Kenya ? Gangs of youths armed with machetes and clubs fought running battles with police on Sunday and burned tribal rivals alive in their homes in western Kenya, pushing the death toll from a month of escalating ethnic violence to nearly 800.

Sunday marked exactly one month since the Dec. 27 disputed president election that sparked the violence that has transformed this once-stable African country, pitting longtime neighbors against each other and turning towns where tourists used to gather for luxury holidays into no-go zones.

President Mwai Kibaki and his chief rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga remain far apart on how to resolve the crisis, the worst the country has seen since its 1963 independence from Britain. Kibaki has said that he is open to direct talks with Odinga but that his position as president is not negotiable. Odinga says Kibaki must step down and new elections are the only alternative.