layoff fears and immigration crackdowns have all hurt their willingness to spend.…

by Mia Taylor Last updated: 4:00 PM ET, Fri December 26, 2025 For outdoor adventure fans, there are few more exciting times of the year than winter, when snow has blanketed some of the country’s and the planet’s most stunning locations.Whether it’s legendary winter locales in the U.S. like Jackson Hole and Park City or somewhere more far-flung such as Switzerland, the getaway options offering immersive, high-adrenaline winter activities abound this time of year. At resorts across the globe you’ll find unique experiences and opportunities involving everything from snowshoeing and winter hiking to heli-skiing.If some of those activities on your…

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s protesting university students on Sunday collected signatures throughout the country for their request for an early parliamentary election that they hope would oust the autocratic government of President Aleksandar Vucic from office.Braving freezing weather, the students set up nearly 500 stands in dozens of cities, towns and villages in the Balkan country for residents to sign the election demand, which isn’t a formal petition. Students have said that Sunday’s action was meant to put further pressure on Vucic and as a test of support. Young protesters have been at the forefront of a nationwide movement…

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A debate over how to bring back surfing in Germany’s landmark English Garden escalated on Sunday after city workers removed a beam surreptitiously deployed over Christmas to restore a surfable wave in the river that runs through the park. For years, the site had been a hot spot for surfers and spectators because of the meter-high (three foot-high) wave created by the strong current of the Eisbach river. But the wave disappeared in October after city workers cleared away accumulated sediment, gravel and debris from the riverbed. That set off discussions between the city and the…

Many consumers feel pride in avoiding the glazed pastries in the supermarket and instead opting for “all natural” granola that comes packed with extra protein. Same goes for low-fat yogurts “made with real fruit,” “organic” plant-based milks and bottled “superfood” smoothies.Buyer beware: Healthy grocery buzzwords like those often cover up an unhealthy amount of sugar.Added sugars are difficult to quickly spot because many companies use clever marketing to distract consumers, said Nicole Avena, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical School and Princeton University who has studied added sugars.Avena said while some health-forward brands know people are…

As technology distracts, polarizes and automates, people are still finding refuge on analog islands in the digital sea.The holdouts span the generation gaps, uniting elderly and middle-aged enclaves born in the pre-internet times with the digital natives raised in the era of online ubiquity. They are setting down their devices to paint, color, knit and play board games. Others carve out time to mail birthday cards and salutations written in their own hand. Some drive cars with manual transmissions while surrounded by automobiles increasingly able to drive themselves. And a widening audience is turning to vinyl albums, resuscitating an analog…

The Apple Watch helps people track their health and fitness, but it can also be a great tool to help people stay productive and get work done. This is especially true for people who get easily distracted by their phone. Although the Apple Watch comes with simple built-in productivity apps like Reminders and Calendar, it’s worth exploring some third-party apps that are designed to boost productivity by offering additional functionality.  Todoist Image Credits:Todoist Todoist is a great app for managing tasks on your Apple Watch when you don’t want to pull out your iPhone. The app lets you create and…

India’s startup ecosystem raised nearly $11 billion in 2025, but investors wrote far fewer checks and grew more selective about where they took risk, underscoring how the world’s third most-funded startup market is diverging from the AI-fueled capital concentration seen in the U.S. The selective approach was most evident in deal-making. The number of startup funding rounds fell by nearly 39% from a year earlier, to 1,518 deals, according to Tracxn. Total funding slipped more modestly — down just over 17% to $10.5 billion. That pullback was not uniform. Seed-stage funding fell sharply to $1.1 billion in 2025, down 30%…

For more than a decade, dozens of journalists and human rights activists have been targeted and hacked by governments all over the world. Cops and spies in Ethiopia, Greece, Hungary, India, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates, among others, have used sophisticated spyware to compromise the phones of these victims, who at times have also faced real-world violence being intimidated, harassed, and in extreme cases, even murdered. In the last few years, in the fight to protect these higher-risk communities, a team of a dozen digital security experts, mostly based in Costa Rica, Manila, and Tunisia, among other…

What does it take to raise Series A in today’s market?  The goalposts have moved, the stakes are higher, and investors seem pickier than ever as the AI boom reshapes the industry. At TechCrunch Disrupt, three investors — Thomas Green of Insight Partners, Moxxie Ventures’ Katie Stanton, and GV’s Sangeen Zeb — broke down what they’ll be looking for in the new year. The numbers tell a clear story. Fewer rounds are getting funded but deal sizes have grown, said Green citing a study.    “It has never been easier to start a company, and it has never been harder to build something…