WORLD

Kenya expects a planned liquefied natural gas terminal to cost $500 million and take 3-5 years to build once it floats a tender in February 2012 as it seeks to diversify sources of electricity to meet rising demand, an energy official said on Wednesday.

South African share prices rose on Wednesday with investors snapping up stocks they felt had been over-sold and as positive sentiment seeped back into global markets after Europe said it would protect the region's lenders from the euro zone crisis.

South African government bonds and the rand currency ended firmer on Wednesday, boosted after a minister said the government would keep a lid on spending and tracking gains elsewhere as global risk appetite picked up.

Top world cocoa grower Ivory Coast has ramped up border security and warned cocoa dealers they could be prosecuted if they are caught smuggling beans to neighbouring countries, farmers and a government source said on Wednesday.

U.S. explorer Anadarko Petroleum Corp has raised its estimate of the amount of natural gas it has discovered offshore Mozambique by two thirds, lifting hopes that East Africa could become a major gas exporter.

Zimbabwe's economy will grow at a slower pace in 2012 than this year as politics puts a drag on full recovery and inflation should stay in single figures, partly due to prudent fiscal policy, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on Wednesday.

Democratic Republic of Congo will see its energy deficit worsen dramatically in the next four years due to a surge in industrial demand from the mining industry, the country's national supplier said on Tuesday.

Democratic Republic of Congo needs to invest some $300 million in its industrial diamond mining operations to revive a flagging sector and boost government revenue, a top mining official said.

Tanzania's ruling party narrowly won a key parliamentary by-election after a tight race marked by low voter turn-out, pointing to a decline in popularity of the party even in regions where it enjoyed strong support.

Egypt's army will not propose a candidate in the upcoming presidential election, its military ruler said on Wednesday, denying speculation that it may have in mind a military nominee who could be seen as out of step with a transition to democracy.

Libya's top oil body is pursuing international oil firms for bills worth around $6 billion that were left unpaid this year due to U.N. sanctions imposed in March, a source in the National Oil Corporation (NOC) told Reuters this week.

Libyan government forces fought their way, street by street, into the centre of Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte on Wednesday after their commanders said the battle for the city was entering its final hours.

Liberia's Supreme Court said on Wednesday it has dismissed a challenge to the eligibility of six candidates in next week's presidential election, including incumbent leader Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and her main rivals.

In Italy, the murder rate amounted to 1.0 homicide per 100,000 inhabitants, the second-lowest figure in Europ

Shareef Allman, 45, has been named a suspect in Wednesday morning's California quarry shooting, as well as in an attempted carjacking later on.

A five percent tax surcharge on the wealthiest that Senate Democrats propose would cover President Barack Obama's roughly $450 billion jobs package.

Seattle police threatened protesters with arrest if they did not take down the tents they had set up in Westlake Park. The Occupy protests have spread across the country in a matter of weeks.

The Occupy Wall Street protest is poised to enter a new phase on Wednesday afternoon, with union support for an afternoon march and rally potentially swelling the demonstration to an unprecedented size.

Citi clients who hold the EZ Checking account will be charged $15 per month if they fail to maintain a minimum balance of $6,000

The Root, a publication geared at covering African-American issues, released its Top 100 most influential African-Americans of 2011 on Wednesday. The list weighs the reach and substance of America's most influential African-Americans in politics, entertainment, and other fields.

The Somali rebel group responsible for the suicide bombing Tuesday that killed 70 people has vowed that attacks will increase day by day. But what does al-Shabab want?

House Republicans are calling for a special counsel to investigate whether Attorney General Eric Holder perjured himself in Congress during his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on the mishandled gun-tracking operation known as Fast and Furious, Fox News reported.

Samsung is accusing Apple of infringing two patents related to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets.

U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., criticized the influence anti-tax activist Grover Norquist has on Washington.

Representatives of the Dalai Lama, who is based in northern India, began the visa application process in June.

Conservative author and commentator Ann Coulter derided the Occupy Wall Street protesters by saying the movement is simliar to the Nazis' rise to power in Germany in the 1930s, and that the protesters also represent the start of totalitarianism in the U.S.

Now that Chris Christie's flirtation with the Republican presidential race has ended in rejection, polling suggests that Mitt Romney's steady courtship of potential voters may ultimately render him the nomination.

Turkey’s military coincidentally plans to conduct a routine exercise near the Syrian border through next week.

Poll shows effects of war on post-9/11 veterans.