Ugandan rebels say they have lost faith in the mediator of the group's peace talks with the Ugandan government.

Israel says it will make a limited - "pinpoint" - response to Palestinian rocket attacks, but will maintain a ceasefire that it agreed to with Palestinians late last month. Palestinians rejected the move, warning that it will lead to an escalation of violence, while some Israelis say the decision does not go far enough. Robert Berger reports from the VOA bureau in Jerusalem.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he is optimistic that Sudan's government will soon allow a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission to enforce a ceasefire in Darfur. VOA's correspondent at the U.N. Peter Heinlein reports.

Rival Palestinian factions have clashed again in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. At least one person was killed and six wounded. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, a breakdown of law and order in the Palestinian territories has exacerbated a political deadlock over early elections.

Palestinian witnesses say gunmen have exchanged fire near the Gaza City home of a top official with the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Palestinian witnesses say at least two people were killed during a pre-dawn clash between rival Fatah and Hamas factions in the Gaza Strip, hours after the two sides agreed to a new ceasefire.