In other news, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s health has taken a turn for the worse. He has been placed in critical care and there have been reports he has fallen into a coma. He is being treated at a military hospital in France. Haartez is reporting that senior Palestinian Authority officials have rushed to Ramallah for emergency meetings. The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Central Committee of the Fatah movement were both urgently summoned to Arafat’s headquarters. Former Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was also en route to the compound.