>> good afternoon, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. here are your top stories from around the world. leaders are expressing condolences over the death of ariel sharon. a-rod said he'll fight the suspension. plus 50 years after the knock down of cigarettes on the big string and it changed america forever.

>> u.s. vice president joe biden said he'll lead the u.s. delegation to the memorial service for the late ariel sharon. the former israeli prime minister died at a hospital in tel aviv. sharon was an ex-deck raid general around a controversial leader. he suffered a stroke and was 85 years old. he was called everything from a terrorist to a fierce protector of the jewish state. why is his legacy so complex? >> yes, morgan, good afternoon. here he was dubbed king erik. elsewhere in the nation he was dubbed the brutal bulldozer. there wasn't here in the region who wasn't directe affect the dd

for what sharon did. and throughout he was polarized. it was a moment that defined everything that he stood for in 2000 in jerusalem ariel sharon walked through the mosq mosque, but a provocation is exactly what it was. he asserted israeli claims and his visit triggered outrage in the palestinian up rising. the violence that it helped spark propelled him to election as prime minister. and approved once again the brash, bull headed sharon did what he wanted, seized land he desired, and nobody dared stop him. sharon helped define the israeli state. many israelis loved him for it. many others despised him first, he was an audacious successful soldier. his campaigns redrew the state's

borders. in 1967 he won one of the most sensational battles in the six-day war. israel suddenly doubled in size. in 1973 as a battlefield general his leadership prevented almost certain defeat in the yom kippur war. in as defense minister he led the invasion of lebanon. but after the victory he ordered his forces to stand by as the lebanese fighters he was supporting slaughtered if not thousands of palestinian refugees. it should have been the end of his career. he had to resign, and the israeli commission of inquiry found him indirectly responsible. but he survived to continue in politician. he saw settlements in the palestinian west bank as bull

works against arab neighbors he never trusted. >> all those communities that you build into there, su samari, the golan heights, they are not obstacles to peace. they are obstacles to war. and there was no more nemesis than yasser arafat. he forced arafat in ex exile frm lebanon. and when he was president he laid siege to his compound. arafat was prisoner to his own home and in the end never saw the state that sharon so hard against. >> he is a murderer. he is a murderer. a pathological liar. >> sharon always promised israel security, and always took the long-term view.

in 201 2001 in a wave of suicide bombs, he ordered the construction of a massive wall, took land palestinians called their own and once again redefined israel's borders. >> i believe understanding the peace, but of course, to bring security for the citizens of israel. >> reporter: when he decided that security meant removing st. settlers from the gaza strip, he was on his way to being re-elected prime minister, but in 2006 he suffered a massive stroke. he was brought by ambulance to this hospital, and never woke up. always polarizing ariel sharon was seen by many as a strength. others saw the symbol of israeli cruelty. but his story became israel's

story, and today's israel is sharon's israel. >> i want to read you what the finance minister has just posted to his facebook page. he said that sharon, quote, lived twice. the first time as a charging savage. the second time as a responsible adult. and he died twice. the first time eight years ago and the second time today. that gives you a sense of how controversial he was for the region but israel as well. >> a charming savage. sharon once said i can talk and look in the eyes of the citizens of israel and convince them to make painful compromises. what were some of those painful compromises? >> i think it's a great line. it really goes to what sharon was able to do at the end of his career. he was almost a knicks no one

china moment. he had a long career targeting the palestinians, aggressively as a military general and military leader. he could say to the israeli side, look, i know i've got your security. you can trust me being aggressive. therefore when i say we need to pull out of gaza, i created the settlements. when i say i can pull out the settlements from gaza and a few from the northern west banks then you have to trust me. you have to believe me. now pulling out of the settlements is now viewed from an unilateral view when did he that, it was unpopular. he left a legacy of a military commander. >> thank you for being with us

president obama sent his condolences: >> not everyone is mourning the death of ariel sharon. we have more from beirut. >> more than 30 years ago these streets were littered with mutilated bodies, the men, the women, the children. they were killed in the infamous massacre of 1982. today people are celebrating, distributing sweets. once they learned of the death of ariel sharon. hthe israeli army laid siege to

this camp. they said they were pursuing fighters belonging to the palestine liberation organization, but what happened was a lebanese militia allied to the israeli army entered the camp and carried out these killings. most of these survivors, of course, they're rejoicing. no one here is mourning his death. they want to see ariel sharon be taken to an international court and convicted of the crimes. but for others they say the israeli government will never allow these people to go back home.

>> ariel sharon was a polarizing figure. but to further discuss the legacy in the arab world. >> thanthank you for joining us. for most arabs no other name is synonymous with violence. >> beginning in 1953 he committed the first massacre against civilians in which the city he killed 67 people with no remorse. and then his name became very much associated with building settlements and also the massacre the man has constantly been associated with settlements also with obstacle to peace in

the middle east. when james baker was doing hi wn the 1990s, every time his airplane landed in the airport, sharon would greet him with a settlement. and then sharon himself was the one who wanted to empty those settlements and dismantle those settlements. he never really understood ash culture or arab mind. he never understood the area that he was living in and that he was supposed to be making peace while living in it.

>> why the sudden change? >> i would say the sudden change is because of the democra demogc threats and the international pressure that was imposed on israel. i don't think sharon in his heart of hearts, he basically built the security wall as the palestinians like to call it. based on his own narrow vision and his very narrow security prison that he only saw the palestinians through. so the man from the beginning until the end saw the palestinians only through a very

narrow prison, and it is a threat to prison, a security, and also like an enemy that he would never reconcile. remember when he came back from washington, d.c. in 1998 after he president clinton, al gore and arafat spent ten days at a plantation, coming back to israel he asked the settlers to make a palestinian state impossible and make peace impossible as much as they could. so between 1998 and two or three--i don't think much has changed but i would say western pressure and the united states and demographic threat that came as the main target of israel until this morning. when john kerry talks about the palestinian state he doesn't talk about it because of international law or international legitimacy, he talks about it as the best

alternative for israel. >> the best alternative for israel. thank you for joining us live from the west bank this afternoon. and when we return on al jazeera america, a-rod is out, but not as long as baseball wanted. plus, a school boy in pakistan stops a suicide-bomber and is hailed as a hero for saving his classmates. all those details when we come back.

i'm phil tores.

coming up this week on techknow. techknow's shini somara goes straight into the storm. winds of 150 miles per hour. but this twister is created in the lab. >> i'm at the national wind institute where they can actually recreate a tornado. >> now science and technology take on mother nature. >> who wins? >> it's completely fine. >> techknow. sunday 7:30 eastern on al jazeera america.

>> john henry smith has more. >> the ruling by arbitrator frederick harrow wits is in a fight that rodriguez began waging when his 211-game suspension began. a-rod showed up at the park any way. >> i'm going to respect the process. apparently rodriguez met the appeals process. he quickly challenged the ruling, taking aim at major league baseball and commissioner bud selig in the process. all this in the wake of rod guesrodriguez's name being linko performance-enhancing drugs and bio genesis. after an investigation major league baseball suspended rodriguez, and hi said it was de to, quote:

>> selig went on to say: >> reporter: nevertheless the yankee slugger continued playing throughout the season. rodriguez filed a lawsuit against major league baseball and bud selig, saying, quote: >> frederick horowitz issued a gag order that seemed to be working, as rodriguez discovered, selig would not have to testify that day or any day.

rodriguez stormed out. >> i lost my mine. i kicked a table and slammed a briefcase and went out of the room. i knew it was restricted, and i knew it wasn't fair, but what we saw today was disgusting. the fact that the man from milwaukee that put this suspension on me with not one bit of evidence, something that i didn't do, and he doesn't have the courage to come look at me in the eye and tell me this is why i did 211? i shouldn't serve one inning. >> with the arbitrators' ruling now in place, what is next for alex rodriguez? >> no that we have the opinion of the arbitrator, which he essentially split the desire of rodriguez and the baseball suspension, the arbitrator was trying to effect a decision that didn't appear that he was getting involved in the politics

of these two parties. and i think that's something that will probably resolve this problem and get rid of the rest of the litigation and everything that is going on and allow everyone to get on with the love of baseball. >> that was john henry smith reporting. it's been 50 years since the first general surgeon report linked smoking to diseases. the first was cancer. up to 90% of cases are connected to smoking and secondhand smoke. 50 years after the link of smoking and cancer was revealed the lung cancer rate only dropped 2.6% per year for men and 1% per year for women. but 35 to 44 years olds are the one are the ones who have taken the surgeon general's advise t o

heart. >> the smoke filled room was once a stock shot in the movies. casablanca. cruella d deville. and i love lucy ricky ricardo smoked as casual as could be. >> such part of popular culture for years. you look at the advertising campaigns done by the tobacco industry, you go way back and there are even doctors in the ads telling you it was okay to smoke. >> you can't advertise cigarettes any more. it is no longer on sitcoms. advertising has sold

cigarettes and can unsell them, too. they used to dump body bags to show the death rate of smoking. >> it was about behavior and an addictive substance, more addictive than heroin or cocaine. >> reporter: antismoking campaigns cut down on smoking but the second wave came that with secondhand smoke could kill just with the cigarette. >> all the freedom arguments didn't really work. people can say they should be free to poison themselves if they want, it's a heavy lift to say people should be free to poison someone else if they want. what followed from smoke-free restaurant, bars, passenger planes, office buildings and the smoker cast out on the street. >> the dig tour. >> he is the antismoking campaigners, the last big obstacle are the movies. they say brad pitt smoking a

cigarette in ""fight club"" projects an image. >> the only reason is because the tobacco companies have spent hundreds of billions of dollars over the years on advertising campaigns to associate smoking with those emotional states. >> so you'll still get merle streep smoking her way through "august: osage county." >> are you supposed to be smoking? >> is anybody supposed to smoke? >> it's still part of the culture. >> a teenage boy died actual trying to stop a suicide-bomber in pakistan. now he's being honored with that country's highest award for bravery. the bomb went off but his actions are credited for saving 200 classmates inside the

school. when we come back new york's new mayor gets a scolding for his non-traditional pizza style. stay with us. the state television, which is now broadcasting a lot of his

>> good afternoon, and welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford, and here are today's headlines. reactions to the death of ariel sharon. he died this morning in a tel aviv hospital where he spent the last eight years in a coma after suffering a stroke. word is alex ruderie rodrigs receiving a reduced suspension. he'll ask a judge to throw out the decision. in west virginia hundreds of thousands of residents are waiting to turn after a toxic chemical spill contaminated

water supply on thursday. in another part of the world an environmental concern of another kind. the bee population in croatia has come out unseasonbly early because of warm weather. >> reporter: first thing every morning this beekeeper checks the temperature. there should be snow on the ground. ten degrees in january, that's too warm. his bees think its spring, so they're leaving their hives. >> they shouldn't be outside, it's too cold. i try to warm them up. i care for every one of my bees. >> the bees are going out in search of food and they're laying eggs as if spring had already sprung. if it suddenly turns cold now, they will be in real trouble. >> if winter comes back again,

which it will probably will, the weaker bees they won't be able to warm up the colony and they'll die which means many won't lay their eggs at all. >> the situation has croatian officials worried. >> right now we don't know what is going on. we know some bee keepers have lost a lot. something is definitely happening and we need to keep a close watch on it. >> it's a european problem in the last few years a third of the bee population has been lost almost 7 billion bees. in croatia, according to the national bee keeping association there are 9,000 bee keepers with with the bee population of nearly 500,000. any significant loss in the bee population can have serious consequences to humans. they play a crucial war in plant life. if the bee goes, our food supply will be under serious threat.

>> it's like removing a brick from the bottom of a wall. the wall might still stand, but it won't be as stable as before. >> the instability of the local climate is having an effect in april when the real spring arrives they should know just how serious the problem is. al jazeera. >> now get a load of this. new york's new mayor just made his first faux pas in office. see if you can guess what it was. >> yes, that's the mayor of new york eating his pizza with a fork. as many of you know that's a big no, no for new yorkers. after citizens expressed mock outrage online. the italian-american mayor said he said he eats pizza with his fork instead of his hands. for more news updates throughout

the day you can always head out to al jazeera.com. thank you so much for watching.