check check >> from fierce protector of his homeland to a controversial leader - the world remembers former israeli prime minister ariel sharon. >> federal investigators make their way to north virginia hoping to find out how chemicals from a leak contaminated water supplies. >> fights break out in turkey during a debate in parliament. s >> hello to you welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford in new york.

>> millions knew of him as a leader, others a bloodthirsty butcher. the prime minister died saturday at the age of 85. after eight years in a coma his son said ariel sharon died on his own terms. >> translation: that's it, he's gone. he went when he decided to go >> considered by some to be the greatest military field commander israel knew, many mourn the man they say was the fiercest defender in the state. >> the state of israel mourns today the lose of one of its greatest leaders, former prime minister ariel sharon. he was an outstanding man and an exceptional commander, who moved his people and loved them. and the people loved him. >> u.s. president barack obama expressed his condolences for:

>> meanwhile palestines saw ariel sharon differently, perhaps as the biggest roadblock to their independent. zeina khodr has more from a refugee camp across the border. >> more than 30 years ago the streets were littered with mutilated body, dead people, elderly, children. palestinians killed in the shab ra and shatila massacre in 1982. people are celebrating, distributing sweets once they learnt of the deaths of ariel sharon, the former prime minister. in 1982 he was the defence minister. the israeli army was in beirut, laying seeming to the camp. they were pursuing fighters belonging to the palestine liberation organization, and what happened was a lebanese militia entered the camp and

carried out the killings. most of the survivors you talk to, the rejoicing - no one is mourning his death. what they wanted to see was ariel sharon take to an international court, tried for what they see as the crimes committed against them. that never happened. there were numerous attempts. a lot of survivors said ariel sharon's death was not going to change. he was an israeli official, a safe policy that they believe the israeli government will not allow these people to go home. hundreds of thousands wanted them home, in compliance with a resolution. >> son sunday ariel sharon's coffin will be brought to the knesset. thousands of mourners are expected to view his body that will lie in state for hours. ariel sharon has a plot served in jerusalem. that is not where he wanted to be buried.

instead his funeral will take place near the family farm in southern israel. he'll be buried monday next to his second wife lily. >> new details emerge into the toxic chemical spill in west virginia. an unreculated chemical leaked through a 1 inch hole, spilling into a river, making its way to a water treatment facility. a team of investigators is expected to arrive on monday to determine how the accident happened. some 300,000 residents have been ordered not to drink, cook or bathe since thursday. >> the top priority of my administration remains the same, protecting the health and safety of our friends and families, particularly our vulnerable west virginians, those in hospitals, nursing homes and long-term facilities. and our special needs and

elderly citizens. we wish we could tell you when the map will be listed. as you have heard, we have to continue the testing and the purging of the systems. >> fema has brought roughly 370,000 gallons of portable water to charleston and its nine surrounding counties. jonathan martin explains. >> with no clear time line when tap water can be used thousands of west virginians are stocking up on clean water. >> we are using it sparingly. it's a precious comoddy. >> 1 million bottles of water is being delivered. >> washing your hair or feeding the baby with formula. it catches you off guard. >> i caught rainwater to do the

dishes with. >> the water as contaminated with a potentially harmful chemical used in the preparation of cold. up to 5,000 gallons spilled into the elk river from a stornal tank at freedom industries. the problem is impacting hundreds of businesses from restaurants to salons. many are forced to shut down. >> we have no idea when we are going to get a report that the water is safe enough to use. >> steven blake is a hairdresser in down-town charleston. >> my clients come in, they want a sham pu, we need water for some of the chemical services we perform. >> the hospital has two giant tankers, enough to last a few days. nonemergency surgeries have been put on hold. only a small number of patients

came in. west virginia's water department is testing and flushing out the system. the president of the water company says chemical levels are declining but they don't have a broad enough sample of water to say if it's safe to use. >> a travel alert has been issued for americans planning to attend the winter games in russia. u.s. citizens should be on alert because of terrorist threats. washington is not aware of specific event, but large events like the olympics is a target for terrorist. >> officials say grenades, ammunition and explosives were found on some arrested people near sochi.

>> a special measures agreement is designed to help share defense cost. the foreign ministry amount seoul will my 865 million to keep u.s. troops in south korea. 6%, more than what the government paid last year. it needs to be approved by parliament. >> significant mountain snow for the pacific north-west. not just for tonight, but through the time frame into monday. monday the snow will track into a clipper system coming out of canada into parts of the northern plains. let's talk about the storm we had. saturday night the snow is pilling up. sunday morning snow on the road. finally getting the snow. that's correct to an area of low pressure tracking in just the right spot. we have wind gusts up to 60

miles per hour in addition to the snow and the rain coming down. as we discussed. the wind easing up in parts of the west side of the pacific north-west. they are only internetsing as we head over into idaho and monty python and utah. very strong gusty winds for the first part of the sunday along with mountain snow. you can see that we are getting a significant amount of rainfall and snow overall. in 24 hours we had an inch reported for seattle but more impressive amounts as we go tofr the east. to the north-east you have the temperatures 5-6 degrees away from record highs. saturday brought ice jams, causing a lot of flooding down to the ground. we have flood warnings, advisories. this continues through the early part of the day. gradually we see things draining off as you warm more through maine. now, temperatures will start out

on the cool side. denver at 19 starting your morning. 35 for new york. temperatures warming comfortable. 39 for seattle with rain and snow. even into the rockies we'll have the snow into the northern utah. keep in mind avalanche danger. 47 for new york, a cool down in parts of the north-east. however, we'll have flurries around the great lakes, along with gusty winds further north as things clear. >> coming up, keeping up the pressure in thailand where thousands of activists are expected to take to the streets to oust their government. >> in turkey, a government debate turn nothing an all-out brawl.

>> taking it to the street. pro-government activists are

holding rallies across at the end of the day land taking a stand against anti-government protesters who plan to occupy the square on monday. the prime minister has been called a political puppet. elections have been scheduled for february 2nd, and the coup is at a boiling point. >> in turkey a brawl broke out between high-ranking government officials where members of the government came to blows over the ruling party's handling of a corruption scandal. if you look closely you see one member jump on the table and he took - pou, look at him. another in the face. the fight started when an opposition representatives presented a petition but was not allowed to speak. >> the iraqi army continues a bombardment of fallujah as it tries to force out fighters loyal to al qaeda. citizens are facing fuel and food shortages in the city.

dozens died across anbar province, and the prime minister is calling for national unity. >> the new interim president of the central african republic arrived in the country on saturday. since michel djotobia was elected there is has been violence. >> 50 fighters from the south in sudan have been disarmed. the rest, refusing to turn over their weapons were expelled. 43,000 had been displaced. peace efforts continue in neighbouring ethiopia where a deal a trying to be brokered between warring factions. >> there are diplomatic efforts

in ethiopia to find a solution to the fighting in south sudan. i'm joined by the secretary. unsecretary-general ban ki-moon urged all those to be released who had been planning a coup. what is the government's position? >> if the president come in releasing the perpetrators of the crime, that is punishable, it is treason. the president will be violating the constitution, and the members of the government expressed the fact that they will not accept these guys to be released without, you know, without trial. so they are to go - but they agreed that the process, the legal process should be expedited. these people are taking to the court of law, and they would be allowed to present themselves.

if government sanctions could be imposed on the country to put pressure on the detainee. >> we are a sovereign country. the international community understands the position of the government. the government knows the coup happened on the 16th of december. if something of that kind happens, the perpetrators take them to the court of law. i don't understand how the international community understands. >> there is fighting going on in bor. the army has sent in reinforcements to try to recapture the town from rebels. a lot of people are hoping peace talks in ethiopia come to a peaceful and speedy conclusion. >> egypt's army chief gave a clear sign of taking the job of the egyptian president.

abdul fatah al-sisi hasn't confirmed he will run, but his request will come from the people, with a mandate from the army. he ousted mohamed morsi. the military has been cracking down on those protesting the change. >> the pakistani teen who died when he tackled a suicide bomber has been hailed a hero. prime minister has nominated 15-year-old who chased a suicide bomber outside his school and was killed when the bomber detonated his vest. more than 200 of his classmates were inside. >> it's been 12 years sips detainees arrived in cuba. president george bush set it up. the promise in 2008 to close git mow has yet to be fulfilled. we have more. [ singing ] >> protesters marched demanding

the closure of guantanamo bay. 12 years after the first prisoners arrived. >> we have to ensure that detention doesn't continue. >> more than 750 men have been held at the prison in the past 12 years. fewer than 10 have been convicted and sentenced. 150 are there with more than 60 cleared for release. one of them is this man, a body guard for osama bin laden, taking part in military training. he has been in prison at guantanamo bay for 10 years. on thursday a panel agreed to release him, saying he was no longer a threat to the u.s. he's eligible for transfer to git mow if a country will accept him. it's the first in a series of review hearings in an effort to speed up closing the bring. five years after promising to close git mow president gamma

signed a provision to make it easier to transfer detainees to other countries. a lopping process. in the meantime even the former chief prosecutor at git know says the reputation is suffering. >> guantanamo has been a plaque eye for us, with our allies and adversaries. >> critics say detainees are likely to turn to terrorism. and releasing them makes them look week. >> guantanamo sits on land leased from the u.s. by cuba under a 1934 treaty. virginia's government took the oath in the capital office. bill clinton and former secret i state hillary clinton were present. the expansion of medicade mass a

primary goal. >> dozens of tourists were stranded after a rock stride in peru, blocking the road it an ancient inga site. one rock was reported to be 23 feet wide and 16 feed tall. some tourists were not deterred. from sheikh to shun. how american grat smokers were ashamed of their habit. >> rods punishment is reduced, but he says it's too muchmuch. -- dennis rodman's punishment is reduced, he he says it's still too much.

>> not so long ago smoking was not only socially acceptable it was glamorized by characters on sitcoms and movies. that has all changed. >> david lasalle has nothing to

be ashamed of. he owns a hair salon, he can't quick the smoking habit or the criticism of his family. >> they say, "are you still smoking?", "no, mum, i gave it up." >> 50 years ago when the certainly -- when the surgeon general issued the first warning you could smoke. back then it was found to be the cause of one cancer. now there are 14. 42% of american adults smoked. in 2011, 19% did. anti-smoking laws shamed smokers into quicking. >> it's almost embarrassing that you smoke. >> this woman is so used to feeling shunned that she is bothered by smokers. >> a lot of smokers are rude.

you know, putting butts on the streets. i would not do that. >> that is under attack. starting on january 1st. it aim ilto toss a butt on to the ground. it's illegal now. >> will it make i give up? >> no. i see how many i save. how do i save that? i didn't pay for cigarettes. >> when smoking was banned, selling cigarettes in bars was illegal. that is coming to an end. >> the cigarettes that comes in. business is as low as elf. it's down year after year, and it's the nail in the coffin. stripping my licence. he'll have to take the machine out, after bean there for 20 years. the drs doesn't try to shame his patients but it not ashamed to

tell them that they'll hurt loved ones through second hand smoke. >> a lot of patients feel the shame. that must be part of why those bans worked because the stigma is reinforced. >> while the goal of the surgeon general's report will not be fully realised, the disappearance is the laws that followed that make it fade. >> many states are banning electronic cigarettes from public places. >> general motors is recalling 370,000 new pick-up trucks. it's 2014 chevrolet silverado as well as its g.m.c. sierra models have a software problem that could cause its engines to overheat. eight fires have been reported, all during extremely cold weather. the company is warning customers not to leave idling trucks unattended. >> yankee slugger alex rodriguez

is out for the season because an arbitrator shortened his punishment. the fight is not over yet. >> the good news for alex rodriguez in the wake of the arbitrator's ruling is that he won't have to serve a 211-game suspension levied in august. the bad news is that he is still suspended for a full season's worth of games, 162 as well as the post season. major league baseball released a statement reading: >> not surprisingly alex

rodriguez is unhappy with the ruling but not surprised. his statement reads in parts: is it >> later, alex rodriguez goes on to say: >> alex rodriguez indicates that he's confident a federal judge will overturn the suspension. sports law attorney thinks a rods' confidence is misplaced. he'll have to demonstrate fraud, corruption or undue influence.

that is not only unlikely, it's virtually impossible. >> assuming alex rodriguez sits out the full-season suspension, he'll forfeit $25 million salary. will he forfeit a comeback to baseball. it's a question the yankees will have to deal with. alex rodriguez plans on showing up and the yankees can't stop him unless they cut him. that would be expensive. the team owes alex rodriguez $61 million. if the yankees goes that rout. the 38-year-old's career could end without him getting the 109 runs to become baseball's all-time leader or the hits needed to join the 300 hits club. if this is the end he leaves without the great achievements, but like roger clemens and barry bonds, he leaves a legacy

forever tainted. >> the next question for the yankees is who will take over third base for the team if dennis rodman doesn't come back for 2014 or ever. a giant panda born at the san diego zoo is leaving for china. under the deal xop as panda diplomacy chinese officials determine where zoo-born offspring go. once they leave, he'll arrive this the mountains. >> this is new york's new mare. look at this thing, you can see if you can guess what it is. there you have it. do you see anything wrong with the picture. that's the mayor of new york with his fork. a big no, no from new yorkers of after citizen he expressed mock outrage. he says he eats his pizza the way he does in italy. thanks for watching.

i'm morgan radford, you can follow online at aljazeera.com. >> she smashed records, they thrilled fans and wrote new chapters in the history of the game, and many were probably cheating. we asked writers and you what to about the performance-enhancing drugs in baseball on the day that the new hall of fame ers are announce. that's "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suarez. if you're a baseball fan you may remember the 1990s with sheer