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By Matthew Russell Lee, Video, Petition, 2d

UNITED NATIONS, July 9 – As UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres continues to use public funds for seemingly private trips, with his spokesmen Stephane Dujarric and Farhan Haq refusing to answer Press question about it, now Guterres is going dark for two days. As Inner City Press asks about it, and is ousted and now banned from the UN pending a "review" (see Fox News here and below), the UN on July 5 said Guterres would be in Ethiopia on Monday, July 9.  And there is he is, robo-gushing that he's "happy to be back in Addis Ababa for the African Union United Nations Annual Conference. We are working together more frequently and fruitfully than ever, in a spirit of mutual respect and support." This as he tried to move jobs out of Entebbe by remaining silent on Biya's killing of Anglophones in Cameroon, then ousted and has since July 5 banned Inner City Press which covered and asks about it.  Fox News story here ("UN roughs up, ejects, bans reporter from headquarters: Caught on tape"); petition to Guterres here; GAP blogs I and II (“Harassment of US Journalist Intensifies at the UN”). Back on Friday July 6, after moving a photo op that Inner City Press could not attend up to 8:30 am, Guterres left, and at 11 pm the $60 million he lives in had no UN Security vehicle. It seems Guterres left on Friday, to appear in Addis on Monday. Where other than his real home in Lisbon has he been in between? Who is paying? Inner City Press asked Haq and Dujarric and Ms. Soares Pinto of selective Voronkov background briefing fame, "This is a formal Press request to be informed, immediately 1) since I was barred from entering the UN on July 5, who long this will last; 2) since the Deputy Spokesman told Fox News that there is a review of my physical ouster from covering the Fifth (Budget) Committee meeting on July 3, when that review begins - I have not been contacted - and how long the UN says it will last; 3) where the Secretary General will be on July 7 and 8 and how much it will cost the UN and global tax payers." This last question, which must be answered, was not. Only this: "Receipt is confirmed. For questions about security issues, you will need to be in touch with security and with DPI." And DPI's Smale has yet to answer any e-mails. But where is Guterres? What is he spending? Whose money is it? How can he oust and ban the Press and then run? His Fabrizio H. was been informed, in person, twice: he is responsible.... To view the 2018 World Cup TV screens have been set up in the Security Council on the UN's second floor down to the Vienna Cafe in its basement. Periscope video here. Inner City Press covered the opening on June 14 without incident - but now on June 18 Twitter, with no due process,  suspended Inner City Press' Periscope account for its broadcasting of how the World Cup is watched at the UN, on screens set up in public areas, see below. Meanwhile UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has used public funds to travel to Moscow to watch his Portugal play Morocco on June 20. Asked at one of his pretext stops, Guterres said with what some saw as characteristic faux humility, "I was never able to make a correct prediction of a result of a football game, so I will not be trying again this time because I am sure that my prediction will be wrong." This game was not hard to predict: it was Morocco's second loss, 1-0. Where Guterres is wrong is on such ongoing issues as his targeted Press censorship in the UN, and inaction on the burning of villages in Cameroon. On June 20 after Guterres' spokesman said at the briefing that Guterres had attended the game, Inner City Press asked him, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: at the Portugal-Morocco game, it was also reported that Sepp Blatter, disgraced head of FIFA, was present at the game as a guest of President Putin.  And I wanted to know, do you know whether António Guterres met Sepp Blatter?

Spokesman:  No, I don't know, and I don't speak to FIFA." If Guterres' spokesman doesn't know who Guterres met with, who does?  On June 18, Inner City Press before its planned broadcasts of the UN noon briefing (on Libya, Colombia and Togo) and on Yemen launched a broadcast of people watching the Belgium - Panama match. Viewers asked Inner City Press to focus more on the TV and Inner City Press declined, saying the purpose is to show how it is viewed and used at the UN. Suddenly the broadcast was cut, and account suspended. This email arrived: "Your broadcast has been disabled in response to the DMCA takedown notice copied at the bottom of this email.

Please note that repeat violations of this policy may result in suspension of your account. In order to avoid this, do not post additional material in violation of third-party copyrights and immediately remove any material from your account for which you are not authorized to broadcast...

Dear Periscope, We write to you on behalf of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (“FIFA”) who owns and/or controls all audiovisual, visual only and audio only rights in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™.

We have noticed that your platform is making available and/or promoting unauthorised digital transmissions of audiovisual content relating to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, the intellectual property in respect of which is exclusively owned and/or controlled by FIFA (the “Protected Content”).

On behalf of FIFA, we hereby assert that your making available and/or promoting of the Protected Content on your Platform is not authorised by FIFA, its agent nor the law and that your activities in this regard serve as a serious infringement of FIFA’s exclusive rights.

Contact Information of official representative:
Jonathan Schmitz
Richard-Byrd-St 31
50829 Cologne
Germany
+49 221 35554 360

Name of the copyright owner:
FIFA Fédération Internationale de Football Association

Description of original work: FIFA Copyright Protected Match Footage" The UN and DCMS have a sordid history, with then-Reuters correspondent Louis Charbonneau citing the DCMA to claim that his complaint to UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN - which happened - as copyrights. The leaked complaint remains blocked from Search. To Twitter, including a staffer than recruited Inner city Press to be part of a Periscope NYC channel, Inner City PRess immediately wrote: "I am a journalist who covers the United Nations. Currently the Russian Mission to the UN has set up TV screens with the games in three locations in the UN. I was seeking to show crowd reactions. Since I use my Periscope account to report on the UN including a noon briefing in 13 minutes and a Yemen meeting after that, I ask that it be immediately restored. Please confirm." Nothing. Watch this site. There are also screens in the UN Delegates' Lounge, where the first game of Russia versus Saudi Arabia was seen by both countries' Ambassadors and others, including the President of the General Assembly. Video here. Many ambassadors of qualifying countries showed up in their country's jersey, all with the number 10 except for Russia's deputy, who wore 9. Morocco's Ambassador Hilale did not wear a jersey. Photos here and here. It was 2-0 Russia by half time (when Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia walked from the Lounge to the Security Council to chair a meeting about the Saudi led coalition's assault on Hodeida in Yemen), and 5-0 Russia by the end. What will be the result of Uruguay and Egypt, whose team with recurperating Salah did its final training in Chechnya? Watch this site. On June 13 Inner City Press, having first reported that Antonio Guterres will be in Moscow to watch his Portugal play Morocco on June 20, asked Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia if his June 14 photo op would include Council members not qualified for the Cup, like the Netherlands and US. Yes, he said. The Deputy Ambassador of qualifier Sweden, Carl Skau, said he is "not very optimistic" about the Swedish team's chances. Inner City Press Periscope video here. Sweden is in Group F with incoming Security Council member Germany, Mexico and denuclearization hopeful South Korea. We'll have more on this - and on the other Groups. Guterres pre-announced his trip on June 2 and then took some softball questions. Video here. After Inner City Press shot the video on Periscope, which Guterres has banned on his 38th floor of the UN, and put it on YouTube, it was picked up and linked to be pro-Morocco media, here. On June 4, Inner City Press asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: it seemed to me that the Secretary-General said on… on Friday that he will be in Moscow on 20 June for the Portugal-Morocco game, and he called it an official visit.  Can you give us some more… when does it begin? When does it end?

Spokesman:  No, it begin around the time of the game, and we'll have a bit more of an official announcement for an official visit closer to official time.

Inner City Press: Are there any other stops on the trail?

Spokesman:  There'll be… everything will be announced in due course." More than a week later, without sending any of it to Inner City Press which had asked, Dujarric at the June 12 noon briefing announced that Guterres will be in Moscow for two nights, with one each in Finland and Norway before that, back to New York on June 22. Asked who Guterres will be rooting for, Dujarric first said "guess" then said the UN is for fair play like in the briefing (room) - the briefing room he evicted Inner City Press from while leaving in other correspondents he'd lent it to. Worse than FIFA?  Guterres and Dujarric neglected to announce Guterres' recent publicly-funded trip to Lisbon where he brainstormed with that country's government, as Inner City Press reported and asked about. This while Guterres refuses Press questions on what's called his reform of the UN development system.

Inner City Press on May 30 sought to ask Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric a question in advance. But Dujarric, who evicted Inner City Press from the UN Press Briefing Room as it pursued the still unresolved story of UN bribery and keeps it restricted, ran off. Video here. So here is the question: why even for this reform has Guterres not prepared the UN's usual “Program Budget Implication” statement? How much will the reform cost? On May 31, Inner City Press asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric who offered an evasive answer and then ran off the podium. From the UN's sanitized transcript: Inner City Press: I wanted to ask you about the development system reform.  In talking to some people on the Fifth Committee, they said that it's strange that there's no Program Budget Implication, PBI, filed in connection with this pretty major proposal.  Like, even for the envoy on Myanmar, there had to be a PBI.  How can it be something this big doesn't have a price tag?

Spokesman:  Well, I mean, I think everything was negotiated with the Fifth Committee, and I think they got all the documents they needed." And then he ran off. So Inner City Press went and asked the question to Guterres, repeatedly, who ignored the audible question (but appeared to give a small wave). Video here. This while Guterres accompanied by Dujarric and Alison Smale wined and dined no-question correspondents with pan seered corvina and restricting Inner City Press which alone asks about these budget issues, and corruption. Today's UN is corrupt - and a censor.

On June 1, Inner City Press asked Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: yesterday in the… in the meeting to… on the… on the development system reform, there was a sort of formal statement of the Secretariat that said, quote, "The Secretariat is not in a position to provide a detailed statement of programme budget implications (PBI) prior to the finalization of the implementation plan."  So I wanted to ask what I was trying to ask Stéphane yesterday.  What is the… usually, I mean, at least in my experience, usually the PBI is done before the vote.  Maybe this is… I'm sure States agreed to this, but what is the plan for the Secretariat?  What's the time frame to actually say how much it's going to cost?

Deputy Spokesman:  What's happening now — we're very appreciative of the adoption of the resolution yesterday by the Member States.  We had informed the Member States in a note of our… of the process that we're going through, and what we're going to do now is that we are engaging… as of now, we're engaging with the Fifth Committee to provide more information, and we'll do this so that, as the Secretary-General made clear, we can hit the ground running on 1 January 2019.

Inner City Press:  So that's in this May section, in this… in this current session, that… that this information is going to be provided, the PBI?

Deputy Spokesman:  Like I said, we have started, as of this past day, we're starting our dialogue with the Fifth Committee on this." But the resolution says during THIS General Assembly - and the final Budget Committee session of this GA ends soon...

  The reform, such as it is, is to move authority for the UN's resident coordinator system from the UN Development Program over to Guterres' deputy secretary general Amina J. Mohammed. Guterres had wanted to get regular assessed budget funding for this, but he lost in that attempt. An undefined “hybrid” funding system is yet to be specified, despite a rubber stamp vote being calle on the reform on May 31. How will it be paid for? It is undisclosed, just like Guterres' visit to his home in Portugal on May 28 was undisclosed until Inner City Press asked.

According to what senior Fifth (Budget) Committee sources exclusively tell Inner City Press, Guterres claims he can't estimate the cost or PBI until he finds out what states will voluntarily give him. Then how can this reform be voted on and be claimed to be completed, a rare victory for Guterres? (The sources also tell Inner City Press that Guterres made his appointment of Achim Steiner to replace Helen Clark as head of UNDP contingent on Steiner supporting UNDP's loss of the resident coordinator system to Amina Mohammed.) Dujarric did not want to answer, and if the past is any guide he will pre-select the questions to Guterres from among his allies. Watch this site.

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