Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) vice president Hussein Al Sheikh has met US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in the occupied West Bank.
The meeting took place during Mr Huckabee's first official visit to the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, and comes amid mounting international pressure on Israel.
“Discussions were held regarding support for efforts to stop the war in the Gaza Strip, release the hostages and deliver urgent aid to the Palestinian people there,” Mr Al Sheikh wrote on X.
“The current situation in the West Bank was also discussed, including the severe economic and financial crisis and settler violence,” he said, adding that the “American role” in achieving peace in the region was among the topics.
Mr Al Sheikh was appointed vice president in April in a newly-created role which has been seen by some as a way for President Mahmoud Abbas to appoint a successor and delegate some of his responsibilities.
Mr Al Sheikh is also vice president of the PLO, which was founded in 1964 to negotiate and sign international treaties on behalf of the Palestinian people.
Relations between the US and the Palestinian Authority were strained during US President Donald Trump's first term in the White House, during which he moved the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognised it as Israel's capital, breaking with international consensus.
Last Saturday, Mr Huckabee visited Taybeh, a Christian village in the occupied West Bank, where he called for justice after an attack on a church blamed by locals on Israeli settlers.
The ambassador is a leading figure on the conservative Christian right in the US and is close to pro-settlement groups.
Despite increasing international condemnation of Israeli actions in Gaza and settler violence in the occupied West Bank, Mr Huckabee has remained firm in his stance.
He labelled a 25-country statement, including UK and France, condemning Israel's “drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians” as “disgusting” and said Western allies should instead pressure the “savages of Hamas”.
Nevertheless, Mr Huckabee urged Israel to “aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Musallat”, a Palestinian-American beaten to death by Israeli settlers, calling it “a criminal and terrorist act”.
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Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
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Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
'Laal Kaptaan'
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
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Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now