Kenya's embattled opposition was poised to begin three days of mass rallies to protest an intensely disputed presidential vote they say was rigged in favour of incumbent President Mwai Kibaki.

Kenya's rival factions girded for fresh political battles at the first sitting of the new parliament as former UN chief Kofi Annan is set to make an effort to ease the crisis triggered by last month's disputed presidential election.

Diplomatic pressure mounted today on Kenya's political leaders to stem the violence that has engulfed the country in the wake of disputed presidential elections claiming nearly 260 lives.

At least 140 people have died in Kenya in post-election clashes across the nation. Incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared re-elected on Sunday in a close vote. His opponent Raila Odinga disputes the result and has called for a recount.

Disturbances continue in Kenya following the controversial re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, with more than 100 supporters of opposition candidate Raila Odinga killed in the past day. At least 64 people were killed overnight in western Kenya, and another 40 died in the slums of the capital Nairobi.

Unofficial early results from Kenya's presidential election show the incumbent, Mwai Kibaki, trailing his main challenger Raila Odinga.

On June 26, 2007, the World Bank has approved a credit of US$80 million for Kenya to expand the coverage of targeted HIV and AIDS interventions to prevent and mitigate the impact of the disease.

As G-8 leaders debate what action they are going to take to tackle climate change, poor communities in Kenya's highlands are already feeling the impact of global warming. Katy Migiro reports from our Nairobi bureau that increased temperatures are bringing malarial mosquitoes to areas that were previously safe from the disease that kills more Africans than any other.

Kenya's president Kibaki and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are set to discuss sustained flow of oil into Kenya.

Richard Idro, M.M.E.D., of the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kilifi, Kenya and colleagues conducted a study to determine the incidence and neurological involvement of African children with acute falciparum malaria (a severe type of malaria).

Reports from Cameroon, where a Kenya Airways plane crashed shortly after takeoff, say searchers have found wreckage but no sign of survivors. The six-month-old Boeing 737 jet went down with 114 people aboard early Saturday, during a torrential rainstorm. The airport at Douala, Cameroon's largest city, briefly heard a distress signal, but rescuers were unable to locate the crash site for more than 40 hours.

Six Nigerian and 108 other passengers are on the manifest of the missing Kenya Airways plane that must have crashed in the swampy region of Douala in Cameroon, last Saturday.