Burkina Faso coup leader says he will hand back power

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OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — The Burkina Faso general who seized power in a coup last week apologized to the nation Monday and said he would hand over control to a civilian transitional government after the military warned that its forces would converge on the capital and forcibly disarm the soldiers behind the power grab.

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1. Burkina Faso Coup Falters as Army Moves In The Wall Street Journal
2. Burkina Faso army starts talks with presidential guard: source Reuters
3. Burkina Faso army moves on capital to disarm coup leaders Reuters
4. Burkina Faso army enters capital to disarm coup leaders Reuters
5. Burkina Faso demonstrators protest proposed compromise deal Associated Press

Gen. Gilbert Diendere said his presidential guard unit "confirms our commitment to giving power back to civilian authorities," in a communique issued to journalists. That was one of the key conditions of a draft agreement that resulted from weekend negotiations with regional mediators, but it had been unclear until his announcement whether the junta would abide by those terms.

Diendere, who led the presidential guard under longtime leader Blaise Compaore until he was forced from power in a popular uprising last year, said the compromises were necessary to avoid further bloodshed. The risk of clashes could lead to "chaos, civil war and massive human rights violations," he said.
Earlier Monday, the heads of the National Armed Forces warned that troops would disarm the presidential guard. While they said soldiers aimed to do so without spilling blood, the ultimatum raised the specter of clashes on the streets of Ouagadougou.
"We demand that they put down their weapons and rejoin Camp Sangoule Lamizana," the statement said, promising that the returning soldiers and their families would be protected.
People gathered at sunset cheering on the highway as they waited for the anticipated entry of Burkina Faso's regular army, who vowed to disarm the presidential guard known as the RSP.

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Burkina Faso troops parole near the entrance to the Libya hotel where talks about the recent coup we …

The soldiers who seized power last week are seen as loyal to ex-President Blaise Compaore. Diendere, the general installed as president Thursday, is a former top aide to the ousted leader.
Junta members said they were angered that members of Compaore's former ruling party couldn't take part in elections that were set for Oct. 11. Compaore was president for 27 years, and his bid to further extend his rule prompted massive street protests that led to his ouster.
The mediators led by the presidents of Senegal and Benin announced a plan late Sunday that calls for new elections by the end of November. The plan drafted by mediators is supposed to go before the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS in Nigeria on Tuesday.

The streets of Ouagadougou remained tense Monday, and many demonstrators said they felt the ECOWAS compromise plan was too lenient on the junta.

France, meanwhile, suspended all military, civilian and financial cooperation with Burkina Faso until civilian authority is restored.
French President Francois Hollande announced the suspension in a statement. He also threatened sanctions against anyone who opposes democratic elections, saying he would lobby European partners to do the same.

Hollande spoke Monday with Senegalese President Macky Sall about West African regional efforts to restore calm in Burkina Faso, a former French colony that maintains commercial and military ties with France.

The U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens against traveling to the country and advised those who are there to leave as soon as possible.

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Associated Press journalist Ludivine Laniepce in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Angela Charlton in Paris and Baba Ahmed in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

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North Korea's politicians say 'no future' under Kim Jong Un, defector says

Kim’s distrust of cadres and inconsistent policies have combined to have a negative effect on North Korea's ruling elite.

North Korean politician Jang Song Thaek being escorted into court in 2013. A North Korean defector said the purges of top bureaucrats indicate conflicts are brewing between Kim and the ruling elite in Pyongyang. File Photo by Yonhap

SEOUL, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A North Korean defector said Pyongyang's Workers' Party is "imploding" due to Kim Jong Un's inconsistent policies, and grievances against the leader have soared since he fully assumed power.
The former party cadre, who spoke to Yonhap on the condition of anonymity, said Kim often finds fault with "old and senile party members," and his disparaging remarks have often placed him at odds with veteran politicians appointed by former leader Kim Jong Il. Kim has said North Korean politicians with decades of experience are ineffective workers, according to the defector.
Demoralized cadres have said that "there is no future" for North Korea since Kim came to power, and pessimism is pervasive in government, according to the defector identified as "A." The defector said the execution of Kim's uncle Jang Song Thaek was shocking for North Korea's elite, and signs of conflict have emerged since Kim replaced older bureaucrats with new appointees.
"The purge of Jang Song Thaek, Ri Yong Ho and Hyon Yong Chol did not come about only due to Kim Jong Un's 'tyrannical tendencies,'" the defector said. "Generational change and Kim's distrust of cadres, these and the party's inconsistencies all combined to lead to these incidents."
The defector said that during his term as a party cadre in the previous regime under Kim Jong Il, he like others "worked night and day...with tremendous pride," but according to his sources officials now seek to defect, skirt work responsibilities while placing self-interest before the concerns of the group.
Purges, however, have been key to the survival of the North Korean regime that began with founder Kim Il Sung. South Korean television network SBS reported North Korea's state newspaper ran a special feature Wednesday on the Workers' Party, hailing the ruling party as the "Great Mother" of the country.
SBS reported the former leader consolidated his power in 1953 by purging influential communists like Pak Hon Yong for challenging his rule and eliminating other factions.

Actress Mbong Amata's Bedroom Photo

Since leaving her husband who brought her into the movie industry, producers are not putting her on their films as she had expected, hence money is not coming in. Stories have started flying around that she is already considering going back to him. See the last public pic of she and her estranged hubby:

Hunting Nigeria's Big Thieves: Why Saraki Should Be Happy

When we were in school and we were to be punished, or for those still in school, do we prefer to get beaten first or last? I was one who preferred to be first in line to receive my koboko and get it over with than to be last in the line.

Nigeria's Senate president Bukola Saraki should be happy that he has been put somewhere in the front of the line to receive his judgement and possible punishment early in the game and get it over with on time. He should be happy at this privilege. By submitting for his case and not continuing to run away, indeed he will prove to Nigerians that he is a true leader in good and bad times.

But by running away, demonstrating that he is "above the law" and sponsoring youth to go protest for him, he is committing further crimes and cementing his guilt in more places than one.

Literally every thing can be blamed on politics. Hanging it on politics is not an excuse to run from court. If all Nigerians claimed summons was politics, there will no longer be a need of a court system in Nigeria. Saraki should learn from Tinubu who is remembered with the image above, "sleeping in the dock" while waiting for his case.

We remember that in 2011 the same Code of Conduct Tribunal dismissed the case against Tinubu for "lack of diligent prosecution." And that was a Tinubu brave enough to face the school master who was actually serving under a PDP federal government: the other Party. Who knows, perhaps Saraki will defeat his case faster than we can say jackrabbit and come out stronger and a respected national symbol.

We trust that so many big witches will be hunted down. Big names will go down. There will at last be tears in the homes of the cabal as there have been in ours, in the homes in Chibok, in Otueke, in Gwoza, in Eyenkorin and all other habitations where the poor abound. Those who have their cases addressed first should count themselves the luckiest.

We Like Witch-Hunting
And to those who call stuff a witch-hunt. Nigerians are rather happy with the witch hunters. We support Buhari and Osinbajo hunting all witches, thieves and other creatures of the darkness that worked with Jonathan through the years as senators, governors, other office holders and private cabal, and participated in and facilitated the corrupt practices that took Nigeria to the brink of economic, social and security catastrophe and collapse. The Chibok girls are begging for this "witch-hunt" from where they suffer or decay today. 

If you feel the "witch-hunt" that is just beginning is selective, not to worry, three years and change soon come. Contest, win power and witch hunt your own. This way all witches and thieves and other creatures of the night will be finished in Nigeria in a couple of cycles guaranteed.

Dr. Peregrino Brimah

http://ENDS.ng [Every Nigerian Do Something] 

Email: drbrimah@ends.ng Twitter: @EveryNigerian

Busty Actress Chioma Topliss Flaunts Her Big Body

Chioma Topless has been gone for too long from the profession that gave her fame, but it looks like she is set to stage a come back, this time to the big screen, according to close sources. More of her pics...

I Beg Two of You, Dbanj & Don Jazzy, to Come Back Together – 2Face

On Sunday night at his Fortyfied concert, music legend 2face Idibia pleaded with D'banj and his estranged partner Don Jazzy to consider reuniting with a view to treat their fans to something better.

2face begged them in the name of God, to do just one more song together. This happened right after D’banj had performed a song he did with 2face ‘I’m Feeling Good’ which was produced by Don Jazzy.

Apparently impressed by the output, 2face told both of them openly:
“Don Jazzy and D’banj, abeg make una do one more song, just one. I take God beg una.”

D’banj responded saying: “Sure! It’s going to happen”.

Photo: Nigerian woman on holiday in America arrested for shoplifting

A Nigerian woman, Jennifer Akudihor who is on holiday in the US has been arrested by Kansas city police department for allegedly shop lifting clothing items and accessories worth nearly $2,000 at Oak Park Mall in Kansas last week Tuesday.

According to KMBC.com, Police reports states that Jennifer who was with two toddlers and an infant when she was arrested, hid 66 items in shopping bags and inside the stroller she was pushing through Macy's at Oak Park Mall.

She has been charged with felony theft and ordered to hand over her passport. Jennifer was in court last Wednesday and her bail was set at $2,500. She was apologetic during her first court appearance.

“The officer in the report said that she was very apologetic and remorseful, and that does go a long way, and he put that in the report, so I think it does help in this situation. Everybody has a story. There’s always a lot of reasons why people do this, and it’s not for us to decide. It’s up to the courts and the judge to look at her case.” said Sgt. Gary Mason of the Overland Park Police Department.

Can Joe Biden run with a broken heart?

Vice President Joe Biden watches an honor guard carry a casket containing the remains of his son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, into St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware, for funeral services. (Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP)

Joe Biden’s son Beau died on May 30, and a little more than three months later, the vice president acknowledged that he was struggling with the decision on whether to enter the presidential race. To most people — whether or not they have a child, let alone lost one — the idea must seem on par with entering the Tour de France three months after open-heart surgery. If Biden runs, he will spend much of the next year on the phone with potential donors, needing to get past the awkward condolences before moving on to hitting them up for money. If he is nominated, he may face Donald Trump, who has shown a keen instinct for going for the jugular and no reluctance to stick a knife in it.

Having trampled most of the boundaries of comity in political discourse – by, for instance, making fun of his rivals’ looks – could Trump be trusted not to taunt an opponent about the death of a family member? (“I just don’t think he’s up to the job. Maybe it’s because his son died. I don’t know.”) And if Biden wins, he will take on the most demanding job in the world a year and a half after burying his son — at a time when, experience teaches, most ordinary people will barely be climbing out of the paralysis of grief.

But successful politicians aren’t ordinary people; they are driven by ambition and a sense of their own destiny that overrides almost every other sentiment. Not many willingly pass up a run for higher office if they have even a chance to win, and most can convince themselves they do. But Biden was clearly ambivalent in his now-famous interview with Stephen Colbert: “I don’t think any man or woman should run for president unless, number one, they know exactly why they would want to be president and, number two, they can look at folks out there and say, ‘I promise you, you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy, and my passion to do this. And I’d be lying if I said that I knew I was there.” I don’t know Biden and have no insight into his thinking, but I know, both as a journalist and a father, something about what he is going through and some of the things he should be weighing, and that the rest of us should think about if he does run.

Politics is played for keeps, as Biden knows as well as anyone. As a grieving father, Biden is permitted to show his emotions in public, but as a candidate, he can only show strength. Biden’s first run for the Senate coincided with the 1972 presidential campaign, when Sen. Ed Muskie, D-Maine, denouncing a newspaper attack on his wife, was photographed with droplets on his face that might have been tears. Or they might have been, as he claimed, melting snowflakes, but it was too late: The implication of weakness was fatal to his campaign.From now until the election, if he runs, Biden must perform a delicate balancing act: He has to keep intact his vaunted “authenticity,” the human qualities that voters find so appealing, without becoming known as the candidate of grief. He must not give even the slightest appearance that he is seeking attention or support on the basis of sympathy — and not just because voters would turn away from him. The more insidious danger is to his own conscience; he has to face himself in the mirror and be certain he isn’t using this tragedy as a vehicle for his own ambition.

Mercedes To Reach Decision On U.S. Sales Of Pickup Truck Within A Year

While the public expected a decision from Mercedes-Benz on whether its pickup truck will be sold in the U.S. by the end of the year, it appears the manufacturer will need a little longer to weigh its options.

Automotive News reports that the decision will come within the next eight to 10 months, as announced by Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Steve Cannon at the Frankfurt Auto Show:

“The product is still very fluid,” Cannon said at the auto show here. “We’ve got time to make this decision, so we’re not hurrying with it. We want to make sure the product fits this market’s needs. If it doesn’t, we’re not bringing it — I can tell you that.”

The midsize pickup, a Daimler/Nissan joint venture, is currently being developed for other regions of the world — its existence in the U.S. is what remains in question, and the answer will be decided by whether or not the company believes the vehicle can add value to that segment of Mercedes.

If Mercedes does decide to send the truck to the U.S., the company will freeze its design concept so that U.S. product planners can have some say in what will actually land on American soil (note: just don’t ask us Texans how to design it, or we’ll probably propose to put giant cattle guards on the front.)

Originally thought to be the concept for a work truck, Cannon noted in the latest update that the pickup would probably have to be pitched as a lifestyle vehicle instead if it was sold here.

Tradespeople “probably don’t want a Mercedes-Benz on the front because they’d be worried about the statement that’s making to their clients,” he said. But plenty of Mercedes customers also have a pickup in their garage because they like the trucks’ image and flexibility.

With the lower gas prices resulting in booming truck and SUV sales in the U.S., a Mercedes truck might not be too far-reaching of an idea to bring to the market. One could easily see it competing against the luxurified trucks from Ford, GMC or Ram that top $70,000 or more.

And for Mercedes, the goal is to compete in the market by virtue of the vehicle’s distinctiveness — not to simply into the truck-manufacturing mold:

“You don’t come into a market that’s highly established to just be an also-ran and just put the badge on the front,” [Cannon] said. “So if we cannot bring the Mercedes-Benz attributes to the segment, then we won’t.”

But if your daily driver is going to just have a badge on the front, no one can really complain about it being a Mercedes one. Am I right?

I’ll take one in AMG spec with a twin-turbo engine. And the cattle guard, please.

Billionaire daughter, Temi Otedola stuns in new photos

            

Beautiful Temi, daughter of oil magnate Femi Otedola looking stunning in new photos she shared online. More photos after the cut...