ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Voters in Ivory Coast cast their ballots in parliamentary polls on Sunday as the main opposition party seeks to challenge President Alassane Ouattara's near monopoly of the legislature.

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - War and poverty in the Middle East and Africa have forced record numbers to flee their homes, fuelling Europe's largest refugee and migrant crisis since World War Two.

ABUJA (Reuters) - Gambia must ensure the safety of the president-elect, whose election victory is disputed by the current head of state, West African regional bloc ECOWAS said at the end of a special summit on Saturday.

GAZA (Reuters) - The Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza blamed Israel on Saturday for the killing in Tunisia this week of a Tunisian national it described as one of its drone experts, and threatened retaliation.

MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - A former Guantanamo prisoner who was resettled in Uruguay but has asked to leave was denied entry to South Africa by that country's migration authorities, a Uruguayan official said.

MASVINGO, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was confirmed on Saturday as his party's sole candidate for the next presidential election in 2018, when he will be 94.

ABUJA (Reuters) - The West African regional bloc said on Saturday it would take all necessary actions to uphold the result of a Dec. 1 election in Gambia, where veteran President Yahya Jammeh says he will not step down after losing to Adama Barrow.

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's main opposition bloc said on Saturday it was not planning a march against President Joseph Kabila when his mandate expires on Monday, a decision that could defuse anticipated protests.