DAKAR, Jan 13 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Ivory Coast police on Monday vowed to ramp up efforts to stop child trafficking after rescuing 137 children from forced labour and sex work in the first major operation in several years.

ABIDJAN, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions stayed hot and dry over the past week as the main crop harvest started to slow down, farmers told Reuters on Monday.

PARIS (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron will press five West African leaders on Monday to denounce anti-French sentiment in their countries over Paris's handling of an insurgency by Islamist militants, or risk France withdrawing troops from the region.

MOSCOW/CAIRO (Reuters) - Libya's warring leaders were due to hold peace talks in Moscow on Monday with Russia and Turkey urging the rivals to sign a binding truce to end a nine-month-old war and pave the way for a settlement that would stabilise the North African country.

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou has replaced the head of the army after two of the country's deadliest attacks in living memory killed at least 160 soldiers and prompted a rethink in the battle against jihadist groups, the government said.

LISBON (Reuters) - Angolan courts have not taken any action to have billionaire ex-first daughter Isabel Dos Santos' assets seized abroad but "will not hesitate to resort to such mechanisms if necessary", a prosecution spokesman told Reuters.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Three teachers were killed near Kenya's border with Somalia in a suspected attack by al Shabaab militants early on Monday, police said, in what appeared to be the latest in a string of assaults by the group in Kenya since the New Year.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A ceasefire in Libya initiated by Turkey and Russia saw a lull in heavy fighting and air strikes on Sunday, though both warring factions accused each other of violating the truce as skirmishes continued around the capital Tripoli.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Ethiopia will hold a parliamentary election in May or June despite concerns about security and logistics, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Sunday.

BISSAU (Reuters) - Guinea-Bissau's Supreme Court on Sunday rejected a challenge against Umaro Cissoko Embalo's victory in last month's election run-off by the defeated candidate, who complained of fraud.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry said the heads of Libya's two warring factions will hold talks in Moscow on Monday, the Interfax news agency reported.