11/01/2014 BBC Weekend News

following a stroke. A soldier first, then politician, Ariel Sharon loomed

large over 50 years of turbulent history.

We'll be assessing his life and legacy. Also on the programme:

Hundreds of people have attended a vigil for Mark Duggan days after an

inquest jury found he had been lawfully killed by police. And the

rains may have eased, but swollen rivers mean yet more misery for home

owners. Good evening. The former Israeli

Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has died at the age of 85. He suffered

multiple organ failure, eight years after a massive stroke left him in a

coma. Ariel Sharon was a dominant figure in the military and political

life of his country. Today, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin

Netaiyahu, described him as a Great Warrior. But a senior Palestinian

official said he would be remembered for his aggression and attempts to

impose his will on the Palestinian people by force.

Jermey Bowen looks back at his life. This report contains flash

photography. Ariel Sharon's body was moved out of

the Medical Centre near Tel Aviv where he's been treated. For many

Israelis he was a hero. Some, though, saw him, especially in the

the 1980s and 90s, as a dangerous maverick. For Palestinians he was

always a villain, often called the butcher. Sharon called his

autobiography "Warrior". That was how he saw himself. Tributes were

paid by Israel's leaders. He was an outstanding man and an exceptional

commander, who moved his people and loved them and the people loved him.

He cultivated his land and made it flourish. Ariel Sharon was a veteran

of Israel's independence war of 1948. In 1953, his men led a

reprisal here in the Palestinianial village of Kibia on the West Bank,

Antunes -- after an Israeli woman and her children were killed.

Sharon's men blew up most of the buildings. 67 Palestinians,

including many women and children died in the rubble of their homes

in. 2006, when Sharon went into a coma, this survivor the raid told me

that Palestinians would always regard him as a killer and a

criminal. TRANSLATION: Sharon will never be a

man of peace because he's committed so many massacres. We don't rejoice

over him dying, but to us, he'll always be a killer and a criminal.

For Israelis he was a daring fighter, leading an audacious

paratrooper attack during the 1956 Middle East war. In the 1967 war, he

led forces that captured large parts of Egypt's Sinai desert. In the 1973

war, his men crossed the Suez Canal and encircled an Egyptian Army. In

1982, as Minister of Defence, he was the Mastermind of Israel's invasion

of Lebanon. Hundreds, perhaps several thousand Palestinian

civilians refugee camps in Beirut were massacred by Lebanese Christian

militiamen who were Israel's allies. Ariel Sharon was found to hold

personal responsibility by an Israeli Commission of Inquiry and

resigned. He rebuilt his political career. He was a major force behind

Israel's drive to settle Jews in the occupied Palestinian territories. As

he pushed to become leader of the Israeli right in 2000, he made a

highly publicised, heavy-guarded visit to the ack amosque compound in

-- Aksa mosque compound in Jerusalem, providing the spark for

the uprising. With Palestinian suicide bombers attacking Israelis,

Ariel Sharon became Prime Minister, presiding over a tough military

response and the construction of a fortified barrier between

Palestinians and Israelis. One of the what ifs of recent Middle

Eastern history is what might have happened if Sharon had not been

incapacitated by a massive stroke. Six months earlier, he had pulled

Israeli settlers and soldiers out of Palestinian Gaza, a move for which

he was condemned by many of his old allies on the Israeli right. Some

Israelis believe he might have been the only man trusted enough to pull

some settlers out of the West Bank too. By then, many Israelis saw him

as the grandfather they could trust with their security. But

Palestinians never reconciled themselves to the man or his legacy.

Ariel Sharon's family visited the place on his farm where he's

expected to be buried. His legacy is still a factor in the politics of

war and peace in the Middle East, especially the Jewish settlements on

the West Bank. Respect him or despise him, Ariel Sharon could not

be ignored. In life or death. As a general and statesman, Ariel

Sharon played a key role in shaping Israel and influencing the wider

region. Our Middle East Correspondent Kevin Connolly reports

from Jerusalem. As Israel emerged from the Jewish Sabbath, the weekly

suspension of the rhythms of daily life, it was to news that Sharon

shorn's eight years -- Ariel Sharon's eight years in a coma were

over at last. TRANSLATION: He is gone and he went

at a time of his own choosing. Not all Israelis loved him or even liked

him, but no-one ever doubted that Sharon the warrior brought the

courage of his convictions to his political life. He was a brave

soldier, a general in the Israeli army, but also a man that knew how

to understand the reality here in the Middle East, a very complicated

reality. He was very tough Prime Minister. He was just, I think, he

was black or white. He wouldn't compromise. He would do everything

for us, for Israel. Public mourning began hours of the announcement.

Israelis preparing to say goodbye. So too were Palestinians, they saw

Sharon as an enemy to be hated and feared. In Gaza they handed out

sweets on street corners and savoured what they saw as a kind of

victory. TRANSLATION: Everyone is feeling

happy. Look on anybody's Facebook pace -- page. Sharon committed a lot

of crimes against the Palestinian people. Ariel Sharon, once a simple

soldier, led his country through complex times. In the Middle East

with its divided history, even in Israel with its fractious party

politics, no-one leaves an undisputed legacy, but there's one

central truth to the life of Ariel Sharon - it mirrored at almost every

turn the short history of the state that he fought to establish and then

to protect. Our correspondent Yolande Knell

joins me from outside the hospital near Tel Aviv, where Ariel Sharon

spent his final years. Details of the funeral arrangements have been

announced. That's right. We have been hearing through the day, since

Ariel Sharon's death was announced, around lunch time, his pod yay was

-- body was taken away from the Sheba Medical Centre, where he spent

much of the past eight years. We're now told that what is happening, his

body is being prepared for him to lie in state at the Israeli

Parliament tomorrow. That's where people will be able to pay their

respects. Then on Monday, there will be the official ceremony there. That

will be attended by some international VIPs, with the likes

of the US vice-president Joe Biden in attendance. Then final lip, he

will be take -- finally, he will be taken to the family ranch in

southern Israel. That's where he will be buried alongside his late

wife. Many thanks. Several hundred people gathered

outside Tottenham police station in North London today to hold a vigil

for Mark Duggan, whose shooting by police in 2011 sparked riots in many

English cities. This week, a jury ruled he had been lawfully killed.

The Duggan campaign has rallied under the crime why the no justice,

no peace. " Family members insist that's a call for loud protest, not

violence. This edon't believe a two-year police -- they don't

believe a two-year police investigation, and the consideration

of a jury has delivered justice. The verdict that Mark Duggan had a gun,

threw it away and was shot lieufully, while -- lawfully, while

unarmed, they describe as perverse. We fight on. The media, asked to

stay well back from the speakers, were tolerated more than accepted.

Mark Duggan's family and supporters continue to reject the conclusions

of the inquest jury this week. They say the jury was considering the

evidence put in front of it, but they say, the inquest itself was

weighed against the interests of the family, the community and the

victim. Mark Duggan's aunt said the campaign's next move was to push the

IPCC to carry out a wider, in her words, more thorough investigation.

The family are considering appealing against the inquest verdict. What

are your hopes for further progress? We're just hoping, that's all we

have got is help. We're in an unjust society. We have to fight for

justice. We have got to hope and pray that we get that at some point.

The police kept their numbers largely hidden, but this was a

peaceful protest. The family's demand for there to be no trouble

seemed to have carried weight which Mark Duggan's Motherwell comed. It's

-- Mark Duggan's maerge welcomed. To further demonstrate their wishes,

they released white doffs into -- doves into clear Tottenham skies.

The French oil and gas giant Total is to invest in Britain's shale gas

industry. The company is expected to announce on Monday, it's acquiring

stakes in a number of UK exploration firms. The process to extract shale

gas, known as fracking, has attracted widespread criticism

because of fears about its environmental impact.

There's been more violence in the capital of the Central African

Republic, a day after the president resigned, and apparently fled the

country. Life for civilians, caught up in weeks of fighting is getting

increasingly desperate. The squalid camp next to the airport

remains as overcrowded as ever. 100,000 people are behind the barbed

wire. They're Christians who fled violence by the mainly Muslim

militia. The political situation has been transformed in the past 24

hours, but will take longer to end the humanitarian crisis. The camp

has the size and feel of a small town now. Nobody that we've spoken

to is yet prepared to go home. All these people are Christians and they

want to wait and see, to make sure that the militia has left their

neighbourhoods before they leave. So they're stuck in this place, their

lives on hold. "It depends on the French and African troops. They've

got to disarm the militia. They have to go."

But there's been looting of Muslim homes and businesses. Christians

feel they have the upper hand since the president's resignation. Some

want to take revenge. Muslim areas are fearful. Many people staying at

home. On this street, a tyre repair shop was one of the few businesses

still open. "Now it's up to us to defend our families. The French and

African troops are doing nothing to help us. We have to defend

ourselves." Everyone here told me they were

thinking of fleeing the country. French troops were very much in

evidence. There has been trouble, but not the bloodbath many feared.

Foreign soldiers have helped avert the genocide some predicted. No-one

has any illusions the crisis is over yet.

Refer levels in parts of England have continued to rise bringing more

misery, with nearly 80 flood warnings still in place in England

and Wales. Our correspondent Sarah Campbell reports from Marlow in

Buckinghamshire. The volume of water currently

surging through Marlow is eight times greater than normal. It's a

torrent which has proved impossible to hold back. We have 350 cubic

metres of water, that's tons of water, going past here every second.

Usually, when we look at over the weir here, we see a difference

between the upstream and down stream water levels, about 2. 5 metres.

Here we see it's half a metre because of the sheer volume of water

coming down through. With so much water in the system, it's hardly

surprising that first farmland and then properties have been affected

by the floodwaters. But here, at least, it does appear the river

levels have peaked. Further down stream, there's still a chance they

may rise again in. Parts of Surrey, leaving the house is already

impossible without waders. Rivers may be the problem now, but the

spectacular coastal storms, seen in places such as Aberystwyth, have

left behind severe damage. Today, there's been a real determination to

repair the battered seafront. I think it's a great community spirit

here. People - parents, children, local councillors, everybody helping

together to restore the prom to its usual glory, hopefully. Here, as in

other flood-damaged areas, the hope is that the current dry spell will

allow the clean up to continue. With all the sport now, here's Ollie

Foster at the BBC sports centre. There were goals in all seven of

today's Premier League matches. You can see them on Match of the Day

straight after the news. If you want the results, here they come: Chelsea

are back on top of the Premier League for the first time since

September, after they beat Hull 2-0. Eden Hazard scored first at the kvrt

C stadium. -- KC Stadium. And Fernando Torres completed the

victory. Manchester United's mini slump is over, after three defeats

in a row, they beat Swansea 2-0. Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck

with the goals against the side that knocked them out of the FA Cup last

weekend. West Ham have moved out of the

relegation zone with a 2-0 win at Cardiff. They're now in the bottom

three. Everton are up to fourth. ?. -- fourth. Adam Johnson scored a

hat-trick there. Leaders Celtic have the weekend off

in the Scottish Premiership, but there were three matches today.

Motherwell have won their sixth game in a row. John Sutton scored the

only goal against Hearts. Partick Thistle and Ross County drew 3-3. St

Johnstone beat St Mirren 2-0. England's cricketers start their

one-day series against Australia in the next few hours. The fallout from

the Ashes whitewash continues. The captain, Alastair Cook, refusing to

give Kevin Pietersen any guarantees about his future in the side.

give Kevin Pietersen any guarantees about his future in the We know when

I get home from this one-day series, a lot of important decisions on how

we want to go forward with this Test team, with the one-day team, my

future, all that kind of stuff is very important. But at the moment,

my total focus has to be on us winning games of cricket in this

one-day series. England's women cricketers are playing their Ashes

Test in Perth. They bowled Australia out for 207 runs. Australia had a

first innings lead of just six runs. But it's been a terrible start to

the tourists' second innings. At the close, England were 18 for three.

Two-time European champions Munster are into the quarter finals of Rugby

Union's Heineken Cup. They won their pool, beating Gloucester at

Kingsholm. Keith Earls scored the pick of their tries.

Leicester, Clermont Auvergne and Ulster are through to the last

eight. Great Britain are tipped to have

their most successful Winter Olympics next month. There are great

hopes in the Skelton, with more than one medal chance. Lizzie Yarnold

claimed silver in St Moritz today. She finished on the podium in all

six World Cup races this season. She remains on course to take the

overall title. Her team meat Shelley Rudman won bronze. The American

Noelle Pikus-Pace took gold. Tomorrow's BDO world darts final

will be between the favourite Stephen Bunting and Alan Norris. The

women's final was an all-English affair. There was a tlishing come

back from Lisa Ashton to win her first world title. She beat Deta

Hedman three sets to two. That's all the sport. Spvment -- sport. That's

it from us. Don't forget, there's a first look at tomorrow's front pages

on the BBC News channel. From me, and the rest of the team,

have a very good night. Hell low there. 60 years ago, this

very evening George Cowling became the very first BBC weather

forecaster. Here is the cloud to come. You'll notice ahead of it, the

clear skies which brought sunshine today and which is now bringing

frosty conditions