Most Palestinians, whether they supported their late leader Yasser Arafat or not, were in agreement that he did not die of natural causes. They believed he was murdered by Israel or its agents.

But are Palestinians justified in blaming Israel for his death?

French doctors treating Arafat did not issue a conclusive report identifying the cause of his illness. The French public medical report pointed to the destruction of red blood cells as a reason for his death, but did not identify the cause of the red cell failure.

According to an Al Jazeera report, tests by scientists at the Institute of Radiation Physics in Lausanne, Switzerland, suggested that traces found on Arafat's stained underwear and other personal belongings pointed to an "unexplained, elevated amount of unsupported polonium-210", which could explain his red cell abnormality.

The Swiss lab is the same medical institute that uncovered traces of the radioactive isotope polonium-210 on former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko's belongings.

The Russian dissident died in 2006 following a meeting with Russian officials after ingesting tea laced with the substance.

After scanning Arafat's belongings, lab officials found an "unexplained level of polonium", concluding the possibility that he died of "poisoning".

Israel is the only nation in the region with a proven capability to produce polonium-210.

For killing three of US citizens overseas without bringing them to trial, the Central Intelligence Agency and the US Defense Department are being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union in the latest episode involving its drone program.

The ACLU filed a suit on Wednesday against the CIA and the Pentagon over the extrajudicial killings conducted last year aimed at alleged affiliates of al-Qaeda. Anwar al-Awlaki, his son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki and Samir Khan - all US citizens - were executed during two separate drone strikes conducted last year in the country of Yemen.

The 2012 targeted kills have become one of the more memorable moments of America's unmanned aerial vehicle program, which has been reportedly tied to the executions of hundreds of civilians overseas during the last few years. The 2012 executions aimed at the alleged al-Qaeda affiliated - and the United States' reluctance to reveal the details in full - have only escalated contempt against the drone strikes in the months since.

New investigative direction counters previous estimates, according to which bomb was planted in the Israeli tour bus in the coastal city of Burgas.

The bombing in Bulgaria Wednesday is committed by a suicide bomber and not by a charge planted in the bus beforehand as believed at first, a senior official in the Israeli Foreign Ministry told Haaretz.

Eight people were killed in the bombing, six of them Israeli tourists, one of them the Bulgarian bus driver, with authorities estimating that the eighth may be the terrorist who perpetrated the attack. An additional 32 Israelis were wounded in the attack.

During the night, two Israeli aircrafts carrying medical staff, a casualty identification team, a police forensic team, as well as, Israeli diplomats to assist in the return of Israelis who lost their identification in the attack.

Introduction

The United States has experienced the biggest political upheaval in its recent history: the transformation of a burgeoning welfare state into a rapidly expanding, highly intrusive and deeply entrenched police state, linked to the most developed technological innovations.

The 'Great Transformation' occurred exclusively from above, organized by the upper echelons of the civil and military bureaucracy under the direction of the Executive and his National Security Council. The 'Great Transformation' was not a single event but a process of the accumulation of powers, via executive fiats, supported and approved by compliant Congressional leaders. At no time in the recent and distant past has this nation witnessed the growth of such repressive powers and the proliferation of so many policing agencies engaged in so many areas of life over such a prolonged period of time (a time of virtually no internal mass dissent). Never has the executive branch of government secured so many powers to detain, interrogate, kidnap and assassinate its own citizens without judicial restraint.

Police state dominance is evident in the enormous growth of the domestic security and military budget, the vast recruitment of security and military personnel, the accumulation of authoritarian powers curtailing individual and collective freedoms and the permeation of national cultural and civic life with the almost religious glorification of the agents and agencies of militarism and the police state as evidenced at mass sporting and entertainment events.

The drying up of resources for public welfare and services is a direct result of the dynamic growth of the police state apparatus and military empire. This could only take place through a sustained direct attack against the welfare state - in particular against public funding for programs and agencies promoting the health, education, pensions, income and housing for the middle and working class.

Today, July 18th 2012, two acts of murder were committed. One occurred in Damascus, Syria, the other in Bourgas, Bulgaria, but that's where the similarity ends, or so our Western governments and mainstream medias would have us believe.

In Damascus, the targets were high level members of the Syrian government (and anyone else who happened to be in the room). In Bulgaria, the targets were Jewish holiday-makers.

In Damascus, a spokesman for the 'Free Syrian Army' claimed that one of their members planted a TNT and C-4-based device inside the building ahead of the meeting, and then detonated the bomb remotely before fleeing to safety. The 'Free Syrian Army' is, as I have pointed out, made up of CIA-trained and funded mercenaries who don't care how many innocent people they kill because they are being paid to do so.

Syrian state television, on the other hand, said that the attack was carried out by a "terrorist suicide bomber".

The strange thing is, both claims are more or less correct.

Bomb placed in trunk of bus with at least 40 people on board was detonated near Burgas airport

Israel has accused Iran of ordering a fatal bomb attack on an Israeli tour group in Bulgaria, in which at least six tourists were killed and 33 injured, three critically.

A group of about 200, mostly young Israelis, travelling with the Kavei Chufsha tour company had just flown into the country and were being driven to their hotels in a convoy of three coaches when the explosion hit one of them in the Black Sea city of Burgas, 250 miles (400 kilometres) east of the capital, Sofia.

The bomb was detonated not far from Burgas airport, said Dimitar Nikolov, the city's mayor. At least 40 people were on board when it exploded. Little more than an hour after the attack, the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a veiled threat to Tehran in a brief statement holding it responsible for the attack.

"Iran is responsible for the terror attack in Bulgaria, we will have a strong response against Iranian terror," he said.

Three elderly Kenyans who are suing the government for damages were told it did not dispute that "terrible things" had happened to them.

Their lawyers say it is the first ever official acknowledgement by the UK.

The revolt against British rule in Kenya in the 1950s and 1960s was marked by atrocities, with thousands killed.

The British government argues that too much time has passed for a fair hearing to be conducted.

Before starting cross-examination of witnesses, the QC for the British government, Guy Mansfield, said he did not want to dispute that civilians had suffered "torture and ill-treatment at the hands of the colonial administration".

He spoke directly to each of the witnesses, saying he did "not want to dispute the fact that terrible things happened to you".

Security has been stepped up around French president Francois Hollande after a gun-wielding man tried to break into the Elysée Palace. The would-be intruder, who has not been named, was arrested at the gates of the head of state's official Paris home on Sunday afternoon.

It led to fears that the 30-year-old was trying to mimic an attempt on the life of former French president Jacques Chirac a decade ago.

Referring to the latest incident, in which no-one was hurt, a police source in the French capital said: 'The man was carrying a gun, which turned out to be a replica 7.65mm pistol.

'He was carrying false papers, and provided no motive for what he did. He remains in custody, and the Paris prosecutors' office has recommended that he receives psychiatric care.

'In the meantime, security has certainly been tightened around the President.'

The U.S. military will not allow Iran to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Wednesday, adding that if Iran tries to disrupt the vital waterway, they will be defeated.

Iran's leaders have threatened to close down the Strait unless sanctions against their critical oil shipments are lifted. The Pentagon chief said the U.S. will not allow either Iran or any of its allies to stop shipping through the Strait.

"Iranians need to understand that the United States and the international community are going to hold them directly responsible for any disruption of shipping in that region by Iran or, for that matter, by its surrogates," Panetta said, adding, "and the United States is fully prepared for all contingencies."

Panetta's comments came on the heels of the Pentagon's announcement that the U.S. Navy would accelerate the deployment of the USS John Stennis carrier group to the Gulf region. The more than 5,000 sailors will deploy about four months earlier than originally scheduled so the U.S. can maintain a two-carrier presence in the area through the end of the year.

Syria's defense minister and President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law were killed in a Damascus bomb attack on Wednesday, state television reported, the most serious blow to Assad's high command in the country's 16-month-old rebellion.

The bomber -- said by a Reuters security source to be a bodyguard assigned to Assad's inner circle -- struck during a meeting attended by ministers and senior security officials in the Syrian capital as battles raged within sight of the presidential palace.

Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha, 65, a former army general, was the country's most senior Christian government official. Assad appointed him to the post last year.

Within hours, Syrian State TV announced that Brig. Gen. Fahed Jassim el Friej would replace Rajha.

Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat -- widely seen as a member of the president's inner circle -- was also reportedly killed in the attack.