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A video appearing to show a son of former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi and other prisoners being abused in jail is being investigated.

The video shows Saadi Gaddafi screaming as he is beaten by guards on the soles of his feet.

Tripoli’s public prosecutor said he would work to identify the guards shown and take legal action against them. Campaigners have condemned the footage, which was made available by online site ClearNews. “No exceptional circumstances justify torture or other ill-treatment,” said Human Rights Watch’s deputy Middle East director, Joe Stork.

Rival Governments

Saadi Gaddafi has been held in a prison in the capital Tripoli since last year, after being extradited from Niger on charges of shooting protesters and other crimes committed during his father’s rule.

Another son of Col Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, was last week sentenced to death in absentia over crimes committed during the 2011 uprising that eventually toppled the former Libyan leader.

He is being held by a former rebel group from the town of Zintan that refuses to hand him over.

Libya has been in chaos since the overthrow of Col Gaddafi, with two factions claiming to control the country. The internationally-recognised parliament is based in Bayda and Tobruk in the east, while the capital Tripoli in the west is held by rivals Libya Dawn.

Amnesty International has accused Sudan’s army of committing war crimes by bombing and shelling civilians in its South Kordofan region.

More than 374 bombs, including cluster bombs, were dropped in 67 locations between January and April, killing at least 35 people, the human rights group said.

Sudan’s army has not yet commented on the allegations.

It has been battling rebels demanding more rights for the region since 2011.At least 1.4 million people, or a third of South Kordofan’s population, have fled their homes because of the conflict, Amnesty said in a report.
African Union chief mediator Thabo Mbeki is currently in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, where he is expected to discuss the conflict with government officials, the AFP news agency reports.

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A prominent human rights activist in Burundi has been shot and seriously wounded by gunmen on motorbikes, his family and witnesses say.

Pierre Claver Mbonimpa was attacked in the capital, Bujumbura.

He was a stern critic of President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial bid for a third term in office.

On Sunday presidential aide Gen Adolphe Nshimirimana was killed in an attack on his car in Bujumbura. He was in charge of the president’s personal security. Burundi has suffered serious unrest since President Nkurunziza’s decision in April to seek a third term in office. Opponents argued this violated the constitution and there was a failed coup attempt in May. A presidential election was held last month which Mr Nkurunziza won, but which was boycotted by the opposition.

Bikers With Guns

The US special envoy for the region, Tom Perriello, condemned the attack on Mr Mbonimpa. “We are just horrified,” he told BBC Newsday. “This is a truly courageous man who has repeatedly stood up for the rights of the people of Burundi and has repeatedly been sent to prison for standing up for basic civil rights,” he added. The activist is in intensive care in a Bujumbura hospital, a relative told Reuters news agency.

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The RAF Tornado mission in Iraq, which was supposed to be disbanded last March, will be extended until “at least” March 2017. Why has this veteran Cold War combat jet proved so enduring?

The cockpit of a supersonic Tornado attack bomber is a much more peaceful place than you might expect. “It’s incredibly quiet,” says Jas Hawker, a former RAF wing commander who flew the aircraft over Iraq and Kosovo. “The pilot and the navigator could drop their oxygen masks and talk to each other. It’s not silent but it’s a lot quieter than people think.” It also has a rather retro feel, as befits a four-decade-old model approaching the end of its time in service. “It’s still full of 1980s dials,” says Hawker. There isn’t the array of screens you might see in more modern fighters, he adds. Despite this, it’s just been given a new lease of life.

The eight Tornado GR4 fighter bombers launching ground attacks against the Islamic State group in Iraq – Number 12 Squadron, which is deployed in Cyprus – were due to be disbanded last year and replaced with more modern Eurofighter Typhoons. But then Prime Minister David Cameron announced the Tornados’ mission would continue until March 2016, and on Tuesday Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced it would be extended by a further year.

It’s a distinction for an aircraft that was conceived in the late 1960s, flew for the first time in 1974 and entered service in 1980. The RAF’s Tornado fleet is due to retire in 2019, the date having been brought forward from the original deadline of 2025.

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Experts in France have begun examining an aircraft part that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion last week to see if it is from Flight MH370.

The wing fragment, known as a flaperon, is from a Boeing 777, the same make as the missing Malaysian airliner. France has invited Malaysian and Australian aviation experts to Balma to help with the investigation.

Australia’s Deputy PM Warren Truss said the teams may be able to say this week if it came from the plane. Investigators have said a statement will be made later from Paris, but the degree of detail that will be released is unclear.

The initial examination had been expected to last until Thursday but Malaysian officials have been on standby in Kuala Lumpur in case results come through earlier, Reuters news agency reported.

For reasons that remain unclear the Malaysia Airlines plane, with 239 people on board, veered off course on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014.

It is believed to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean – though no confirmed trace has ever been found despite a massive search operation.
The part is being examined under the direction of a judge at an aeronautical test centre run by the French military in Balma, near Toulouse.

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