One Thousand Inmates Escape From Libya Prison

Inmates have staged a major jailbreak at a prison in the east Libyan city of Benghazi as the facility was also attacked from the outside.

Security official Mohammed Hejazi said the prisoners staged a riot inside Koyfiya prison as an attack took place outside the facility.

Gunmen fired into the air outside the prison as inmates began setting fires inside, suggesting the escape was pre-planned.

Special forces later arrested 18 of those who escaped, while other returned on their own, according to security officials.

It was unclear if the jailbreak was part of protests taking place at the offices of Islamist-allied parties in Libya's main cities.

Those who escaped either face or had been convicted of serious charges.

Protesters have massed across the country angry over the killing of an activist critical of the country's Muslim Brotherhood group.

Hundreds gathered in the capital Tripoli to denounce the shooting of Abdul Salam al Musmari, setting fire to tyres and demanding the dissolution of Islamist parties.

Al Musmari, who publicly criticised the Brotherhood, was killed by unknown attackers in a drive-by shooting in Benghazi.

Benghazi's security situation is among the most precarious in post-revolution Libya.

Last year, the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed in an attack there.

Libyan prime minister Ali Zeidan said he would reshuffle the cabinet and reorganise the government to cope with the "urgent" situation.

He added: "What is happening is an attempt to obstruct the state's progression."

The country's government is struggling to assert its authority over armed groups that helped topple Colonel Gaddafi in 2011 during the Arab Spring uprisings.

It comes after Iraq's prime minister Nouri al Maliki ordered the detention of several senior security officials in connection with a major jailbreak that saw hundreds of inmates escape from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.

A statement from his office said those detained included the chief of staff of the federal police's fourth division.

Al Qaeda's Iraq branch claimed responsibility for the attack and a simultaneous raid on Taji prison. Members of the terror organisation were among the prisoners thought to have escaped.

Sifiso Makhubo: South African 'serial rapist' found dead

Sifiso Makhubo's youngest alleged victim was 10 years old

A man accused of being one of South Africa's worst serial rapists, Sifiso Makhubo, has been found dead in his prison cell, officials say.

Sifiso Makhubo, who faced 122 charges, including murder, was found hours before his trial was due to start.

He is also charged with attempted murder over allegations he knowingly infected his victims with HIV - the first such prosecution.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world.

Some 64,000 cases were reported to the police last year.

It is also the country with the largest HIV-positive population - some 5.5 million people, or 17% of those aged 15-49.

The authorities say Mr Makhubo was alone in the cell and is believed to have hanged himself with a blanket but they are investigating the circumstances of his death.

He was accused of raping 35 children and two women between January 2006 and February 2011.

His youngest alleged victim was only 10 years old.

So far 33 DNA samples from evidence collected from the victims had been a match with the alleged rapist, reports say.

Prosecutors say Mr Makhubo knew his HIV status when he raped his victims, so they intended to argue that this constituted attempted murder.

Justice denied?

In spite of numerous campaigns, deliberately infecting someone with HIV has not been made a specific offence, says the BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.

But there has been at least one civil case where damages were awarded, she says.

While some Aids activists support the change in the law to curb the spread of the virus in the country, legal experts say it would be difficult to secure a conviction, as the state would have to prove that the victim was HIV-negative prior to being raped and also that they were infected by the person charged.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Louw said she was "sad" for Mr Makhubo's victims because they did not get the "closure" they had expected.

"The case against Sifiso Makhubo took a huge amount of effort to bring to court. My heart goes out to the victims," she said, according to the Mail and Guardian newspaper.