UPDATED: FRANCISCO FRANCO IS STILL DEAD

Suha Arafat: Yasser is not dead, not in a coma
Late Thursday night, Suha Arafat, speaking to the leader of the southern faction of the Islamic Movement Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, said that her husband was not clinically dead and not in a coma. Mrs. Arafat said reports that her husband had died were "a festival of the Israeli media and is nothing but a lie," Israel Radio reported. She said she had visited with him earlier in the day, and that they talked and Arafat had responded to her. Mrs. Arafat said she was "incensed" at the Israeli media.

Mrs. Arafat keeps husband on life support
"He is dead, but neither Arafat's wife nor the Palestinian leadership is ready to announce this," a PA official said. "The announcement could take place on Friday." The problem is that Arafat is still the only Palestinian official who can pay the bills. And it is unclear who, if anyone, has access to the estimated $2-3 billion in his personal Swiss bank accounts, according to a report in the current edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com. Even his wife is said to be unaware of how to access the funds.