Heading to the HSBC SVNS Cape Town this weekend? You may want to take note of the road closures in the city to plan your trip accordingly.
The HSBC SVNS, also known as the Cape Town 7s, is back from 6–7 December! Don’t miss the world champion Blitzboks in action on their home turf, as two days of fast-paced rugby sevens light up DHL Stadium.
Between matches, soak up the gees with live entertainment, delicious food, and drinks all weekend long.
Road Closures
If you are travelling, here are the road closures:
Matches
The HSBC SVNS in Cape Town delivers fast-paced, action-packed rugby sevens matches over two days. Top men’s and women’s teams from around the world compete in pool matches in hopes of making it into the finals on Sunday.
“Since she wants to be petty and be an a**hole, I think I am just going to go ahead and say that grandpa Bret likes to drink her piss like it is dirty soda,” Jessi said in an Instagram Story video on November 25. “He gulps it down like water. And that is what ‘Fruity Pebbles’ means.”
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight published on Thursday, December 4, Demi confessed that Jessi outing her and Bret made things a little awkward around the dinner table at Thanksgiving.
“It’s an awkward topic, not gonna lie,” Demi told the outlet. “I had to go to Thanksgiving the next day. It was not ideal.”
Despite her initial shock at Jessi going public with the couple’s sex act, Demi said she and Bret decided to lean into the controversy.
“Fruity Pebbles has been a topic that we’ve all teased and talked about for so long and as much as it was a private moment, and we never planned on sharing this ourselves, we have nothing else left to do other than just own it and have fun with it,” Demi said.
She continued, “I think I just thought that it’s out there and it’s going to be talked about … I was able to handle the comments and everything with just more levity, which was nice.”
Disney/Pamela Littky (2)
Demi and Jessi fell out during season 2 of Mormon Wives, with their relationship only deteriorating further in season 3, which saw Jessi reveal her affair with Vanderpump Villa’s Marciano Brunette. Marciano also claimed he kissed Demi, which she has denied.
“There are things that people have seen on camera, there’s things that people haven’t seen, and I’m kind of at peace with it,” Demi said of her feud with Jessi. “Whereas, I do feel like Jessi does take a lot of time out of her life to make it a point to dislike me.”
The influencer said she hasn’t closed the door completely on her friendship with Jessi.
“On my end, 100 percent,” Demi responded when asked if there’s a chance of the two reconciling. “If Whitney[Leavitt] and Mikayla[Matthews] can become friends again, there’s hope for Demi and Jessi.”
“And at the end of the day, like, I never wish anyone ill will and I don’t want to ever see anyone fail or suffer. I want to see her do well and I hope she is doing well,” she added.
At the time of Jessi’s Fruity Pebbles revelation, Demi issued a statement via Instagram, writing, “What my husband and I did one time behind closed doors was a consensual and private experience in our marriage.”
“I won’t let a private act between my husband and I be a distraction from a serious act that I did not consent to,” she added, referring to her allegations that Marciano touched her without consent.
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A Pentagon watchdog report and video of a deadly boat strike in the Caribbean deepen scrutiny of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s actions. Federal agents arrested a Virginia man accused of planting the Jan. 6 pipe bombs after a years-long investigation that uncovered new forensic leads. And the Supreme Court cleared Texas to use a Republican-drawn congressional map that could shift multiple House seats and reshape the 2026 midterms.
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p class=”readrate”>Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Andrew Sussman, Anna Yukhananov, Ben Swasey, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
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p class=”readrate”>It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
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The UN General Assembly in session. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias
NEW YORK, Dec 5 2025 (IPS) – From its inception, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has been engaged in improving its working methods, mindful of, as early as in 1949, “… the increasing length of General Assembly sessions, and of the growing tendency towards protracted debates”.
Since the leadership of legendary Ambassador Samir Shihabi of Saudi Arabia as President of the General Assembly (PGA) during the 46th session in 1991 and thereafter, the Assembly’s agenda has included a dedicated item on the revitalization of the work of the Assembly and its Main Committees.
Since the 60th session in 2005, under the guidance of its articulate and forward-looking President, Ambassador Jan Eliasson of Sweden, the Assembly has established the Ad Hoc Working Group on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly. Its mandate was to “to identify ways to further enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the General Assembly”.
Till now, more than 200 outcomes have been recorded in 30 different areas. The incumbent President of the landmark 80th session, Annalena Baerbock of Germany has now taken the initiative to move forward substantively on this perennial exercise of the world’s most universal multilateral body.
Election of a Woman as the Next Secretary-General
I would strongly suggest that her forward-looking leadership would restore the operational credibility of the United Nations by including in its revitalization exercise the role of the Secretary-General, facilitating the election of a woman as the next Secretary-General, transparency of the UN’s budgetary processes, addressing the current and future liquidity crises, and meaningful inclusivity of civil society in the Assembly’s work.
The role, functions and leadership of the Secretary-General need special attention of the Assembly as the appointing authority. The 75th PGA in 2020 Volkan Bozkir has rightly identified that “the Secretary-General is the engine and the transmission system”.
It is unfortunate that questions have been raised about the reticence of the Secretary-General in getting his hands dirty and in getting more proactively involved in and in mobilizing his senior management team towards ending the ongoing global conflicts and wars and promoting peace and reconciliation.
In a recent op-ed, a former UNICEF Deputy Executive Director and a longtime UN watcher Kul Chandra Gautam even exhorted the SG “not to hide behind the glasshouse at Turtle Bay and go beyond invisible subtle diplomacy to more visible shuttle diplomacy.”
After choosing nine men successively to be the world’s topmost diplomat, I strongly believe that the United Nations should have the sanity and sagacity of electing a woman as its next Secretary-General.
In its resolution A/79/372 adopted as recently as on 5 September this year, the Assembly in its paragraph 42(c) says that “ Noting with regret that no woman has ever held the position of Secretary-General, encourages Member States to strongly consider nominating women as candidates” and it also asserted in its paragraph 42(k) that “The Secretary General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council, in accordance with Article 97 of the Charter”.
The same resolution (79/327) committed the UNGA “ … to the continued implementation of … its resolution 76/262 of 26 April 2022 on the veto initiative, to enhance the work of the General Assembly, taking into account its role on matters related to the maintenance of international peace and security …”. In the current exercise, this area, of course, needs further attention and elaboration.
Transparency and accountability are essential in the budget processes of the UN.
Two other areas which need more scrutiny are extra budgetary resources received from Member States and consultancy practices including budgetary allocations for that by the Organization. Special attention in these areas is needed to restore the UN’s credibility and thereby effectiveness and efficiency for the benefit of the humanity as a whole.
Future financial and Liquidity crises
Tough decisions needed to avoid future financial and liquidity crises needed genuine engagement by all sides, yes, ALL sides, in particular the major “assessed” contributors.
Peacekeeping operations also face increasing liquidity pressure as the outstanding contributions for that area are reported to be $3.16 billion. These accumulations have been building up for some years. Why was no extra effort made by all sides well ahead of time to avoid the recurrent panic about the Organization’s liquidity crises?
Today’s financial and liquidity crisis is not caused by recent withholding of payments by a few major contributors for political reasons. Outstanding contributions for UN’s regular budget reached $2.27 billion last month.
At the UN, though the “process is an intergovernmental one and thereby Member States-driven”, absence of civil society involvement would seriously undermine the role and contribution of “We the Peoples …”. PGA Bozkir asserted that “civil society is the pillar of democracy, and we must, after some time, find a way that civil society is (re)presented here”.
Enhancing the UN’s credibility
Also, I am of the opinion that a formalized and mandated involvement of and genuine consultation with the civil society would enhance the UN’s credibility. The UN leadership and Member States should work diligently on that without fail for a decision by the on-going 80th session of the General Assembly.
Under the bold, upbeat and clear-sighted leadership of the incumbent PGA Annalena Baerbock whose proactive and forward-looking role has already drawn wide appreciative attention, the international community needs to wish her best of luck in this very important endeavor to revitalize the apex body of most universal multilateral entity – the UN General Assembly – in a positive way.
For that, now is the time to discuss and to decide on the urgent, focused and meaningful areas of action. The UN’s long-drawn revitalization efforts in reality should not end again in the repetitive regularity of an omnibus of redundancy.
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations; Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN; Initiator of the UNSCR 1325 as the President of the UN Security Council in March 2000; Chairman of the UN General Assembly’s Main Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Matters and Founder of the Global Movement for The Cultural of Peace (GMCoP
“If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His statutes, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD who heals you.” – Exodus 15:26
“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:5
And evening having come, they brought to Him many being possessed with demons, and He cast out the spirits with a word and He healed all those being sick, — Matthew 8:16
As I prepared to write this week’s article, I was led to write on home health remedies that still work even with all the advances that have been made in modern medicine. On her part, my best friend Gloria sent me a 7-part advisory on home care medical actions to better health. Talk about spirits speaking to spirits! I am aiming for 30 home health care actions that can save lives before the medics come. Our grandparents used many of them, and they lived great lives
The 7-part advisor is as follows:
1.When your heart races at night and you can’t calm down at night, take four slow breaths in and six out. You’ll see how your chest opens up.
2. When you walk into a room and forget why you are there, inhale peppermint or rosemary oil in the morning. This wakes up your sleeping brain.
3. If your knees hurt and you find it difficult to get up off of your chair, rub warm turmeric or ginger oil into your knees. Pain melts like it was never there. These herbs have healed inflammation over the years.
4.When you have a bloated stomach and food doesn’t digest as it should, start your morning with two cups of grapes. The grapes sweep years of buildup in your colon and also sharpen your foggy mind and take years off your face.
5. When your stomach is swollen that you cannot eat, and pain keeps you up at night, and you know you are constipated, eat a pawpaw (papaya), pumpkins, or boiled cabbage.
6. When your hair starts thinning and your edges start disappearing, eat three dates every day. Your hair is not dying from age, it is dying from starvation. Dates are rich in iron, and they pump iron straight into the bloodstream and wake your roots back up.
7. When you are tired, even after much sleep, sip warm lemon and ginger when you wake up. This mixture clears out all the mucus clogging your system, opens your breath and wakes you up from the inside.
8. When strength seems to disappear from your body, start keeping water melon seed. These have magnesium, zinc, and proteins. These are nutrients that your body is crying for as you gorge on processed food. (from https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMAobnFGT/, captured on 12.04.2025)
9. When you have a cough, take honey. The thick texture of honey may help reduce the urge to cough by coating and soothing the throat. Honey’s anti-inflammatory properties may also play a role.
10. When your throat is sore and the pain causes a burning sensation, boil some water, pour one teaspoon of salt and gargle three times a day.
11. When you get burned (splattering oil or open fire), rub Aloe Vera. If Aloe Vera is not available, dub the affected area with toothpaste (Colgate is the best).
12. Bloated stomach or inflammation of joints? Drink one teaspoon of turmeric with water. But also eating sliced pineapples helps reduce joint pain and inflammation.
13. When you cannot sleep, drink Chamomile tea.
14. Blood pressure – A 202 review of studies, Trusted Source, concluded that garlic supplements reduce blood pressure in people with high blood pressure. The researchers linked this to a 16% to 40% lower risk of experiencing cardiovascular events.
15. Cold treatment from eucalyptus leaves a plus, as congested sinuses are steamed into health. Add a few drops of eucalyptus oil to a pot of water, boil, and remove the pot from the stove. Drape a towel over your head and shoulder… the vapor carries droplets of oil into your sinuses and loosens congestion.
16. Peppermint oil seems to reduce spasms in the digestive tract. And when applied to the skin, it can cause surface warmth, which relieves pain beneath the skin. It may also help to “cool” the skin, and relieve itching. Some people use peppermint for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), indigestion. and bedsores. It is also used for anxiety, insomnia, and migraine headaches.
17. Grandma was right: Chicken soup can be good for a cold. Studies show it can ease symptoms and help you get rid of the cold sooner. It also curbs swelling and clears out nasal fluids.
18. Hot Baths are good for all kinds of things that affect your muscles, bones, and tendons (the tissues that connect your muscles to your bones), like arthritis, back pain, and joint pain.
19. Ice Pack Use a bag of frozen peas or simply a plastic bag or wet towel with ice in the first 48 hours after an injury to help with pain and swelling. No ice? Cold water will work as well.
20. Vitamin C for allergies. Although Vitamin C is one of the most popular home remedies for the common cold, it is also a remedy for allergies.
21. Nivea is the all-magic cure forblisters or boils on the skin and other parts of your body.
22. Thyme tea for coughs – Thyme is a natural expectorant that relaxes the respiratory tract and loosens mucus.
23. Blackberry tea for diarrhea — Blackberries are rich in tannins, substances that can tighten mucous membranes in the intestinal tract. They have long been used as a treatment for diarrhea. If blackberry tea is not available, ordinary tea (without milk or sugar) works fine.
24. Cucumber for eye strains — Lie on your back and place one cucumber slice (about one-eighth inch thick) over each closed eye. Cucumbers contain antioxidants that studies have shown help decrease swelling and relieve pain.
25. Too thin blood or low blood count, then eat avocados, spinach or other green leafy vegetables. In abundance.
26. If you are on blood thinners, avoid eating any of the foods mentioned in Number 25!
27. Lavender oil for foot odour – Lavender essential oil not only smells good but also has antibacterial properties that help kill germs. Before bed, rub a few drops of oil onto your feet and massage it in. Lavender is also a good room deodorizer.
28. Yes, stop eating red meats if you have gout, but also try cherries for gout. People who ate about 20 cherries every day were less likely to experience flare-ups of gout, according to a study of 633 patients with the condition.
29. Sugar for hiccups — A spoonful of sugar doesn’t just help the medicine go down; when it comes to hiccups (contractions of the diaphragm), it is the medicine. “Eating the grainy sugar crystals forces you to swallow harder than normal, and this resets your diaphragm” to stop the spasms, says Claire Martin, a California-based nutritionist.
30. Pressure for neck pain — With your thumb or your fingertips, apply steady pressure on the painful spot on your neck for three minutes. Research shows that this simple acupressure technique helps loosen tight muscles to lessen pain. 10 percent effective!
31. Cranberry juice for urinary tract infections — A study of 373 women with a history of urinary tract infections (UTIs) showed that those who drank a glass of cranberry juice daily had a 40 percent reduction in the number of UTIs compared with those who drank a placebo.
Happy home health treatment!
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What if the bird perched innocently on a power line wasn’t a bird at all, but a military drone preparing for a precision strike?
China has quietly pushed global warfare into a new and unsettling chapter with the development of ornithopters—mechanical drones engineered to look and fly exactly like real birds.
These devices don’t rely on the typical loud propulsion systems associated with conventional drones.
Instead, they use flapping wings that mimic avian movement with astonishing accuracy.
At a distance, and sometimes even up close, they are nearly impossible to distinguish from actual wildlife.
The technology forms part of covert programs reportedly operating under names like “Dove,” which focus on producing drones that resemble species ranging from small sparrows to imposing eagles.
Their mastery of biomimicry allows these machines to blend seamlessly into natural environments, evading radar systems and fooling the human eye.
This level of stealth gives military units unprecedented surveillance capability, especially in sensitive or hostile territories.
But surveillance is only the beginning of their potential.
Reports suggest that the larger, hawk-sized models are capable of carrying lethal, miniaturized precision-guided micro-warheads.
This means these robotic birds are not just collecting intelligence but also providing the ability to carry out silent, targeted strikes.
Such weaponized biomimicry represents a profound shift in how military force can be projected with minimal visibility.
By merging natural imitation with advanced engineering, special operations teams gain the ability to strike without relying on larger aircraft that are easier to detect.
In this emerging era of defense technology, the smallest objects in the sky may turn out to be the most dangerous.
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