ABIDJAN, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Abundant rain and sun last week in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa growing regions will help trees to reach their full potential for the October to March main crop, farmers said on Monday, but some also complained of flooding.

ACCRA, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Access Bank Ghana, a subsidiary of Access Bank of Nigeria, launched an initial public share offer on Monday aimed at raising at least 104 million cedis ($26 million).

DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Pulling away a black plastic pot, a forest guard holds up a short, wispy sapling before dozens of people.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A team of prosecutors from the world's permanent war crimes court began a five-day trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday to urge restraint after a wave of pre-election violence in the capital, a statement said.

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - U.S. aircraft hit Islamic State targets with more 30 strikes over the last three days on the Libyan city of Sirte as pro-government forces push into its last militant-held districts, the U.S. military said on Monday.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A team of prosecutors from the world's permanent war crimes court began a five-day trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday to urge restraint after a wave of pre-election violence in the capital, a statement said.

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked a high-security prison in Niger early on Monday in an apparent bid to free Islamist militants but the assault was repulsed and no inmates escaped, authorities said.

ACCRA, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Access Bank Ghana launched an initial public share offer on Monday, aimed at raising at least 104 million cedis ($26 million) for the lender, which is a subsidiary of Access Bank of Nigeria.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan armed brigades allied with rival political leaders in Tripoli have exchanged sporadic gunfire and set up checkpoints in areas they control, challenging the authority of the United Nations-backed government.

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked a high-security prison in Niger early on Monday in an apparent bid to free Islamist militants, but the assault was repulsed and one raider was killed, Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum said.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali security forces shut down a newspaper and arrested an editor, the Somali journalists' union said on Sunday, the latest crackdown in what reporters say is a climate of intimidation.

DAKAR (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked a high-security prison in Niger early on Monday in an apparent bid to free Islamist militants, the interior minister said.

CAIRO (Reuters) - A Cairo court sentenced 18 defendants on Sunday to two years in prison for insulting the judiciary, after the defendants cheered inside the cage when one of them threw his shoe at the judge, security sources and a lawyer said.

LONDON (Reuters) - The widow of a Nigerian activist is planning to sue Royal Dutch Shell in the Dutch courts alleging the oil company was complicit in the execution of her husband by the Nigerian military in 1995, court documents filed in the United States last week show.

DAKAR (Reuters) - Niger's interior minister said that the Koutoukale prison housing Islamist militants from various regional groups was attacked early on Monday in an apparent attempt to free prisoners.

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Ex-Italy coach Cesare Prandelli got off to a winning start in La Liga as his new Valencia side triumphed 2-1 at Sporting Gijon on Sunday, while Villarreal maintained their impressive opening to the season by thrashing Celta Vigo 5-0.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has revealed in a court affidavit distributed by the Treasury on Sunday that 6.8 billion rand ($490 million) in payments made by wealthy brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta, companies they control, and other individuals with the same surname have been reported to authorities as suspicious since 2012.

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - The European Union will prepare economic sanctions on the Democratic Republic of Congo unless its ruling coalition, which has delayed next month's elections, holds a fresh vote early next year, diplomats say.

JUBA (Reuters) - Heavy fighting around the town of Malakal in South Sudan killed dozens of people over the weekend, a military spokesman said on Sunday, after rebels said they would try to seize control of the town.

ABUJA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The Islamic State-allied faction of Boko Haram which last week freed 21 of more than 200 Chibok girls kidnapped in April 2014 in northeast Nigeria is willing to negotiate the release of 83 more of the girls, the president's spokesman said on Sunday.