ariel sharon suffers massive stroke

Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, has suffered a massive stroke and is not expected to recover. Many are worried about what this will mean for peace in the middle east, but no-one knows for sure. Sharon was for many years an aggressive general and has been accused of war crimes; in the last few years he has seemed to change his stance, earning praise for such initiatives as the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip. The two people most likely to replace him are former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (which would be bad) and Amir Peretz (which might be good).