Elite soldiers in junta-ruled Guinea are taking advantage of an anti-corruption drive to rob, extort and beat intimidated civilians in the West African nation with impunity, an international human rights group said Monday.

Authorities in Gambia have rounded up about 1,000 people and forced them to drink hallucinogens in a witch-hunting campaign that is terrorizing the tiny West African nation, an international rights group said Wednesday.

Authorities in Gambia have rounded up about 1,000 people and forced them to drink hallucinogens in a witch-hunting campaign that is terrorizing the tiny West African nation, an international rights group said Wednesday.

Dakar Rally organizers remain optimistic amid a global economic downturn that has raised doubts about competitor turnout in 2010.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is launching a new cherry-flavored malaria drug that it says children will be less likely to spit out.

Cameroon’s government is employing extrajudicial killings and torture to crush political opponents, and such violence may escalate as the global economic crisis deepens, an international rights group said Thursday.

Congo’s invitation to its longtime enemy Rwanda to deploy up to 2,000 troops marked an extraordinary reversal of alliances, but the Congolese government said Wednesday the Rwandan forces were there only to observe, not to fight Hutu militias.

Giniel de Villiers held onto his nerves in the last stage to become the first South African to win the Dakar Rally on Saturday.

Ugandan rebels in eastern Congo have ruthlessly killed at least 620 people in the past month, and vulnerable civilians in the region desperately need protection, human rights groups said Saturday.

Giniel De Villiers of South Africa won the Dakar Rally on Saturday, holding off Mark Miller of the United States and NASCAR driver Robby Gordon.