Richard Branson says his space project will go on – International pressure grows for civilian elections in Burkina Faso – A British bank executive is accused of murdering two sex workers – And more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Opposition parties in Burkina Faso are calling for a mass rally in the capital amid fears that the military has hijacked the popular rebellion that unseated president Blaise Compaore after 27-years.  Compaore fled to Ivory Coast, and the military backed former presidential guard Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida to head the transitional government.  But opposition groups have released a joint statement regarding the transfer of power, “In no case can it be confiscated by the army”.  The African Union is calling for a “civilian-led transition” and elections ASAP.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says the investigation into the explosion and crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo in the California desert could take a year to complete.  The pilot killed on Friday is identified as 39-year old Michael Tyner Alsbury, and the pilot who is recovering from injuries after parachuting to safety is Peter Siebold.  Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson vowed that the crash would not be the end of the company’s effort to open the door to space tourism.

Islamic State (IS) killers lined up some 50 Sunni tribesmen and women in Iraq’s Anbar Province and murdered them.  Anbar councilman Faleh al-Issawi says reports of new IS atrocities are coming in on a daily basis.  Officials found the bodies of 48 other Sunnis murdered by IS militants a day earlier.  The United Nations mission in Baghdad says at least 1,273 people were killed in Iraq in October, and that does not include killings in areas controlled by Islamic State.

Islamic State and al-Nusra Front managed to overcome their mutual animosity to drive the commander of a US-backed Syrian rebel force out of his own village.  Jamal Maarouf and his men were forced into the mountains outside Deir Sinbul.  Meanwhile, about 150 Kurdish Peshmerga forces with heavy artillery from Iraq have arrived in Kobani in Northern Syria and taken up positions in the city’s west.  200 Free Syrian Army fighters arrived last week.  Both factions will fight under the command of the local Syrian Kurdish defenders. 

Police in Jerusalem are bracing for conflict on Sunday, when the Temple Mount reopens to Jewish visitors.  Muslims were given limited access after Friday prayers.  A senior Knesset member is planning to visit the site, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to avoid provocations.  Jerusalem is threatening to boil over after a series of violent confrontations between Jews and Muslims, including the attempted assassination of an Israeli right-wing agitator.

Hong Kong police arrested a 29-year old British national in the deaths of two women.  The suspect reportedly works for a “top-tier global bank”.  Theman reportedly called police to the apartment in the Wan Chai district, where officers subsequently discovered one woman dead of stab wounds to her neck and buttock, and another body with neck injuries stuffed into a suitcase on the balcony.  It’s believed the women were sex workers.

Brazil is planning a new, A$210 Million transoceanic fiber-optic communications cable to connect with Portugal, and bypass the US altogether.  President Dilma Rousseff has not forgotten the revelations from the Snowden documents that showed US spying on Brazilian government officials, including Dilma herself.  American telecom companies are being shut out of the bidding process.  The US National Security Agency (NSA) is not commenting.

Polls have opened on elections in self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk provinces of eastern Ukraine – despite being declared illegal by Kiev and the European Union.  Moscow says it will recognize the results.  Pro-Russian rebels are accused of killing six Ukrainian troops in the rebellious east.