( MENAFN - GetNews) OTH Network redefines influencer marketing with its AI-powered platform and exclusive black card, allowing creators to trade social media engagement for real-world rewards. Connecting 3,000+ influencers with top brands, OTH fosters authentic collaborations and organic growth. OTH Network, an innovative influencer-focused fintech platform, is transforming the digital marketing landscape by enabling content creators to exchange social media engagement for real-world products and services. Through its AI-driven app and exclusive black card, OTH Network seamlessly connects influencers with top-tier businesses, fostering organic brand growth and authentic content creation. Launched in 2023, OTH Network has rapidly expanded its community to over 3,000 creators , with more than 90,000 global applications to date. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence to monitor influencer-generated content and match creators with suitable marketing opportunities, ensuring high-quality collaborations that benefit both parties. How OTH Network Works: Discover and Reserve Offers: Influencers use the OTH app to explore and select exclusive deals from participating businesses. Create and Share Content: After experiencing a product or service, creators produce engaging content, tagging the business and sharing it with their audience. AI Verification: OTH's AI system promptly reviews the content for accuracy and quality, ensuring compliance with campaign requirements. Instant Rewards: The influencer's OTH card is credited and ready for in-person redemptions at the partner business upon approval. This streamlined process benefits businesses by providing consistent, high-quality, organic content and exposure from influential voices. At the same time, influencers gain access to top restaurants , unique experiences, and rewards without direct financial transactions. Notable partnerships include establishments such as Sushi Bar in Miami, Flowrbombr Skincare in Los Angeles, and Footnanny Nail Spa in Beverly Hills, showcasing the platform's diverse reach across the hospitality, wellness, beauty, and fashion industries. "Our mission at OTH is to create a collaborative ecosystem that drives reach and traffic to all of our members," said the marketing manager of OTH Network. "By leveraging AI technology, we're able to match top-tier businesses with influential content creators, resulting in authentic marketing that resonates with audiences." As the digital marketing landscape evolves, OTH Network stands at the forefront of innovation, offering a scalable solution that redefines the relationship between brands and influencers. For more information or to apply to join the OTH Network, visit . MENAFN24122024003238003268ID1109028537 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.SEATTLE — Great Osobor and Zoom Diallo each scored a dozen points and Washington rolled to a 90-53 win over NJIT Sunday in its final tune-up before diving full-time into the Big Ten season. The Huskies bounced back from an upset loss at the hands of Seattle U that snapped a 19-game win streak against the cross-town rival. Osobor opened the game with a three-point play in the first minute and followed it with a layup and the Huskies raced to a 20-point lead by intermission, 46-26. Washington’s bench saw plenty of playing time with four players scoring at least nine points. Diallo led the bench effort with 12 points, five assists and a pair of steals. Wilhelm Briedenbach finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Sebastian Robinson was 5 of 22 from the field, including 0-for-4 from distance, but led the Highlanders (2-12) with 16 points. Tim Moore Jr. added 14 points and Ari Fulton contributed 11. The Huskies will look look for their first Big Ten Conference victory after an 0-2 start when they play host to Maryland on Thursday and No. 24 Illinois on Sunday. NJIT returns home to host Medgar Evers on Saturday.

Sriharikota, (Andhra Pradesh), Dec 29 (PTI) The countdown for ISRO’s Space Docking Experiment onboard a PSLV rocket on Monday that would be a key milestone in India’s space programme, commenced on Sunday evening, the space agency said. A cost-effective technology demonstrator mission for in-space docking, it would make India join an elite list featuring China, Russia and the US. ISRO has scheduled the lift-off of the PSLV-C60 rocket, at 9.58 pm from the first launch pad at this spaceport here on December 30 and it would carry SpaDeX with two spacecraft as the primary payloads along with 24 secondary payloads. “PSLV-C60/SpaDeX Mission Launch countdown commenced at 9 pm” on Sunday, an ISRO official told PTI. The in-space docking technology would be essential for taking up India’s ambitions in space including sending human to the Moon, bringing samples from there, and also building and operating India’s own space station- Bharatiya Antariksh Station. The docking technology would also be utilised when multiple rocket launches are planned to achieve common mission objectives. ISRO said the two spacecraft in the PSLV rocket– Spacecraft A (SDX01) and Spacecraft B (SDX02) would be placed in an orbit that would keep them 5 km apart from each other. Later, scientists at ISRO headquarters would try to bring them closer up to 3 metre which would subsequently lead them for merging together at an altitude of about 470km above Earth. The process is expected to take place about 10-14 days after the scheduled lift-off on Monday, ISRO officials said. In the SpaDeX mission, Spacecraft A carries a High Resolution Camera, while Spacecraft B has Miniature Multispectral Payload and a Radiation Monitor Payload. These payloads would provide high resolution images, natural resource monitoring, vegetation studies among others. Apart from this significant mission, scientists would also conduct the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-4 (POEM-4) in which 24 payloads–14 from ISRO and 10 from industry and academia, would be placed in the desired orbits one after the other over a 90 minute period after the lift-off. The life of the payloads in the fourth stage would be about three to four months. The vehicle for the PSLV-C60 mission used here would be the 18th Core-Alone variant. This would be ISRO’s last mission in 2024 and the PSLV-C60 is the first vehicle to be integrated upto the fourth stage at the PSLV Integration Facility that has been established here. PTI VIJ SA This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );Fidelity National Information Services Inc. stock rises Wednesday, still underperforms marketKari Dziedzic, former Minnesota Senate majority leader, dies at 62

Ravens WR Zay Flowers (shoulder) questionable vs. Texans

The demands of achieving both one-day shipping and a satisfying orgasm collide in Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl,” a kinky and darkly comic erotic thriller about sex in the Amazon era. Nicole Kidman stars as Romy Mathis, the chief executive of Tensile, a robotics business that pioneered automotive warehouses. In the movie’s opening credits, a maze of conveyor belts and bots shuttle boxes this way and that without a human in sight. Romy, too, is a little robotic. She intensely presides over the company. Her eyes are glued to her phone. She gets Botox injections, practices corporate-speak presentations (“Look up, smile and never show your weakness”) and maintains a floor-through New York apartment, along with a mansion in the suburbs that she shares with her theater-director husband ( Antonio Banderas ) and two teenage daughters (Esther McGregor and Vaughan Reilly). But the veneer of control is only that in “Babygirl,” a sometimes campy, frequently entertaining modern update to the erotically charged movies of the 1990s, like “Basic Instinct” and “9 1/2 Weeks.” Reijn, the Dutch director of “Bodies Bodies Bodies” has critically made her film from a more female point of view, resulting in ever-shifting gender and power dynamics that make “Babygirl” seldom predictable — even if the film is never quite as daring as it seems to thinks it is. The opening moments of “Babygirl,” which A24 releases Wednesday, are of Kidman in close-up and apparent climax. But moments after she and her husband finish and say “I love you,” she retreats down the hall to writhe on the floor while watching cheap, transgressive internet pornography. The breathy soundtrack, by the composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer, heaves and puffs along with the film’s main character. One day while walking into the office, Romy is taken by a scene on the street. A violent dog gets loose but a young man, with remarkable calmness, calls to the dog and settles it. She seems infatuated. The man turns out to be Samuel (Harris Dickinson), one of the interns just starting at Tensile. When they meet inside the building, his manner with her is disarmingly frank. Samuel arranges for a brief meeting with Romy, during which he tells her, point blank, “I think you like to be told what to do.” She doesn’t disagree. Some of the same dynamic seen on the sidewalk, of animalistic urges and submission to them, ensues between Samuel and Romy. A great deal of the pleasure in “Babygirl” comes in watching Kidman, who so indelibly depicted uncompromised female desire in Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” again wade into the mysteries of sexual hunger. “Babygirl,” which Reijn also wrote, is sometimes a bit much. (In one scene, Samuel feeds Romy saucers of milk while George Michael’s “Father Figure” blares.) But its two lead actors are never anything but completely magnetic. Kidman deftly portrays Romy as a woman falling helplessly into an affair; she both knows what she’s doing and doesn’t. Dickinson exudes a disarming intensity; his chemistry with Kidman, despite their quickly forgotten age gap, is visceral. As their affair evolves, Samuel’s sense of control expands and he begins to threaten a call to HR. That he could destroy her doesn’t necessarily make Romy any less interested in seeing him, though there are some delicious post-#MeToo ironies in their clandestine CEO-intern relationship. Also in the mix is Romy’s executive assistant, Esme (Sophie Wilde, also very good), who’s eager for her own promotion. Where “Babygirl” heads from here, I won’t say. But the movie is less interested in workplace politics than it is in acknowledging authentic desires, even if they’re a little ludicrous. There’s genuine tenderness in their meetings, no matter the games that are played. Late in the film, Samuel describes it as “two children playing.” As a kind of erotic parable of control, “Babygirl” is also, either fittingly or ironically, shot in the very New York headquarters of its distributor, A24. For a studio that’s sometimes been accused of having a “house style,” here’s a movie that goes one step further by literally moving in. What about that automation stuff earlier? Well, our collective submission to digital overloads might have been a compelling jumping-off point for the film, but along the way, not every thread gets unraveled in the easily distracted “Babygirl.” Saucers of milk will do that. “Babygirl,” an A24 release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “strong sexual content, nudity and language.” Running time: 114 minutes. Three stars out of four.

Ryan Strome's goal late in 3rd period helps Ducks rally for 5-3 victory over OilersThe roughskin dog fish shark, a species of the shark family, which has never been seen live before, was recently spotted in the uncharted depths of the Cayman Islands. Scientists described their first glimpse of the shark as a “shadow swimming just beyond the (camera’s) detection window," stated multiple reports. Researchers from the Cayman Islands Department of Environment and project partner, Beneath the Waves, used a baited remote underwater video system (BRUVS) to track the dogfish shark alive. Researchers recorded two curious individuals at a depth of 1,045 meters during a deep-sea study from 2022 to 2024. Why is roughskin dogfish's live footage important Around 11 minutes of the footage from the project show the elusive roughskin dogfish shark (Centroscymnus owstonii). Few moments after the scientist spotted the shadow, the predator shark approached the bait, giving researchers an opportunity to study the species alive in its natural habitat. The roughskin dog fish shark's discovery, published in the Journal of Fish Biology, is significant as it provides the first live footage of this species, which was previously known only from dead specimens. Reportedly, the group of scientists who discovered the dog fish shark, hoped the findings would encourage conservation efforts to protect Cayman Islands' biodiversity. As per conservationists, live footage of any specimens help identify critical habitats and migration patterns of creatures of the animal kingdom. Researchers involved in discovering the roughskin dogfish A multidisciplinary team of scientists, including Olivia Dixon, Shannon Aldridge, Johanna Kohler, Anne Veeder, Paul Chin, Teresa Fernandes, Timothy Austin, Rupert Ormond, Mauvis Gore, Diego Vaz, and Austin Gallagher led the discovery. Their expertise and use of innovative technologies such as the BRUVS system have set a new benchmarks for deep-sea exploration. Taditional methods such as fishing and trawling, which have often been used for deep sea exploration, usually harm marine life. However, video-based systems like the dBRUV allow researchers to study species with minimal ecological disturbance.

By BILL BARROW, Associated Press PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter’s in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Carter’s path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That’s a very narrow way of assessing them,” Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn’t suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he’d be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter’s tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter’s lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor’s race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama’s segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival’s endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King’s daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters’ early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan’s presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan’s Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens will not carry an injury designation into Wednesday's game against the visiting Kansas City Chiefs. Pickens has missed the past three games for the Steelers (10-5) due to a hamstring injury that he sustained in practice. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said he's pleased to welcome back Pickens after the team has lost two in a row to find itself tied with the Baltimore Ravens (10-5) atop the AFC North. "I think it's self-explanatory," Tomlin said on Tuesday. "He is a splash playmaker. He's a one-on-one playmaker. Oftentimes he controls schematics, which creates one-on-ones for others, or a light box regarding the run. "But that's what talented, outside people do. Not only George, but anybody that has talented outside people." Pickens, 23, has a team-leading 55 catches and 850 yards. He has caught three touchdown passes. While Pickens is expected to play on Wednesday, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (knee) and wide receiver Ben Skowronek (hip) didn't practice for the second straight day this week on Tuesday and have been ruled out against the Chiefs (14-1). Quarterback Justin Fields was limited in practice on Tuesday and is questionable to face Kansas City due to an abdomen injury. Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (groin), cornerback Donte Jackson (back) and safety DeShon Elliott (hamstring) do not carry an injury designation and are expected to play against the Chiefs. --Field Level Media

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly visited Mahalla al-Kubra on Saturday to inspect the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company, part of the Cotton, Spinning, Weaving, and Ready-Made Garments Holding Company under the Ministry of Public Enterprise Sector. The visit underscored the government’s commitment to revitalizing Egypt’s textile industry. “Mahalla al-Kubra is a key industrial city and one of Egypt’s major hubs for spinning and textiles, renowned globally for its exceptional quality over the years,” Madbouly said. “This industry maximizes the use of Egypt’s resources and significantly bolsters the national economy, especially as it is labor-intensive.” Minister of Public Enterprise Sector Mohamed El-Shimy outlined the ambitious national project to transform the spinning and weaving industry. The initiative aims to quintuple yarn production capacity to 130,000 tonnes annually and increase textile production eightfold to 198 million meters per year. Additionally, it targets expanding textile production from 1,200 tonnes to 115,000 tonnes annually and clothing production to 40 million pieces. The development involves upgrading factories, modernizing equipment, and training workers to handle advanced technology. The project also seeks to restore Egypt’s global leadership in spinning and weaving while enhancing the competitiveness of national products in international markets. The Misr Spinning and Weaving Company in Mahalla al-Kubra plays a central role, accounting for approximately 45% of the project’s investments. This includes constructing five new factories and modernizing three existing ones. Minister El-Shimy emphasized the ongoing monitoring of the project’s progress, including construction, equipment procurement from leading global manufacturers, and worker training. During the visit, Ahmed Shaker, Executive Managing Director of the Holding Company for Cotton, Spinning, and Weaving, presented the overall strategy for the national project. Covering 65 factories and service buildings nationwide, the initiative involves construction, rehabilitation, and development at seven companies. The Prime Minister’s tour included visits to rehabilitated factories where previously halted machinery has been restored, spare parts provided, and essential maintenance conducted. At the “Spinning 4” factory, which produces 13 tonnes of fine compact yarn daily, most of the output is exported. The “Spinning 1” factory—the largest globally in terms of spindles under one roof—produces 15 tonnes of fine Egyptian cotton yarn daily, primarily for export. A dedicated section produces fishing yarn at a daily output of 20 tonnes. Madbouly also visited the “Preparations 1” factory, which recycles yarn for weaving, and reviewed operations at the new power station providing energy for the factories. Spanning 7,000 square meters with a capacity of 60 MW, the station was completed in February 2023 to meet the factories’ electricity demands. Additionally, he inspected progress at other facilities, including the “Spinning 6” factory and the “Preparations 2” factory, which processes 50 tonnes of yarn daily. Concluding his visit, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of adhering to project timelines to ensure the timely completion of all phases, reaffirming the government’s dedication to revitalizing Egypt’s textile industry.

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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — This was not the homecoming scenario Kirk Cousins would have scripted. Cousins' return to Minnesota, his NFL home from 2018 through 2023, on Sunday comes as he is hearing speculation about his job security in Atlanta. Cousins has thrown six interceptions with no touchdowns in the Falcons' three-game losing streak. That includes four picks in last week's 17-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, his most in a decade. “It’s kind of the challenge always in pro football to be able to get back up off the mat and get back going,” Cousins said after Wednesday's practice. A vote of confidence from coach Raheem Morris can't silence suggestions that it's time to give rookie first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. a chance to jump-start the Falcons' struggling offense. Morris said Sunday he didn't consider removing Cousins from the game, and he repeated his support for the veteran on Wednesday. “Got to go to Minnesota and get a big-time win and Kirk’s ready to go,” Morris said before acknowledging Cousins must bounce back from “obviously a tough game.” “You know, realistically, man he is built for this and he’s ready to go,” Morris said. The losing streak has left the Falcons (6-6) struggling to remain on top of the weak NFC South. They hold the tiebreaker advantage with Tampa Bay (6-6), but need Cousins to end his turnover streak. Cousins, 36, was expected to be the reliable leader on offense after he signed a four-year, $180 million contract. He will be in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. He said he expects a loud reception from Minnesota's fans. “They’re great fans, great football fans,” Cousins said. “As a result I think they’ll make it as hostile as they can for us.” Cousins ranks fifth in the league with 3,052 passing yards. He has 17 touchdown passes and his 13 interceptions are only one shy of his career high. Cousins insists he feels strong in his return from last season's torn Achilles tendon. He was critical of his mental mistakes in the loss to the Chargers. He said he rushed some passes, sometimes lacking the necessary velocity on his throws and giving defensive backs the opportunity to step in front of receivers for interceptions. Atlanta offensive coordinator Zac Robinson also said Cousins' lack of velocity on his throws “just goes back to, you know, decisiveness, being decisive when you do cut it loose. Certainly those things happen with quarterbacks. There might be times where, you know, you’re not as convicted on a throw. And it shows by the way the football comes out.” Morris said he still has confidence in Cousins' arm and the mental side to his game. “He’s done a great job with us, and I have no real qualms about him bouncing back and him being able to play the game the way it needs to be done,” Morris said. “He’s still an elite processor. He has the ability to make all the throws. He’s shown that throughout the year.” Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores also said he expects Cousins will shake out of his slump. “I know the narrative is he had a tough game last week, but he’s played some good football," Flores said. "I think the people in this building know what Kirk can do. He’s a very, very good quarterback.” Added Flores: “He’s a bounce-back type of guy, as we all know. I’m expecting his best, the best version of Kirk, the best version of that offense. It’s going to be a major challenge for us.” Atlanta's offensive production has dipped while the veteran quarterback’s turnovers have been on the rise. The Falcons were held to under 20 points in each of their three straight losses. “Have to just believe that tough times don’t last, tough people do,” Cousins said. “You have to keep pushing.” AP Pro Football Writer Dave Campbell contributed to this report. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflMeta Quest 3 and 3S Headsets Now Also in Danger: A Workaround RevealedJapan's famous sake joins UNESCO's cultural heritage list, a boost to brewers and enthusiasts

Longest-lived US president was always happy to speak his mindThings are really starting to cook for , a Surrey family business that makes South Asian-influenced, ready-to-eat meals sold in stores and served at a growing number of hospitals, schools and other institutions. Cooked and packaged at a Newton plant since 2019, the Khan family's butter chicken, channa masala, beef haleem and other products come frozen in bags and boxes, ready for the microwave. The company recently scored the Emerging Business trophy during hosted by BC Food & Beverage, a not-for-profit association representing the province's food and beverage processing industry. Rushd Khan operates Barakah Eats with the help of father Zafar, mother Lubna, wife Arshiya and a dozen employees. "We're very proud of the award, which reinforces our mission since we've launched this business as an extension of our family business including the restaurant ( , located near the KPU Surrey campus in Newton)," Rushd said. "It (the award) will help with the growth of our businesses, for sure." In a competitive frozen-food market, key for Barakah Eats products is halal certification — food that adheres to Islamic dietary laws and regulations. "Some hospitals, like Surrey Memorial, Langley and BC Children's Hospital just this month, they started using some of our products for patient care because they're halal-certified," Rushd explained. "That has been a gap among hospital patients, who can now ask for halal-certified meals. The hospitals noticed that there was a lot of food waste, because some people couldn't eat the food." Barakah Eats products have been tasted at in recent summers and will be featured at the new Halal Expo Vancouver, planned Feb. 7-8 at Cloverdale Agriplex (details on ). In Arabic, the company name means "blessings," a word embraced by the Khan family. "I never thought it would get to this, with people all over the place eating our food. It's unbelievable," patriarch Zafar Khan said. "Food is my passion, you know, so we have a tandoor in my backyard when we built our house, where we make naan," he added. "I went to back to Pakistan to learn how to make it, and at that time we didn't have a restaurant or anything yet." Looking ahead, the Khans aim to grow the Barakah Eats name in the food manufacturing market. "We see ourselves becoming more of a national company, hopefully by next year," Rushd said. "Right now our business is predominantly in B.C. We do some business outside of B.C. with our vegetarian products, but the meat license with CFIA certification (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), that's our target right now. Once we get over that hump, that opens up a lot of doors for us to start exporting across Canada and then outside of Canada as well. We already have a HACCP-certified facility." BC Food & Beverage's 2024 Rise Awards attracted 400 people to Anvil Centre in New Westminster on Nov. 29, a night when "exceptional leaders, innovators and brands" were recognized in 16 categories. “These awards showcase the talent, dedication and innovation that define B.C.’s food and beverage industry,” James Donaldson, CEO of BC Food & Beverage, raved in a . Other Rise Awards winners are Terra Breads (Hall of Fame inductee), Chocxo Chocolatier (Best in Brand), Vancouver Island Sea Salt (Circularity), Fine Choice Foods (Export), Authentic Indigenous Seafood (Indigenous Led Business of the Year), Blume (Innovation), Jeff Lee of Honey Bee Zen Apiaries (Leadership), Fine Choice Foods (Outstanding Workplace, Health & Safety), Salt Spring Kitchen Co. (People's Choice), Salt Spring Coffee (Social Impact), Chiwis (Sustainability) and Binny Boparai-Gill of Farming Karma Fruit Company (Woman Entrepreneur of the Year). Products of the year are Plant-based Crumbles-Chorizo, made by The Better Butchers (Gold award), Honey Salt Popcorn, Popstastic (Silver) and Dark Chocolate Lemon Crème Cups, Chocxo Chocolatier (Bronze).

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