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Facebook has begun placing warnings over videos posted to its site, stating their contents might "shock, offend and upset" if viewed.

The alerts prevent the videos from automatically playing in feeds unless they are clicked, unlike other clips.

The site is also preventing graphic videos and photos from being shown to any user who has identified themself as being under 18 years old.

It follows pressure for the move from its own safety advisers.

But one psychologist said the measure still did not do enough to protect young, vulnerable members of the social network.

Among the first posts to be affected are uploaded files containing video footage of policeman Ahmed Merabet being shot dead in Paris by a terrorist involved in last week's Charlie Hebdo attacks.

Murder videos

Facebook has faced repeated criticism over recent years for allowing violent and graphic images that it deems to be of public interest or concern to remain on its pages.

The US firm's guidelines ban material "shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence".

However, it allows news reports and other documentary images depicting beheadings and other types of murder to remain online despite the potential for distress.

The firm permits children as young as 13 years old to be members. But some even younger children circumvent this age limit by providing false details when joining up.

Last August, controversy over images showing people's heads placed on spikes in Syria prompted the Family Online Safety Institute (Fosi) - a member of Facebook's safety advisory board - to demand the social network change its practices.

Stephen Balkam, the charity's chief executive, told the BBC he wanted cover pages to be placed over graphic material to prevent people from seeing distressing images without warning, and an age-gate system implemented to make it harder for under-18s to find the material.

Work in progress

Facebook has now confirmed it began rolling out such a scheme in December. It applies to graphic material reported to the firm by its users that is judged to have been posted in an irresponsible manner.

"When people share things on Facebook, we expect that they will share it responsibly, including choosing who will see that content," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

"We also ask that people warn their audience about what they are about to see if it includes graphic violence.

"In instances when people report graphic content to us that should include warnings or is not appropriate for people under the age of 18, we may add a warning for adults and prevent young people from viewing the content."

The spokeswoman added that the firm's engineers were still looking to further improve the scheme.

She said this might include adding warnings to relevant YouTube videos, which is not currently possible, as well as placing alerts over distressing photographs that were still available to adults.

Mr Balkam said he was "delighted" by Facebook's move.

"I also think that it has walked a very fine line between protection of users and protection of free expression, and I think it has got it just about right," he added.

Facebook had briefly experimented with adding a more basic form of warning sign to clips of decapitations in October 2013 after Prime Minister David Cameron said: "It's irresponsible of Facebook to post beheading videos, especially without a warning."

Clips showing decapitations taking place were later banned altogether.

'Good step'

News of the social network's latest move was welcomed by Childnet International, a London-based charity that is another member of Facebook's safety advisory panel.

"It's a good step to try and help protect people from this content, and we are glad that there is 18 age-gating," said the organisation's chief executive Will Gardner.

"There always has to be the recognition that people don't always sign up with their accurate age, and we have to be aware of that. But it's important that there are steps taken to protect people from seeing harmful and disturbing content that they don't want to see."

However, Dr Arthur Cassidy - a psychologist who runs a branch of the Yellow Ribbon Program suicide-prevention charity - said Facebook should implement an outright ban on clips and pictures of extreme violence.

He noted that large numbers of children used the service and said it was likely that many would try to work around the new restrictions.

"At the end of the day warning messages will not prevent young people from seeing upsetting and psychologically damaging material," he said.

"We know if we say, 'Do not do it,' that they will still do it - they will want to look and view material, irrespective of how grotesque it is.

"And it has the potential to influence maladaptive behaviour in those who might have the potential to become aggressors themselves."

(BBC)

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Jan.2015

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Facebook has begun placing warnings over videos posted to its site, stating their contents might "shock, offend and upset" if viewed.

The alerts prevent the videos from automatically playing in feeds unless they are clicked, unlike other clips.

The site is also preventing graphic videos and photos from being shown to any user who has identified themself as being under 18 years old.

It follows pressure for the move from its own safety advisers.

But one psychologist said the measure still did not do enough to protect young, vulnerable members of the social network.

Among the first posts to be affected are uploaded files containing video footage of policeman Ahmed Merabet being shot dead in Paris by a terrorist involved in last week's Charlie Hebdo attacks.

Murder videos

Facebook has faced repeated criticism over recent years for allowing violent and graphic images that it deems to be of public interest or concern to remain on its pages.

The US firm's guidelines ban material "shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence".

However, it allows news reports and other documentary images depicting beheadings and other types of murder to remain online despite the potential for distress.

The firm permits children as young as 13 years old to be members. But some even younger children circumvent this age limit by providing false details when joining up.

Last August, controversy over images showing people's heads placed on spikes in Syria prompted the Family Online Safety Institute (Fosi) - a member of Facebook's safety advisory board - to demand the social network change its practices.

Stephen Balkam, the charity's chief executive, told the BBC he wanted cover pages to be placed over graphic material to prevent people from seeing distressing images without warning, and an age-gate system implemented to make it harder for under-18s to find the material.

Work in progress

Facebook has now confirmed it began rolling out such a scheme in December. It applies to graphic material reported to the firm by its users that is judged to have been posted in an irresponsible manner.

"When people share things on Facebook, we expect that they will share it responsibly, including choosing who will see that content," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

"We also ask that people warn their audience about what they are about to see if it includes graphic violence.

"In instances when people report graphic content to us that should include warnings or is not appropriate for people under the age of 18, we may add a warning for adults and prevent young people from viewing the content."

The spokeswoman added that the firm's engineers were still looking to further improve the scheme.

She said this might include adding warnings to relevant YouTube videos, which is not currently possible, as well as placing alerts over distressing photographs that were still available to adults.

Mr Balkam said he was "delighted" by Facebook's move.

"I also think that it has walked a very fine line between protection of users and protection of free expression, and I think it has got it just about right," he added.

Facebook had briefly experimented with adding a more basic form of warning sign to clips of decapitations in October 2013 after Prime Minister David Cameron said: "It's irresponsible of Facebook to post beheading videos, especially without a warning."

Clips showing decapitations taking place were later banned altogether.

'Good step'

News of the social network's latest move was welcomed by Childnet International, a London-based charity that is another member of Facebook's safety advisory panel.

"It's a good step to try and help protect people from this content, and we are glad that there is 18 age-gating," said the organisation's chief executive Will Gardner.

"There always has to be the recognition that people don't always sign up with their accurate age, and we have to be aware of that. But it's important that there are steps taken to protect people from seeing harmful and disturbing content that they don't want to see."

However, Dr Arthur Cassidy - a psychologist who runs a branch of the Yellow Ribbon Program suicide-prevention charity - said Facebook should implement an outright ban on clips and pictures of extreme violence.

He noted that large numbers of children used the service and said it was likely that many would try to work around the new restrictions.

"At the end of the day warning messages will not prevent young people from seeing upsetting and psychologically damaging material," he said.

"We know if we say, 'Do not do it,' that they will still do it - they will want to look and view material, irrespective of how grotesque it is.

"And it has the potential to influence maladaptive behaviour in those who might have the potential to become aggressors themselves."

(BBC)

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Jan.2015

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Oil prices have fallen to their lowest in five years and a half over supply concerns and Goldman Sachs’ slashing its projected price. On Monday, the prices dipped below USD 49 per barrel, with Brent crude for February delivery collapsing to USD 48.45 -- the lowest since late April 2009 -- and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February hitting a similar trough at USD 47.06 a barrel.

The plunge was triggered by worries over the ongoing global crude supply glut and US investment bank Goldman Sachs’ cutting its price outlook. “Oil was once more the recipient of dismal data as Goldman Sachs downgraded its forecasts for the commodity, from an average price of USD 83 per barrel in 2015 to USD 50,” said Connor Campbell, analyst with the UK-based company, Spreadex, which offers sport and financial spread betting.

The analyst added, “Brent crude greeted this news by dropping to new five-and-a-half-year lows; the confirmation of a bleak future for the commodity will see these prices linger for a long time yet.” Crude oil has lost over 50 percent of its value since mid-2014. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps out about 40 percent of the world’s oil, has so far refrained from cutting its production mainly due to opposition from Saudi Arabia.

Culled from Presstv

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Ngwa Bertrand

12.Jan.2015

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Sama Ernest

Dangote cement production plant in Douala on the banks of the Wouri River, has just received its first shipments of raw materials produced on a 27-hectare quarry in the Tombel district deep within the Kupe Munaneguba Division in the South West region. The plant which has a 5 year permission to operate has completed a two weeks production testing process.

Dangote Cement Cameroon wants to market 1.5 million tons of additional cement into the Cameroonian market. This will increase national domestic production to 3.6 million tonnes. Currently, the Moroccan Cimaf on the Cameroon market is 500 000 tonnes per year, added to the 1.6 million of Cimencam, a subsidiary of French Lafarge. However, domestic demand is estimated at 2.5 million tonnes per year.

The total cost of Dangote Cement Cameroon is estimated at CFAF 50 billion. Planned initially in January 2014 and August and October, the launch of operations in Cameroon was carried forward to January 2015 for technical reasons. For a start, the Dangote Group that has obtained a license to operate in Cameroon for a period of 5 years will employ 77 Cameroonians, 11 expatriates and around 250 temporary workers each month. The National Civil Engineering Laboratory (Labogenie) is presently working on the first products of Dangote Cement.

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Ngwa Bertrand

10.Jan.2015

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After much publicity about its efficiency and accuracy, a series of unprecedented locomotive failures have disrupted the services of the Cameroon Railways Company aka Camrail leaving passengers to conclude that it is just another CPDM prominent fiasco.  Cameroon Concord has learnt that in recent days, Camrail has had disruptions in nearly all its departments including the movement of passengers per hour and cash receipts involving the second quarter of the school year.

Our reporter at the Ministry of Transport in the nation’s capital Yaoundé noted that on New Year’s Day alone, major disruptions were recorded on the Ngaoundere-Yaounde service around Ngaoundal towards Makor in the Bawa locality. Delays have been a regular activity on the Douala-Yaounde Intercity lines---four daily rotations officially commissioned by the Prime Minister and Head of Government Yang Philemon.

However, Camrail remains one of the two most secure means of transportation in Cameroon (the first being those expensive jeeps bought with stolen tax payer’s money). Statistics from the Ministry of Transport indicates that 1,300 people die each year from road accidents.

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Ngwa Bertrand

07.Jan.2015

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Major international oil corporation Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to a payout of only $84 million to residents of Nigeria’s Bodo community in the Niger Delta for two massive oil spills. Cameroon Concord understands this as a major diplomatic victory for the PDP candidate in the upcoming general elections in Nigeria. The settlement for what victims described as oil slicks that affected thousands of hectares of mangrove in south Nigeria, was announced Tuesday by the Anglo-Dutch oil company's subsidiary in the country, SPDC.

Legal attorney Martyn Day, who represents the claimants, said it was "deeply disappointing that Shell took six years to take this case seriously and to recognize the true extent of the damage these spills caused to the environment and to those who rely on it for their livelihood." This is while the attorneys for 15,600 Nigerian fishermen say their clients will receive $3,300 each for major losses incurred by the oil spills.

According to the law firm representing the affected fishermen, the remaining $30 million will be given to the community, which it says was "devastated by the two massive oil spills in 2008 and 2009." "It is the first time that compensation has been paid following an oil spill in Nigeria to the thousands of individuals who have suffered loss," added the firm in a Tuesday press release confirming the settlement.

It further noted that the deal, which ends a three-year legal battle, is the first of its kind in Nigeria. Reporting on the impacts of the oil spills in Bodo, a town in the Ogoniland region, Amnesty International stated that the spills had caused headaches and eyesight problems. A separate study conducted by the United Nations further said that local drinking water sources were also contaminated by the oil spills.

Culled from Presstv

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Ngwa Bertrand

07.Jan.2015

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