KENYA’S president signed a new constitution into law yesterday that institutes a US-style system of checks and balances and has been hailed as the most significant political event since Kenya’s independence nearly a half century ago.

Kenya’s prime minister said that he wants former UN chief Kofi Annan to intervene in a dispute with the president that is threatening a power-sharing agreement that helped end post-election bloodshed two years ago.

Kenyan radio shows interrupted their programming and bus conductors shouted the news from the windows: President Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize.

A Cabinet minister and an assistant minister were killed along with two other people when their small plane crashed in south-western Kenya, President Mwai Kibaki said.

KENYA’S President Mwai Kibaki named political rival Raila Odinga as head of a power-sharing cabinet on Sunday, ending weeks of impasse that threatened to undermine economic recovery after a deadly post-election crisis.

President Mwai Kibaki named Raila Odinga as prime minister today, implementing a long-awaited power-sharing deal that the two rivals signed more than a month ago to resolve a protracted political crisis.

Officials say Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga have reached deal on a coalition Cabinet.

Kenyan politicians have unanimously approved a power-sharing deal, bringing together two men whose dispute over the presidency unleashed weeks of deadly violence.

Kenya’s president urged MPs today to pass the laws needed to enforce the country’s new power-sharing agreement as Parliament prepared to convene for the first time since the deal was signed.

Kofi Annan was set to leave Kenya today after brokering a power-sharing deal between the country’s feuding politicians to end a bloody post-election crisis.

The UN Security Council welcomed the new power-sharing agreement in Kenya and urged President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to implement it “in full and without delay”.

Governments gave strong backing today to Kenya’s power-sharing agreement and promised support to help the country emerge from two months of ethnic violence sparked by a disputed presidential election.

Mass protests by Kenya’s opposition were called off today under pressure from former UN chief Kofi Annan who is trying to pave the way for a permanent deal to end the country’s divisions.

FORMER UN chief Kofi Annan said yesterday he has suspended talks between Kenya’s government and the opposition that were supposed to end the country’s deadly post-election crisis.

Hopes of a solution to the deadly divisions in Kenya were dashed today when talks between the two main rivals were suspended.

Former UN chief Kofi Annan said today he has suspended talks between Kenya’s government and the opposition which were supposed to end the country’s deadly post-election crisis.

Talks to end Kenya’s post-election crisis have reached a crucial stage amid fears of renewed violence if the two sides cannot agree soon to share power, a leading diplomat said tonight.

A political deal is expected in Kenya today after the government tentatively agreed to form a prime minister’s post for the opposition, moving the East African country a step closer to ending the deadly post-election crisis.

A POLITICAL deal to end Kenya’s post-election crisis is expected today, with the two sides having largely agreed on a government structure, including a prime minister’s post, officials said yesterday.

Hopes of a political settlement to end Kenya’s violent post-election crisis rose today after reports that the two main opponents were on the verge of announcing a deal.

Kenya’s main opposition party today threatened mass protests within a week if the government fails to begin paving the way for any type of power-sharing government.

KENYA’S political rivals have agreed that an independent review of the disputed election is necessary, while momentum for a power-sharing deal is growing, former UN chief Kofi Annan said yesterday.

Kenya’s political rivals today agreed on an independent review of the election at the centre of their dispute.

The UN’s humanitarian chief John Holmes said today that up to 600,000 people have been forced from their homes in Kenya during weeks of violence that has killed 1,000 people.

Hopes for an end to the violence sweeping Kenya rose today when a leading opposition MP said a deal had been struck to form a joint government with President Mwai Kibaki.

America branded 10 leading Kenyan politicians “criminals” today and banned them from entering the country.

Talks to end weeks of post-election violence in Kenya resumed today on difficult political issues, a day after rivals agreed on humanitarian aid and a leading mediator left the team because of government opposition.

Kenya’s opposition leader today called for international peacekeepers to help restore calm in a country once considered one of the most stable on the continent, as weeks of violence linked to the disputed presidential election gathered frightening momentum.

Kenya’s opposition leader today called for the African Union to send peacekeepers to stem violence sparked by the country’s disputed presidential election.

A Kenyan policeman was lynched by a mob of demonstrators today in revenge for the shooting of an MP by another officer.

An opposition MP has been shot dead by a policeman in Kenya’s Rift Valley today, the second to be killed this week as the country’s violent slide into chaos continues.

Africa is facing a genocide in Kenya and must make resolving the crisis a priority, the head of the African Union told the continent’s leaders today at the opening of a three-day summit.

It is up to Africa to help Kenya resolve a dispute over elections that has sparked spiralling violence, the African Union chief said as the continent’s leaders converged in Ethiopia for a summit.

THE top US envoy to Africa called the violence in Kenya “ethnic cleansing” and said yesterday Washington was reviewing its hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the country.

Violent anti-government protests in Kenya’s Rift Valley are aimed at the ethnic cleansing of the Kikuyu tribe there, a diplomat claimed today.

Fresh waves of violence swept Kenya today in the wake of the murder of an opposition MP.

Fresh riots broke out on the streets of Kenya's capital Nairobi today after an opposition politician was murdered by gunmen at his home.

Ethnic clashes convulsed western Kenya today as gangs fought with crude weapons and set homes ablaze, pushing the death toll from a month of violence over the country’s flawed presidential election to nearly 800.

People were burned and hacked to death today in ethnic clashes in Kenya’s western Naivasha town, the latest flashpoint of violence over President Mwai Kibaki’s re-election.

Sporadic gunshots rang out today in a main Rift Valley city as Kenyans forced from their homes by post-election ethnic violence threatened to seek revenge.

Tribal violence flared again in Kenya today with mobs burning down half a town, killing at least two people.

KENYA’S feuding leaders shook hands and smiled yesterday after a landmark first meeting brought about by former UN chief Kofi Annan, a month after disputed presidential polls.

Kenya’s president and his main opposition leader finally met today for the first time since their dispute over elections sparked nationwide violence that has left hundreds dead.

Kenya’s opposition party was today accused of organising some of the worst violence in the wave of killings that have swept the county.