Trump nominates Mike Huckabee as next US ambassador to Israel

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President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and devout Christian, to be US ambassador to Israel in his coming administration.

Mr Huckabee, 69, is a staunch defender of Israel and his nomination comes as Mr Trump has promised to align US foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Mike has been a great public servant, governor and leader in faith for many years,” Mr Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him.”

He said Mr Huckabee, an Evangelical Christian, will work “tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East”.

Speaking to NewsNation in June, Mr Huckabee said there can be no negotiating with Hamas, which the US and other countries have designated a terrorist group.

“There's no valid reason to have a ceasefire with Hamas. They're not capable of having an honourable negotiation,” he said. In an earlier interview, he compared Israel's campaign in Gaza to D-Day during the Second World War.

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Mr Trump, who has called himself Israel's “best friend”, has vowed to end the Gaza war. Mr Huckabee is an ordained Baptist minister and tried White House runs of his own in 2008 and 2016.

He has led paid tour group visits to Israel for years, frequently advertising the trips on conservative-leaning news outlets.

After leaving the governorship, Mr Huckabee became a political commentator and his show, Huckabee, ran on the Fox network until 2015. It now runs on TBN, an international Christian broadcasting network.

His daughter, current Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was White House press secretary under Mr Trump.

The appointment of Mr Huckabee suggests a return to Mr Trump's original views towards Israel in his first term, when he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and determined that settlements in the West Bank were not in breach of international law.

In 2017, Mr Huckabee laid the cornerstone of a neighbourhood in Efrat, one of the largest settlements in the West Bank. He has in the past referred to the area as “Judea and Samaria”, the biblical terms settlers use to describe the West Bank.

“I think Israel has a title deed to Judea and Samaria,” Mr Huckabee told CNN that same year.

“There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria. There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities, they’re neighbourhoods, they’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”

Also on Tuesday, Mr Trump nominated Steven Witkoff as special envoy to the Middle East.

"Steve is a highly respected leader in business and philanthropy, who has made every project and community he has been involved with stronger and more prosperous," Mr Trump said in a statement. "Steve will be an unrelenting voice for peace, and make us all proud."

Mr Witkoff is a real estate investor and Trump campaign donor. He is not known to have any diplomatic experience or experience in the Middle East.

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The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?

My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.

The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.

So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.

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Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.