Dakar

DAKAR, Senegal - Senegal's government says it is stepping up its campaign against begging in the streets of the West African nation, where tens of thousands of children wander barefoot and swarm cars for change.

DAKAR, Senegal - A leading international rights group called on Senegal's government Thursday to clamp down on Islamic schools whose leaders are subjecting tens of thousands of children to forced begging and daily beatings in conditions it says are "akin to slavery." Powerful religious leaders known as "marabouts" hold enormous political influence in this mostly Muslim West African nation.