OP

Exposure to high levels of heat may impact both the growth of foetuses during pregnancy and infants up to the age of two, a new analysis shows. A study conducted by Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (MRCG at LSHTM), funded by the Wellcome Trust revealed that heat exposure must be considered in public health interventions to reduce the impact of climate change on pregnant women and their children. The findings published in The Lancet Planetary Health, suggest that heat stress may impact the growth of babies after they are born, adding to previous research by the team showing the impact of heat stress on foetal development. Being the first of its kind, the study showed that infants up to the age of two exposed to high heat in their environment may have lower weights for their age. The largest decreases were seen in infants between 6-18 months of age who had experienced higher average daily levels of heat stress in the previou...

                                            Political Commentator  Diagnoses The UDP Controversy!              By Alagie Saidy-Barrow  If you are familiar with Game Theory in any of the social sciences, then you may have heard about the “prisoner’s dilemma”. The prisoner’s dilemma is a “concept” in game theory that provides a “foundation” on why two or more rational individuals or organisations, etc., would choose to cooperate or compete against one another. In its simplified form, the prisoner’s dilemma refers to two individuals, let’s say in this case, Kenbugul and Terrenna, who are both in remand at Mile Two, charged with kidnapping a Badibunka.  If Kenbugul and Terrenna both refuse to cooperate with Police Prosecutor Ceesay Chopsa, then Kenbugul and Terrenna will only serve ONE YEAR EACH in Mile Two for the lesser charge...

The post-election atmosphere looks relatively calm, as Senegalese awaits the final declaration of results. Basirou Diomaye Faye secured 54% of the votes, whilst his main contender Amadou Bah secured 35%   WHO IS BASIROU DIOMAYE FAYE? Bassirou Diomaye Faye (born 25 March 1980 in Ndiaganiao, in the western department of Mbour Senegal. is a Senegalese politician and former tax inspector who is the president-elect of Senegal He is the former general secretary of dissolved PASTEF and won the 2024 Senegalese presidential election in place of disqualified candidate Ousmane Sonko In 2000, Faye earned his baccalaureate. He successfully attained a master's degree in law and subsequently cleared both competitive exams, enrolling at the National School of Administration (ENA) and the magistracy in 2004. Political career Initially a guest when the party was founded, Faye swiftly ascended to become one of the most prominent figures within the party.[1] He would go on to become one of the ideolog...

  7 March 2024 – Day 17: Ousman Sonko addresses the Court In accordance with the procedural code, Ousman Sonko was given the opportunity to address the Court before it began its deliberations. In particular, he stated in English that he regretted that the Court did not provide simultaneous interpretation of the closing arguments of the other parties, as he was not able to understand what had was argued. For this reason, he could not comment on the conclusions presented by the parties. The lack of translation was a problem for him throughout the course of the trial, since 8 January 2024, for him but, above all, for the people interested in the proceedings: The Gambians. He also stated that he was the subject of violations of his rights throughout the proceedings, in particular by not receiving the transcripts of his testimony in a timely manner. He further stated that some plaintiffs have adapted their statements during the trial to make them fit the charges brought against him and ...

  By Pa Louis Sambou   F or most people, the Israel - Palestine question is probably the one conflict whose ugly scenes of horror has regularly appeared before their screens for a period of time spanning their entire lifetime. Although not the only unresolved historic territorial question, it is certainly the only none-frozen one, which fact probably explains why it evokes strenuous opinion from even folks afar, with Gambians not an exception.  Whether pro Israel or pro Palestine, far too many well-meaning people the world over, find themselves holding very strong views on this subject matter, but which position is in most cases predominantly driven and sustained by subjective factors and considerations. A particular news article which I recently came across on a Gambian newspaper, exhibited a spectacular example and presentation of this phenomenon.    Without offering a line by line review of the news article in question, which is definitely not the objective o...

By  Pa Louis Sambou    The premise of thought of most fair-minded people is no doubt that, dialogue is always preferable to anything else to the contrary. So, in principle, the concept of a National Dialogue is commendable. However, ‘a “ National Dialogue Meeting ” to what end?’, is also an equally rational question for any citizen to ask. Well, it is the question for me anyway.    With the exception of one or two whose opening statements touched on public policy subject matters, one would notice that the issues raised by all other opposition party leaders or representatives who spoke during the opening of this National Dialogue Meeting (NDM) are matters which are already within the remit and competence of the Inter Party Committee to address. As the sponsor, President Barrow’s opening remarks and speech was so unhelpfully vague as to the objective, it offered no comforting opening to the enigma at hand. So, with an unclear and undefined objective, one wonders u...

| The threat of military action in Niger by ECOWAS, and the role which The Gambia must play as a member state |   By Pa Louis Sambou   I t is certainly neither an inaccuracy nor an exaggeration to state that the Western part of the African continent which is officially known as West Africa, has had, and still experience crises which by any measure, are of far greater magnitude and scope than a coup in the Republic of Niger. Boko Haram terrorists kidnapping innocent schoolgirls, ISIS – inspired jihadist terrorising communities and conquering swathes of territory in the Sahel regions of West Africa, Alpha Condé, Alasan Outtara, corrupting their republican Constitutions, and Mackey Sall corrupting Senegalese democracy to prolong their respective times in office but to name a few of the crises which faced and still face the region, albeit without any serious response from the regional bloc, ECOWAS. However, ECOWAS officialdom wish to have us believe that a bloodless mutiny in Nige...