On Paris Attacks, Inner City Press Asks France's Borloo, Burundi Adviser Takes Advantage

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 13 -- During the terrorist attacks in Paris at the Stade de France, the  Bataclan theater and a Cambodian restaurant on November 13, at the UN in New York as chance would have it former French Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo was holding an hour-long 4 pm press conference about Energies to Africa.

 Inner City Press asked him how his sponsors, from Bouygues and Bolloré to Total and Veolia, stood to benefit. Another asking him about Akon. When he asked for a final question, Inner City Press told him about the Paris attacks. Merde, he said, il y'a une attaque terroriste? Mais oui. Vine here.

  US President Barack Obama spoke on television about the attacks, at 5:45 pm Eastern, before Francois Hollande did. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon chimed in at 6:17 pm, that he “demands the immediate release of the numerous individuals reportedly being held hostage in the Bataclan theater.”

  The new President of the UN General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft issued a statement at 6:33 pm; the UN Security Council, through the UN, issues a Press Statement at 7:13 pm (before that, a draft was circulated to friendly scribes, a retired Reuters and two US state media, presumably by the French mission which let Borloo blather on long after the attack become known).

  From Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza's adviser Willy Nyamitwe  leapt on the Paris attacks to wonder rhetorically why let lawless individuals decimate peaceful innocents, and asked why a Security Council resolution as on Burundi, rather than Press Statement, wasn't being issued.

 How might this impact the holding of or attendance at the Paris COP21 climate change talks? How will it impact refugees, with France already closing its borders? Watch this site.

At UN, Inner City Press Asks Akon About His Diamond Mine Purchase, He Replies on Reform, Yumkella Running, Sierra Leone

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 20 -- When the UN's “Sustainable Energy For All” endeavor held a public press conference during its nearly four day event on May 20, prominent on the podium was musician and business figure Akon, talking about African villages buying solar power systems from his enterprise, with a $1 billion line of credit, on the payment plan.

  Inner City Press asked Akon about having also bought a diamond mine -- was that also a social enterprise? Akon answered in that direction, saying he bought the mine in order to challenge or clean up the industry, citing blood diamonds. Video here and embedded below.

  The answer is an evolution from what Akon said about the mine, and blood diamonds, back in 2007:

 "I don't even believe in conflict diamonds. That's just a movie. Think about it. Ain't nobody thought about nothing about no conflict diamonds until the movie came out. Where was all that shit before the movie? That's the problem with people - they believe everything they read or see on TV. It's no different from The Blair Witch Project. Everybody thought that was real. That campaign and marketing was incredible. After that, they're getting Oscars. Unless you go to Sierra Leone and see what's going down, don't believe everything you're reading or see on TV. Trust me."

  There was a Sierra Leone connection at the press conference: SE4ALL chief Kandeh Yumkella, whom Inner City Press asked about the organization's involvement in the campaign to end gas flaring by 2030. Yumkella answered excitedly about Shell and Total and ENI and Statoil signing on. 

  To a question on Sierra Leone, IRENA's Adnan Amin said while the question was about President Koroma, there was another Sierra Leonean in the room, but he'd only talk about one president at a time. 

 On March 15 of this year, Yumkella wrote to UN staff:

“A few months ago I informed the Secretary-General that I would like to step down as his Special Representative and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All as of July 2015. He has now graciously accepted my request and the announcement will be made soon.

“It has not been an easy decision to end my 19-year career serving humanity under the auspices of the UN system, including as Director General of UNIDO. But I believe it is now time for me to go home to serve my people in Sierra Leone."

 We'll have more on this. Watch this site.