:00:07. > :00:14.The former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has died at the age of
:00:15. > :00:21.85. He'd been in a coma since 2006, following a stroke. A soldier first,
:00:22. > :00:27.then politician, Ariel Sharon loomed large over 50 years of turbulent
:00:28. > :00:31.history. We'll be assessing his life and legacy.
:00:32. > :00:35.Also on the programme: Hundreds attend a vigil for Mark Duggan, days
:00:36. > :00:38.after an inquest jury found he'd been lawfully killed by police.
:00:39. > :00:40.And, the rains may have eased, but swollen rivers means there's still
:00:41. > :01:02.misery for homeowners. Good afternoon.
:01:03. > :01:06.The former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has died at the age of
:01:07. > :01:11.85. He suffered multiple organ failure, eight years after a massive
:01:12. > :01:14.stroke left him in a coma. Ariel Sharon was a dominant figure in the
:01:15. > :01:26.military and political life of his country, but courted controversy
:01:27. > :01:27.throughout his long career. Our Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen
:01:28. > :01:42.looks at his life, and his legacy. His body was moved out the centre
:01:43. > :01:47.near Tel Aviv. For many Israelis he was a hero. Some saw him especially
:01:48. > :01:52.in the 1980s as a dangerous maverick. For Palestinians, he was
:01:53. > :01:57.always a villain, often called the Butcher. He caught his
:01:58. > :02:05.autobiography, Warrior. Tributes were paid by Israel's leaders.
:02:06. > :02:10.Benjamin Netanyahu said Ariel Sharon had a central role in Israel's
:02:11. > :02:17.struggle for security. He was first and foremost a brave fighter and
:02:18. > :02:22.great military leader. The state of Israel mourns today the loss of one
:02:23. > :02:30.of its greatest leaders, former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Ariel
:02:31. > :02:38.Sharon was a veteran of the independence war of 1948. In 1953,
:02:39. > :02:42.his men led a reprisal in the West Bank, after an Israeli woman and
:02:43. > :02:47.children were killed by Palestinians. His men blew up most
:02:48. > :02:51.of the major buildings. He said he thought they were empty. In fact, 67
:02:52. > :02:58.Palestinians including women and children, died. In 2006, when he
:02:59. > :03:03.went into a coma, the survivor of the rate said Palestinians would
:03:04. > :03:09.always regard him as a killer and criminal.
:03:10. > :03:13.TRANSLATION: Ariel Sharon has committed so many massacres, we
:03:14. > :03:14.don't rejoice over him dying but as he will always be a killer and
:03:15. > :03:27.criminal. For Israelis, he was a daring
:03:28. > :03:34.fighter, leading an audacious attack during the 1956 Middle East war. In
:03:35. > :03:41.the 1967 war, he led forces that captured large parts of Egypt. In
:03:42. > :03:47.the 1973 war, his men crossed the Suez Canal and encircled and
:03:48. > :03:53.Egyptian army. In 1982, as Minister of defence, he was the mastermind of
:03:54. > :03:59.the invasion of Lebanon. Hundreds, perhaps several thousand Palestinian
:04:00. > :04:07.civilians in refugee camps in Beirut were massacred by Lebanese Christian
:04:08. > :04:10.militia men. Ariel Sharon was found to hold personal the possibility by
:04:11. > :04:16.a commission of enquiry, and resigned. He rebuilt his political
:04:17. > :04:20.career. He was a major force behind the drive to settle Jews in the
:04:21. > :04:27.occupied posting in territories. As he pushed to become leader of the
:04:28. > :04:32.Israeli right in 2000, he made a publicised heavily guarded visit to
:04:33. > :04:35.the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, providing the spark for the second
:04:36. > :04:41.Palestinian uprising. With Palestinian suicide bombers
:04:42. > :04:46.attacking Israelis, Ariel Sharon became Prime Minister. Presiding
:04:47. > :04:49.over a tough military response, and the construction of a fortified
:04:50. > :04:56.barrier between Palestinians and Israelis. One of the what ifs of
:04:57. > :05:00.history is what might have happened if Ariel Sharon had not been
:05:01. > :05:05.incapacitated by a stroke eight years ago this month. Six months
:05:06. > :05:10.earlier, he had pulled his Israeli settlers and soldiers out of Gaza, a
:05:11. > :05:14.move for which he was condemned by many old allies on the Israeli
:05:15. > :05:19.right. Some Israelis believe he might have been the only man trusted
:05:20. > :05:25.enough to pull some settlers out of the West Bank. Israeli
:05:26. > :05:30.schoolchildren wrote get well soon notes in 2006 when he had his
:05:31. > :05:35.stroke. By then, many Israelis saw him as the grandfather they could
:05:36. > :05:36.trust with their security. Palestinians never reconciled
:05:37. > :05:43.themselves to the man or his legacy. Our correspondent Yolande Knell
:05:44. > :05:51.joins me now from outside the hospital where Mr Sharon spent his
:05:52. > :05:56.final years. We understand members of his family
:05:57. > :06:01.were by his bedside when he died? That is right, it was a week ago
:06:02. > :06:06.that doctors gave warnings the health of the former Prime Minister
:06:07. > :06:11.had deteriorated. His two sons were at his bedside for much of the time
:06:12. > :06:15.afterwards. Photographers were kept away. Journalists have been camping
:06:16. > :06:19.out here. It came as a surprise at lunchtime when they were summoned
:06:20. > :06:24.during the Jewish sabbath, a time when much of the country is not
:06:25. > :06:29.working, for this announcement that Ariel Sharon had indeed died. Since
:06:30. > :07:01.then, his body has been taken away from the hospital, arrangements are
:07:02. > :07:15.From Tottenham, here's Tom Symonds. No justice, no peace! The Duggan
:07:16. > :07:20.campaign has rallied under the cry, no justice, no peace. Family members
:07:21. > :07:27.insisted that was a call for loud protests, not finance. Today's event
:07:28. > :07:30.was angry but peaceful. 500 supporters gathered outside
:07:31. > :07:34.Tottenham police station. The long inquest into his death had not
:07:35. > :07:38.convinced them of its verdict that he had a gun, that he threw it away
:07:39. > :07:49.and was shot while unarmed, lawfully. We do not accept it, we
:07:50. > :07:55.will not accept it, we cannot accept it. We fight on. The media, asked to
:07:56. > :08:02.stay well back from the speakers, were tolerated more than accepted.
:08:03. > :08:06.The family and supporters continued to reject the conclusions of the
:08:07. > :08:10.inquest jury this week. They say the jury was considering the evidence
:08:11. > :08:14.put in front of it, but they say the inquest itself was weighed against
:08:15. > :08:19.the interests of the family, community and Vic Tim. Mark
:08:20. > :08:23.Duggan's aunt said the next move for the campaign was to push the
:08:24. > :08:28.Independent Police Complaints Commission to carry out a wider,
:08:29. > :08:31.more thorough investigation. The family are considering appealing
:08:32. > :08:38.against the inquest verdict. What are your hopes for progress? All we
:08:39. > :08:43.have is hope. We are in a non-just society. We had to hope and pray we
:08:44. > :08:49.get justice. The police kept their numbers hidden. The family and
:08:50. > :08:52.Acalls for no return to writing seemed to have carried weight. They
:08:53. > :08:55.demonstrated their wishes again this afternoon, releasing white doves
:08:56. > :09:03.into clear, sunny Tottenham skies. The French oil and gas giant Total
:09:04. > :09:07.is to invest in Britain's shale gas industry. The company is expected to
:09:08. > :09:10.announce on Monday it's acquiring stakes in a number of UK exploration
:09:11. > :09:14.firms, which already have drilling licences here. The process to
:09:15. > :09:17.extract shale gas, known as fracking, has attracted widespread
:09:18. > :09:22.criticism because of fears about its environmental impact.
:09:23. > :09:26.Coastguards in Devon, searching for a teenager who disappeared taking
:09:27. > :09:32.photos of stormy seas, say they've pulled a body from the water. Harry
:09:33. > :09:35.Martin, who was 18 and from Newton Ferrers near Plymouth, was last seen
:09:36. > :09:37.walking towards a coastal path on January second. Formal
:09:38. > :09:48.identification will take place early next week.
:09:49. > :09:53.River levels in parts of England have continued to rise, bringing
:09:54. > :10:00.more misery. 90 flood warnings are still in force in England and Wales.
:10:01. > :10:06.The volume of water currently surging through Marlowe is eight
:10:07. > :10:11.times greater than normal. It is a torrent which has proved impossible
:10:12. > :10:16.to hold back. 350 cubic metres of water, tonnes of water, going past
:10:17. > :10:22.every second. Usually, when we look over, there is a difference between
:10:23. > :10:26.the upstream and downstream levels, 2.5 metres. Here, it is half a metre
:10:27. > :10:33.because of the volume of water coming down. With so much water in
:10:34. > :10:38.the system, it is hardly surprising farm land and properties have been
:10:39. > :10:42.affected by the floodwaters. Here at least it does appear the river
:10:43. > :10:47.levels peaked. Further downstream, there is still a chance they may
:10:48. > :10:50.rise again. In parts of Thames Ditton in Surrey, leaving the house
:10:51. > :10:56.is already impossible without waders. Rivers may be the problem
:10:57. > :11:00.now. But the spectacular coastal storms seen in places such as
:11:01. > :11:06.Aberystwyth, have left behind severe damage. Today, there has been a
:11:07. > :11:13.determination to repair the battered seafront. It is a great community
:11:14. > :11:18.spirit. People, parents, children, local councillors, everybody helping
:11:19. > :11:23.together to restore the promenade to its usual glory. Here, as in other
:11:24. > :11:26.flood damaged areas, the hope is that can't spell of mild, dried by
:11:27. > :11:29.the hope is that can't spell of mild, dry weather will allow the
:11:30. > :11:34.clean-up to continue. There's more throughout the evening
:11:35. > :11:35.on the BBC News Channel. We are back with the late news. Now,