Former Bachelor Ben Higgins is a new dad after his wife, Jessica Clarke, gave birth to their first baby.
“Update and more to come but baby girl Higgins has entered the world,” Higgins, 35, revealed via Instagram on Wednesday, February 12, posting a photo of an emotional moment between him and Clarke following the birth of their child.
“She is healthy. @jessclarke_ is doing so well,” he said. “I don’t yet have words for what just happened but the update right now is we have a daughter and Jess is recovering so well. The nurses and doctors who cared for us should be lifted high. Also I am biased but God spent a little more time on our baby girl because she’s real beautiful! This beauty will be revealed soon but first she needs a bath.”
The couple announced Clarke’s pregnancy in August 2024. “The next chapter of our love story!” they captioned a joint Instagram post that featured special moments from their relationship and ended with a sonogram image. “Baby girl coming in February ❤️.”
Higgins and Clarke began dating in late 2018 and got engaged in March 2020. They tied the knot in November 2021.
Shortly after sharing their pregnancy news with the world, Higgins confirmed that he and Clarke conceived their baby through intrauterine insemination (IUI).
“We planned this, and we didn’t know how many steps we’d have to take. We didn’t know how much help we’d have to get,” Higgins exclusively told Us Weekly in August 2024. “We have a lot of friends who struggle with infertility and who struggled through the process and just hearing from them and learning from them, we knew we wanted to plan and be ready. … We set that date and we started trying, and it happened for us easier than we expected.”
Courtesy of Jessica Clarke Higgins/Instagram
He added that the pair felt “really fortunate” and were “really excited” to start their family.
Despite his gratitude for their impending arrival, Higgins confessed at the time that he was “terrified” to become a girl dad.
“With a girl, there’s 1,000 worst case scenarios in my mind and I know she’s gonna break my heart,” he explained. “She’s gonna break [my heart] because it’s so full.”
Higgins feared that he would become “a pile of tears and mush forever” as a dad.
“It’s literally been a joke in my family,” he said. “I’ve always been really sensitive and not in a good way. Always. I’m very emotional. I’m a crier.”
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As for Clarke’s approach to her pregnancy, Higgins applauded her positive attitude even when she didn’t feel well.
Related: Former ‘Bachelor’ and ‘Bachelorette’ Leads: Where Are They Now?
While some roses stand the test of time, others wilt before the Neil Lane engagement ring can be resized. The Bachelor premiered on ABC in March 2002 with Alex Michel dubbed the world’s most eligible Bachelor. More than 20 women competed for his heart and one of the most successful reality TV franchises was born. […]
“She is still in a good mood and looks at it as a gift and a blessing that she’s pregnant,” he noted. “It’s such a crazy thing because if I was pregnant, I would never be able to do it. So, to see her just have this spirit of gratefulness through the whole thing has been really educational for me. I’ve learned a lot from her.”
Higgins previously appeared on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season 11 of The Bachelorette in 2015 before starring as the season 20 lead of The Bachelor the following year. He was engaged to his final rose recipient, Lauren Bushnell, from November 2015 to May 2017.
Or, when it comes to Christine Brown at the moment, if you no longer have it, you should go ahead and flaunt it, right?!?
The Sister Wives star has shed quite a lot of weight of late and took to Instagram this week in order to show off her new, impressive figure.
Christine Brown has lost 40 pounds. The Sister Wives star flaunts said weight loss here. (Instagram)
“I’m down 40 pounds and feeling better than ever!” Brown captioned a montage of photos on February 10.
“What’s better, is that the weight actually has stayed off. No more yo-yo dieting, no more feeling drained—just real, lasting results. I finally have hunger control and the energy I was missing, and it feels amazing!”
Christine added:
“If you’re ready to take control of your health, join me for my next weight loss challenge! Drop RESET in the comments, and I’ll send you the details.”
She also used the hashtag #Plexus, which makes us sad.
Christine Brown is all smiles in this Sister Wives scene. (TLC)
This shady weight loss supplement has not been approved by the FDA.
However, both Christine and Janelle Brown have served as spokespeople for the company, which many observers have compared in the past to an unfair pyramid scheme.
In general these days, Christine is all about evolving as a human being.
She dumped Kody Brown in November 2021 and married David Woolley in October 2023 and also wrote this week on social media:
“My journey shows that change is possible. If you feel confined by silence, know that every little step brings you closer to a brighter tomorrow. Let’s move forward together.”
Christine Brown deserves props for getting away from Kody. (TLC)
Christine is clearly very happy with her decision to leave her selfish spouse.
She plans on sharing a great deal of insight about her life and her relationships in an upcoming memoir.
Theautobiography will be titled Sister Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Finding Freedom and has been described by its publisher as “a groundbreaking and heartfelt memoir about living in a family like no other and finding the strength to leave Mormonism — and the only life she’s known — behind.”
It will go on sale on September 16.
Christine Brown looks downtrodden and disturbed on Sister Wives. (TLC)
Wrote Christine herself a few days ago of the book:
“It is gritty and honest as I tell my story living polygamy as a child, to my marriage and family life. It shows my heartache with leaving religion and my marriage to FINALLY meeting [David Woolley].”
The description on Amazon for Brown’s memoir, meanwhile, reads as follows:
Becoming Kody Brown’s third wife in 1994, Christine finally found the big, happy family she had hoped for. When TLC’s hit show Sister Wives premiered in 2010, Christine knew it was her chance to shine a light on the brighter side of polygamy—the helping hands, the lively discussions, and their unmatched devotion to each other.
But the cameras also revealed a much darker truth.
In this candid tell-all, Christine shares for the first time the journey that led her away from the Morman church and the bold path she is carving to live apart from all she has ever known.
Moving, genuine, and insightful, this is a uniquely powerful tour de force of Christine’s journey toward and beyond her time in the spotlight as a sister wife.
I knew Saros was a Housemarque game the second its protagonist said, “But after every death I always come back stronger.” The Finnish studio behind Returnal and a host of excellent arcade shooters is back with a new entry in the same genre scheduled for release on PlayStation 5 in 2026 and I already can’t wait.
Live Forever in the Universe of ‘New World: Aeternum’
Not much was revealed in the cinematic teaser during Wednesday’s PlayStation State of Play showcase, including any actual gameplay. But we did get a sense of Saros’ world and stakes, with the main character mentioning endless time loops and an eclipse from which madness, and creepy enemies, both spawn.
It seems very much like a spiritual successor to 2021’s GOTY roguelike contender Returnal but with an important difference. While that game was pretty punishing run-to-run, Saros will have “permanent resources and progression.” Every time hero Arjun Devraj (played by Rahul Kohli) respawns, he’ll have new weapons and upgrades rather than his arsenal resetting each time.
Here’s the description:
Set on the planet Carcosa under the threat of an ominous eclipse, take on the role of Arjun Devraj, a powerful Soltari Enforcer searching for answers on a lost off-world colony. SAROS features permanent progression systems, where every death reshapes the world while offering new upgrades to overcome challenges. With a haunting story, deep third-person action, and a grounded performance by Rahul Kohli, SAROS presents the next evolution in Housemarque’s gameplay-first experience.
Creative director Gregory Louden called it “the ultimate evolution of the Housemarque gameplay-first experience” and said the game will continue in the third-person action shooter tradition of its predecessor. There’s even a slight wink and a nod to Housemarque’s signature bullet hell orb patterns it loves killing players with.
When the game does arrive sometime in 2026, it will include enhancements for PS5 Pro. Considering the importance of framerate to the genre, that will probably end up being no small thing. Hopefully we get to see some actual gameplay later this year. In the meantime, you can join me in celebrating Housemarque’s 30th anniversary by giving Returnal a shot if you haven’t already.
Published: February 12, 2025 at 6:00 pm Updated: February 12, 2025 at 5:57 am
To improve your local-language experience, sometimes we employ an auto-translation plugin. Please note auto-translation may not be accurate, so read original article for precise information.
Shiba Inu price experts are confident that its recovery in the past 7 days could be a sign of a larger rally to come. However, many investors are unconvinced, saying that RCO Finance’s innovative trading ecosystem holds stronger potential for high returns.
Read on to see why analysts say RCO Finance will outshine the next Shiba Inu price rally to become the best altcoin investment of 2025.
Meme coin Holders Express Hope Following the 7-day Shiba Inu Price Recovery
Meme coin investors look forward to a strong recovery after the Shiba Inu price increase over the past week. As was the case for other meme tokens, the Shiba Inu price declined in early February 2025.
Many had expected the Shiba Inu price decline to continue. However, SHIB has grown by 7.33% over the past week, now trading at $0.00001583.
Amid talks of a Shiba Inu price recovery, investors are still turning to the altcoin sector in search of high-growth opportunities.
Among these opportunities, RCO Finance has emerged as a preferred choice, attracting traders with its AI-powered ecosystem designed to optimize returns from the investment ecosystem.
RCO Finance: Removing Bottlenecks in the Financial Landscape with Artificial Intelligence
RCO Finance is a unique ecosystem that offers access to over 120,000 assets, allowing investors to now amplify their returns across both traditional and decentralized finance markets.
Investors in this ecosystem can trade everything from stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, commodities, cryptocurrencies, to tokenized real estate. They can also explore diversification by building a portfolio with the right balance of risky and stable assets.
This helps them to keep losses minimal while maximizing returns. Coupled with RCO Finance’s staggering 1000x leverage feature, you can amplify your market exposure and capitalize on rapid price movements across traditional and decentralized markets.
Beyond broad investing options, RCO Finance provides access to Robo Advisor, a highly automated system that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to handle portfolio management on behalf of users.
Firstly, it can help you spot investing opportunities that align with your overall financial ambitions. Robo Advisor keeps an eye on the market by collecting data feeds from reliable outlets like Bloomberg.
This allows the trading bot to spot emerging investment opportunities while providing institutional-grade trading strategies that can help maximize gains.
To illustrate this in action, picture a novice meme coin investor with access to Robo Advisor. Rather than struggle with reading market charts or predicting market movements, they can rely on signals from Robo Advisor.
The trading bot will notify them of opportunities like the memecoin boom that took Dogecoin to a 3-year high in Q4 2024.
Aside from equipping you with high-level trading strategies, RCO Finance’s trading bot can also rebalance your portfolio automatically, helping you to reduce losses during bear markets while increasing gains during bullish times.
Take, for instance, when the release of Deep Seek triggered a market crash that wiped off $600 billion from Nvidia’s valuation.
In such a scenario, Robo Advisor instantly sifts through live data, looking for opportunities to strategically shift your investments from volatile sectors to more stable areas like government securities. This ensures that whether you’re new to investing or a seasoned trader, your portfolio is always optimized for growth and protection.
While Robo Advisor focuses on active trading, RCO Finance also empowers users to earn passive income by staking their RCOF tokens, adding an extra layer of growth potential to their investment strategies.
By staking your RCOF tokens, you help contribute to liquidity pools that enable seamless trading in its ecosystem, earning up to 86% APY as rewards. Additionally, holding RCO tokens helps investors earn reduced trading fees and compound their overall gains.
Even better, by incentivizing token holding, RCO Finance helps to keep RCOF’s value stable. They can also receive extra tokens as part of cashback and loyalty rewards for being an active member of the RCO Finance community.
Aside from yield earning mechanisms, RCO Finance also provides security and privacy by doing away with intrusive KYC procedures. With robust smart contracts that have been audited by SolidProof, the platform provides a secure, reliable trading environment.
RCO Finance Completes an Outstanding Milestone with its Beta Launch
RCO Finance has shown its commitment to transforming the investment sector with its recent beta launch. You can now dive into the future of investing by checking out pioneering tools like the Robo Advisor.
In the meantime, the team behind the project is working on further upgrades for Robo Advisor and the trading platform ahead of its coming alpha launch.
Best Crypto to Buy Now: RCO Finance Vs the Expected Shiba Inu Price Recovery
Analysts have applauded RCO Finance’s approach to using artificial intelligence to solve the common problems many investors face. Over 10,000 investors have joined RCO Finance’s presale, buying over $12 million worth of tokens.
Now in stage 5, RCOF tokens are priced at $0.100, but they will increase to $0.130 in stage 6. RCOF also has a projected listing between $0.4 and $0.6.
With forecasts hinting at a 10,000x surge, your $1,000 investment could soar to $150,000 by December. Take advantage of RCO Finance’s presale opportunity—buy RCOF tokens now at a discounted price before the upcoming price surge.
For more information about the RCO Finance (RCOF) Presale:
Visit RCO Finance Presale
Join The RCO Finance Community
Disclaimer
In line with the Trust Project guidelines, please note that the information provided on this page is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other form of advice. It is important to only invest what you can afford to lose and to seek independent financial advice if you have any doubts. For further information, we suggest referring to the terms and conditions as well as the help and support pages provided by the issuer or advertiser. MetaversePost is committed to accurate, unbiased reporting, but market conditions are subject to change without notice.
About The Author
Gregory, a digital nomad hailing from Poland, is not only a financial analyst but also a valuable contributor to various online magazines. With a wealth of experience in the financial industry, his insights and expertise have earned him recognition in numerous publications. Utilising his spare time effectively, Gregory is currently dedicated to writing a book about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
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Gregory, a digital nomad hailing from Poland, is not only a financial analyst but also a valuable contributor to various online magazines. With a wealth of experience in the financial industry, his insights and expertise have earned him recognition in numerous publications. Utilising his spare time effectively, Gregory is currently dedicated to writing a book about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
Sister Wives star Kody Brown finds out Robyn Brown isn’t the follower he thinks she is after singing her praises of abiding by his decisions and rules on the TLC series. Kody often threw her ability to be a good wife in the other three wives’ faces.
Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, and Christine Brown grew angry and tired of Kody suggesting they should be more like his youngest wife. But it seems Kody finds out that Robyn is’ not the Robyn Brown he thought he knew. There is not too much following going on anymore, which Kody’s face seems to indicate when she asks him a loaded question.
Sister Wives: Kody Brown’s Romantic Overload
Ever Since the Sister Wives brides started to drop out of this plural marriage, Robyn Brown cried. She acted desperate to get the three original wives back with Kody Brown. She insisted she wanted Meri, Janelle, and Christine back as her sister wives and to live the polygamous lifestyle.
Sister Wives | TLC
But Meri Brown summed it up in the Sister Wives episode. Robyn claimed she wanted a relationship with Meri despite the split. But then she ghosted her for months. So, fans now assume it wasn’t Meri, Christine, or Janelle who were important to her. Some viewers suggest they could have been any woman, as long as she had sister wives.
So, in a recent scene, when Kody goes overboard to shower Robyn Brown with romantic attention, she snubs him. While dining out together in the mid-season-finale, she asks him a question that almost chokes him.
Robyn Brown Gives Kody Indigestion?
The Sister Wives ladies who left Kody all seem to tag Robyn as a part of their reasons for leaving. Some more than others point the finger at her as a hefty piece of the demise of their marriages.
But it boils down to Kody Brown spending too much time with her. She also seemed to pull Kody’s strings, making rules and passing them along to the once-shared husband. Then, he in turn passed them along to his other three wives.
Even Kody Brown’s adult kids seemed to see her strategic methods with their father. Now a new piece of evidence emerges in the Sister Wives mid-season finale when Robyn looks across the table at Kody and drops the bomb.
Kody seemed to enjoy his dinner. But Robyn brought up a topic that likely curdled his appetite and possibly gave him indigestion.
Sister Wives: Robyn’s Master Plan Emerges
In a recebt Sister Wives clip, it looks like Robyn ruins a romantic night out for Kody. All he’s been talking about on camera when he’s not analyzing one of his ex-wives is how much he loves monogamy with Robyn. The c video below shows him trying to turn her on.
But Robyn Brown rips the rug out from under her husband during their dinner. She asks him if they will live a polygamy lifestyle again. It is evident to Sister Wives fans this is what Robyn Brown wants, but not what Kody sees for their future.
After watching Robyn Brown in action, some fans think this is all part of a master plan for her. Now she wants sister wives again. But this time it won’t be the three original women she joined as a newbie. No, she will be the matriarch of the sister wives who come after her. Fans think she was going for Meri Brown’s spot in their once-plural marriage.
This would put her in a position to call the shots if they do go this way. And Sister Wives fans think Kody Brown will do just about anything to keep Robyn Brown as his wife, as he demonstrates in his TLC series.
Head back to Soap Dirt for the latest buzz on Sister Wives.
Cupid is calling! Alessia Cara sat down with ET before the highly anticipated release of her fourth studio album, Love & Hyperbole, on Feb. 14 for Valentine’s Day.
The singer, 28, spilled her holiday must-haves while celebrating her Made By campaign with Lenovo, which includes her album trailer and accompanying episodic miniseries created with Lenovo Slim 7i Aura Edition, Lenovo Yoga devices, and Lenovo laptops with Intel Core Ultra processors.
Yasmine Omar
For starters, Cara recommends planning a thoughtful and intimate evening.
Her top picks: “A yummy dinner, pretty hydrangeas or chrysanthemums, warm vanilla candles, Cadbury hazelnut chocolate bars, a bubble bath, and anything that feels cozy.”
In addition to romantic gestures, the “Scars to Your Beautiful” songstress believes a good playlist can help set the mood.
“I tend to write mainly autobiographical music just because I feel most compelled to pick up a pen and paper when I’m feeling something very deeply, whether bad or good,” Cara shares.
“There’s a little something for every person, in any situation, on this album, whether you’re single and sad, single and happy, in love and sad, or in love and happy,” she adds.
And when it comes to her date night look, the Canadian hitmaker opts for a chic, laidback approach.
“I like brown toned lipstick and overdone blush that’s a little glowy for extra warmth, leaving my hair natural and with a side part, so you know I mean business, and a long silk skirt paired with literally anything,” she says.
But, regardless of what she’s doing or wearing, Cara is sure to fit in time for self-love.
Yasmine Omar
“I take an extra 15 minutes at night to do my skincare routine and a face and neck massage. It’s become an important part of my day and makes me feel like I’m nurturing myself. I also try to implement better self-talk and take compliments with a ‘thank you’ instead of an opposition,” the songwriter notes.
To celebrate her new album, Cara is set to host an event with Lenovo and Intel on Wednesday, Feb. 12 in New York City, which will feature a live performance, interactive projection mapping, and immersive elements.
“Partnering with Lenovo, Intel, and Universal Music Group for Brands has been a really cool experience that elevated creativity and brought intricate ideas to life in a more seamless way,” she explains.
Keeping your Charisma stat high is one of the essential things to do in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. It is because it helps you persuade characters, haggle for the best prices, and most importantly pass the skill checks. The Charisma directly depends on Henry’s appearance. If he is wearing decent and clean clothes, the Charisma will be high which will favor you in speaking with the locals. However, if you are dirty or the clothes are dirty, then you should prioritize cleaning them. One of the ways that you clean your clothes is by doing laundry. In this guide, we will help you how to do laundry in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
How to Do Laundry in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Laundry is one of the methods for cleaning Henry’s clothes in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. You can clean and wash Henry’s clothes by going to the bathhouse, but it will cost you a hefty amount of Groschen depending on the service you are availing. To do the laundry in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, you need two things. First, you need to get a Soap, and the second thing is you need to find a laundry spot.
Purchase soaps from vendors in KCD2
You can purchase the soap from the traders and the bathhouse maids. The bathhouse maids have the soaps in high quantity so it is much better to buy it from them. Moreover, you can also find soap near the laundry spots or in random houses.
The laundry spots are scattered throughout the regions of the Kingdom of Bohemia. However, not every town or village has a laundry spot. Most of the major towns and villages have a pond or lake beside them which is usually a laundry spot. Moreover, any area that has running water near it will have a laundry area where you can launder your clothes.
Finding laundry spots in KCD2
Upon getting the soap and finding a laundry spot, interact with the laundry spot and you will see a window with all of the dirty clothes. Select the dirty clothes you wish to clean and accept. You will hear a brief splash sound and all of your selected clothing items will be cleaned.
That is all related to how to do laundry in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
AI agents are becoming a key enabler for businesses looking to streamline processes, automate repetitive tasks, and empower their employees to work more efficiently. In Microsoft 365 Copilot, we’ve already seen a lot of solutions that focus on improving productivity for individuals. Yet, the potential for AI-driven automation goes much further when you can connect intelligent , natural language, agents directly to your own business data and processes—enter Azure AI Agent Service in Azure AI Foundry.
In this post, you read about why AI Agents are valuable, and how Azure AI Agent Service makes it easy to build and customize these agents. I also did some testing and share those experiences, including the Code Interpreter feature for data analysis. Finally, in the end you can read through some quick tips on how you can get started.
What Are AI Agents and Why Should Businesses Care?Stories of Transforming Business ProcessesAI AgentsAzure AI Agent Service is now in Public PreviewMy Testing Experience with Code Interpreter and Knowledge SourcesCode InterpreterExternal Knowledge & RAG TestingAgent Configuration Made SimpleModel Tuning Options and Limitations Getting Started: The Quickstart PrerequisitesCreating and Testing Your AgentExpand with SDK or Additional ToolsConclusionRead more from these sources:About writing this article
At its simplest, an AI agent is a self-contained “microservice” powered by a large language model (LLM) or similar AI model. It’s designed to answer questions, perform actions, and ultimately automate or augment specific tasks. Let’s take a look at some examples first.
Stories of Transforming Business Processes
A Fictional Look at a Multi-Agent Sales EcosystemImagine a large electronics retailer that operates in dozens of countries. They have separate specialized AI agents for different aspects of the sales cycle. One AI agent handles lead qualification by scanning incoming inquiries and extracting key information about prospective clients. Simultaneously, another agent is responsible for product recommendations based on real-time pricing and inventory data. Once a lead is qualified, a scheduling agent sets up demos with sales reps and automatically books a meeting in Microsoft Teams, complete with relevant documents attached.
These agents can also collaborate, passing information to one another about lead status or the best product bundles for a particular region. Thanks to this multi-agent approach, a sales rep can jump in only when human interaction is truly needed, rather than juggling repetitive tasks like re-checking stock or manually coordinating meetings. The entire process is a well-orchestrated system that frees employees from repetitive admin and data entry. The result: more personalized interactions with customers, higher sales velocity, and a drastically reduced chance of human error.
Fujitsu: RAG and Sales Efficiency in the Real WorldWhile the above scenario is hypothetical, real-life businesses already leverage Azure AI Agent Service to revolutionize their sales processes. For example, Fujitsu leveraged Azure AI Agent Service and Semantic Kernel to build an AI-powered automation solution to streamline proposal creation, enabling sales teams to focus on high-value customer engagement. The AI agent dynamically retrieves and synthesizes data from dispersed sources, ensuring accuracy and relevance while integrating seamlessly into Fujitsu’s existing Microsoft ecosystem. “We are using Microsoft’s Semantic Kernel and Azure AI Agent Service to orchestrate multiple specialized AI agents and an orchestrator AI to coordinate them to answer questions as a team,”
Cineplex: Transforming Customer Service Through AutomationCineplex, a leading Canadian media and entertainment company, has transformed its customer service operations using AI-powered automation. One of its biggest challenges was handling refund requests, a time-consuming process that took 5–15 minutes per request. To solve this, Cineplex implemented an AI Copilot agent using Microsoft Power Platform and Azure AI. Now, guest service agents simply input a booking ID and date, and the AI handles the rest—retrieving data, validating the request, and completing the refund in about 30 seconds This highlights how AI agents can optimize routine tasks, boost efficiency, and enhance customer service—without replacing human interaction. For businesses looking to scale support operations, AI-powered automation can be a game-changer.
AI Agents
Unlike basic chatbots, AI agents can incorporate context from historical conversations and connect to external systems, allowing them to:
Search your company’s knowledge base or the web.
Process and interpret files or real-time data.
Make calculations, generate reports, even run code.
Perform complex tasks that save employees time and effort.
Integrate with other systems, internal and external
Engage other agents in the process: multi-agent systems
Cope a lot better with various situations better than traditional automation. This is due to LLM in their “core” giving understanding of the goal and what is needed. AI Agents are flexible and can adapt to situations – and also know when to ask help from an another agent or a real person.
In other words, AI agents can complement human workers by taking on repetitive or time-consuming jobs. That might mean a customer support agent that automatically retrieves answers from a knowledge base, an internal finance agent that crunches budget data from spreadsheets, or a sales agent that triggers email workflows.
From a business standpoint, AI agents have tangible benefits:
Accelerated decision-making: Dynamic, context-aware AI reduces manual research.
Scalability: Agents can work around the clock, handling tasks for multiple teams simultaneously.
Consistency: They apply knowledge and logic in a uniform way—fewer mistakes due to human error. Today is the time when we experiment with agents, and it needs to be realized agents can also make mistakes – sometimes even plenty.. The goal is in the consistency and coming up with new ideas where AI can transform the process, and these won’t be reached without experimenting, coming up with challenging use cases and courage to try out something new.
Azure AI Agent Service, now available as public preview in the Azure AI Foundry portal, provides a managed environment to build, debug, and deploy these AI agents. It’s designed so that developers and tech-savvy business users can quickly shape an agent’s capabilities without having to assemble all the underlying code or infrastructure themselves. This speeds up pro-code agent development and is yet an another example of fusion teams where business and developers work together.
Key capabilities include:
Ready-to-Go Tools & Integrations:
Code Interpreter: Allows agents to execute Python code within a secure sandbox—great for number-crunching, data analysis, or generating graphs.
Bing Search & Azure AI Search: Agents can pull in external knowledge from the web or your own data, adding relevant context to tasks.
Azure Functions Support (SDK-based): Developers can expose custom business logic or external APIs to the agent, letting it trigger real-world actions.
Conversational Memory:Agents can maintain a thread of conversation, remember details, and continue where you (or the agent itself) left off. This is handled securely on the server side.
Multiple Model Options:Although Microsoft’s GPT-4o is a popular choice, you can also deploy other partner models like Cohere or Mistral in the Azure AI Foundry. (Note: Mistral-large-2407 is becoming legacy and may not be available much longer.)
Basic vs. Standard Setup:
Basic Setup (supported in the Azure AI Foundry portal today): You rely on Microsoft-managed resources for storage and search. Quick to start, minimal overhead, but it offers less control.
Standard Setup (Bicep template–only): You bring your own resources (like Azure Storage and Azure AI Search) for complete visibility and cost management.
I’ve spent some time exploring the new Agents UI in Azure AI Foundry, putting these features to the test. Here’s what stood out for me:
Code Interpreter
A fun (though fictional) scenario was exploring the terminal velocity of a laptop falling from an airplane. With the agent’s Code Interpreter tool enabled, I could ask the agent to run physics-related calculations. It can generate quick math scripts in Python—and this is just a simple example about the Code Interpreter.
I uploaded an Excel file for the 2023 budget of the city of Vantaa (available as open data) to the Code Interpreter. The agent then read and interpreted the file, making it straightforward to analyze budget figures, gather insights, and visualize the data.
External Knowledge & RAG Testing
I also tested a scenario using basic RAG (retrieval augmented generation). By uploading some demo documents, the agent was able to pull targeted facts from my own content, weaving them into its answers. The RAG with AI isn’t anything new anymore, but the Assistants API working behind the hood isn’t an everyday tool yet. So it made sense to play around to see how it performs – and it was just like I expected.
Agent Configuration Made Simple
The visual flow in the Azure AI Foundry UI is deceptively simple: define your agent’s name, add Knowledge sources (files or indexes), and specify which Actions (tools) the agent may use.
Currently, the only action available from the UI is Code Interpreter. If you want to integrate your own, such as Azure Functions, you can do more via the SDK.
Model Tuning Options and Limitations
Basic tuning for Temperature and Top P is easily accessible in the UI, so you can adjust how creative or deterministic your agent’s answers should be.
In the UI, only Code Interpreter is displayed as an “action,” but the underlying Assistants API definition is flexible—new actions or custom tools can be added once they are enabled.
I experimented with GPT-4o, which worked seamlessly. The service also promises support for non-OpenAI models like Cohere and Mistral, though my free Azure subscription didn’t allow me to deploy them.
Overall, these tests highlight how quickly you can piece together a specialized AI agent that’s unique to your brand, team, or project. With a few lines of code or a few clicks in the UI, you can transform a simple chat model into a mini-assistant with real business value.
Want to try it yourself? Here’s a short guide based on the official quickstart.
Prerequisites
An Azure subscription (create a free trial if needed).
The Azure AI Developer role assigned. This gives you the right permissions to create and manage AI agents.
Basic Setup via the Azure AI Foundry Portal: Because the Foundry portal only supports the “basic setup,” you’ll be using Microsoft-managed storage and search behind the scenes. This gets you getting started fast.
Creating and Testing Your Agent
Navigate to Agents in the Azure AI Foundry portal and select “New agent.”
Provide a name and add instructions (e.g., “You are a business analyst specializing in forecasting.”).A tip: use Chat Playground’s Generate prompt feature to build instructions for the agent.
Under “Knowledge & Action,” add Code Interpreter if you want the agent to handle data analysis or code execution. You can also attach up to 20 files that your agent can read and use for generating outputs.
After configuring your agent, switch to the “Playground” to begin chatting.
You can revise instructions, tweak model parameters (Temperature, Top P), or add new knowledge files and tools.
Confirm that your agent is responding as expected and refine your instructions or data sources if needed.
To incorporate your own Azure Functions or external APIs, you’ll need to define them as tools via the Azure AI Foundry SDK or the Azure OpenAI SDK. This is particularly helpful for more complex automations where the agent might, for instance, update a CRM record or send an email on your behalf.
Azure AI Agent Service is a promising step forward in automating diverse business processes—from data analysis and RAG queries to more action-oriented tasks like connecting to external APIs. The combination of large language models, integrated tools, and simple setup in the Azure AI Foundry UI makes it a compelling choice for trying out a variety of automation scenarios. In the future (near, I hope) we can also add multi-agent systems to this.
For business decision makers, one key factor is how quickly and securely it is possible achieve operational benefits (and ROI). Whether you’re in finance, manufacturing, retail, or beyond, AI agents offer a new way to tap into supercharging business processes. Think scaling processes that traditionally depend on human intervention, to agent-driven that improve productivity, reduce manual errors, and freeing tedious work (and precious) time from humans. When I talk with customers about Microsoft 365 Copilot, it already helps many to complete more tasks faster than before. For many of them, that means less long days turning evenings – or that pile of to do tasks stays in control.
If you’re curious, I recommend checking the quickstart, spinning up a basic agent, and giving Azure AI Service UI and especially the Code Interpreter with Assistants API a try. From data crunching to helping your sales or support teams, you can see how fast you can build an pro-code agent core capable of meaningful work.
Read more from these sources:
Yes, I used again the Azure OpenAI Service reasoning model o1 to help me out with this. I provided the model a long prompt, that included my goal, insights, information of what I did and what I wanted to express in the post. Along with the background information from Microsoft Learn and articles. After that I used some prompts to refine the result and added example use cases. Finally I coped the text to the blog and went through this – applying changes, deleting parts and adding new insights, and of course pictures. This speeded up the actual blog writing process quite a lot, but it still took a few of hours in total.
Perhaps for one blog post I will create a Teams meeting, that I record and transcribe, when I testing out new feature. Using that could provide quite an unique base for the post draft, that I generate with the help of o1. That would not be so structured as writing my selected insights, but would definitely be a different way. Will it be faster? That I can find out by testing it out.
Becky McDonald in Coronation Street was the loud-mouthed bad-girl-turned-good who everyone loved.
Married to Steve McDonald, she was the half-sister of Kylie Platt, and is the aunt of Kylie’s kids Max and Lily.
Becky came from a troubled background but her marriage to Steve, rivalry with Tracy Barlow and affection for Roy and Hayley Cropper made her one of Corrie’s best-loved characters.
Katherine’s carved out a super-successful on television including her role as Sally in Innocent (Credit: ITV)
Who played Becky McDonald in Coronation Street?
Becky McDonald in Coronation Street was played by talented actress Katherine Kelly.
She first appeared on television in Last of the Summer Wine back in 2003, as well as in roles on Silent Witness and the hospital drama No Angels, before she shot to fame playing Becky.
Since leaving Corrie, Katherine’s career has gone from strength to strength. She starred in Mr Selfridge, and in other hugely popular dramas including Happy Valley, The Night Manager, Class, Gentleman Jack, Innocent, and Liar.
Katherine has two daughters Orla and Rose with her former husband Ryan Clark. The pair split though they said their separation was amicable.
Becky and Roy made quite the pairing (Credit: ITV/YouTube)
Becky’s arrival on the Street
Troubled Becky was an old friend of Kelly Crabtree. She arrived in the Street when Hayley Cropper offered her a job at Roy’s Rolls.
It wasn’t plain sailing at first, though, with Becky causing trouble for the Croppers.
But she settled down and began dating Jason Grimshaw, though she cheated on him with Steve McDonald.
Becky was too drunk to get married to Steve the first time (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)
Becky and Steve
After their one-night stand, Becky and Steve developed proper feelings for each other. They planned to wed, but Becky got too drunk before their first ceremony so it was called off.
At the reception of their second wedding, she was (falsely) arrested for possessing drugs.
Becky then had two miscarriages and discovered she couldn’t have children, so she and Steve decided to adopt.
The second wedding also had a few hitches (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)
But their application was turned down thanks to Becky’s sister, Kylie, giving her a bad reference.
The sisters eventually reconciled but while Kylie went off the rails, it was Becky who stepped up and cared for Max. Kylie even offered to sell the lad to her sister!
Things got messy and Steve and Becky planned to flee abroad with Max and Amy, but their plans fell apart and the pair broke up.
Steve then got back together with Tracy, and she got pregnant with his twins. But she miscarried.
Later, she and Becky had a furious row and Tracy fell down the stairs.
She falsely blamed her love rival for the loss of her babies – even though her fall happened after the miscarriage – and told everyone Becky had pushed her.
Becky left after exposing Tracy as a liar (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)
What happened to Becky McDonald in Coronation Street?
Becky was distraught and went off the rails again for a while. But she got herself back on track, and met handsome businessman Danny Stratton.
She fell for him and loved his young son Billy but she was upset when he revealed he was leaving to run a hotel in Barbados.
Determined to clear her name, Becky managed to steal Tracy’s medical records and discovered she lost the babies before her row with Becky.
She didn’t reveal the truth at Tracy and Steve’s wedding, as viewers were expecting, but instead waited until the pair had tied the knot and were celebrating at the reception before dropping her bombshell.
And then she left Weatherfield forever to start a new life with Danny in the Caribbean.
Kylie and David were about to move to Barbados to be with Becky when Kylie was killed.
Becky’s most recent mention
Becky was mentioned tonight (Wednesday, February 12), as Max’s family tried to help him remain a free man as the police caught wind of him being the one to start the fire.
David then told Shona that Max’s aunt Becky said that Max could go and live with her and her partner Ian.
Ian was also not on the right side of the law and could give him a cash in hand job…
Will Katherine ever reprise her role? (Credit: ITV)
Is Becky coming back to Coronation Street?
Actress Katherine is often asked if she would come back to the soap that made her famous.
But during a 2021 interview Katherine told the Herald it would be a ‘bitter disappointment’ to revisit.
She said: “That character was very much of her time and I think, in all honesty, she would be a bitter disappointment to revisit.
“I would hate for her to be spoiled in any way, because it was such a perfect character, at a perfect time. Becky’s better left with a fondness.”
Since then, Katherine hasn’t seemed to change her stance so it looks like a Becky return won’t be likely. And, with Max leaving the soap, most of her ties to the cobbles will be gone.
Read more: Coronation Street spoilers: First look as Rob tries to escape prison
Coronation Street usually airs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV.
What do you think of this story? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know your thoughts!
Intrigue and mystery await in Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room, a new puzzle adventure that is available today on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Developed and published by mc2games, this escape room experience challenges players to delve into an ancient Egyptian pyramid and uncover the secrets within.
This one comes priced at £10.74, as Pyramids and Aliens promises a captivating blend of archaeology and alien intrigue.
A Disappearance in the Desert
The story begins with the mysterious disappearance of your former mentor inside an ancient Egyptian pyramid. Determined to find him, you embark on an expedition into the pyramid’s depths, only to discover that things are not as they seem.
Prepare to encounter puzzles that will test your archaeological skills and unravel a mystery that extends far beyond the confines of the ancient world.
Pyramids and Aliens sets itself apart with its unique blend of ancient Egyptian and alien themes. You’ll explore not only the chambers and corridors of a classic pyramid but also a strange alien temple hidden within. This unexpected twist adds a layer of intrigue and excitement to the escape room experience.
Key Features: Unraveling the Mystery
Expertly Designed Puzzles: Challenge yourself with puzzles crafted by escape room veterans.
Unique Setting: Explore both an ancient Egyptian pyramid and a mysterious alien temple.
Intriguing Story: Uncover the secrets behind your mentor’s disappearance and the pyramid’s true origins.
Beyond the Pyramid: The Allure of Escape Room Games
Pyramids and Aliens joins a growing roster of escape room games available on Xbox. These titles offer a unique blend of puzzle-solving, exploration, and narrative, providing a captivating experience for players who enjoy mental challenges and immersive environments.
For fans of escape room games, titles like the brilliant Escape Academy offer a wealth of puzzle-solving fun. Pyramids and Aliens adds another intriguing entry to this genre, with its unique setting and expertly designed puzzles.
Will You Escape the Pyramids and Aliens?
Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room offers a unique and intriguing escape room experience with a blend of ancient and alien themes. Are you ready to sharpen your mind and prepare to delve into the depths of the pyramid? The secrets of the ancients (and aliens) await over on the Xbox Store.
You’ll find the game playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room Description
Your former mentor has disappeared inside an ancient Egyptian pyramid. Will you be able to find him? Pyramids and Aliens is an escape room game that will test your skills as an archaeologist. Solve puzzles, find clues, and reveal the secrets of the pyramid. Spoiler: it was not built by humans! Will you be able to find your mentor and come back alive?
Base, the Coinbase-backed Ethereum Layer-2 network, has introduced a new infrastructure layer that allows AI assistants to interact directly with users’ crypto wallets...
