Day: October 30, 2025
Soumaya Hamdi says she has barely spoken to Sami Hamdi since he was taken over his pro-Palestinian advocacy
The wife of a British political commentator who was detained by immigration authorities while on a speaking tour of the US said she has only been able to speak with him for “30 seconds” since he was taken into custody on Sunday over his pro-Palestinian advocacy.
Soumaya Hamdi told the Guardian she first learned her husband, Sami Hamdi, was detained at San Francisco international airport when a friend asked her to confirm rumors he had been “abducted by ICE”. When he was finally able to briefly call her, Hamdi only had enough time to say he had been taken to an immigration detention center in McFarland, California, where he remains.
Arts professionals complain of ‘cruel’ bureaucratic process since grant processing platform crashed in July
Arts organisations and artists have said they are still in “funding limbo” with mounting bills and uncertain futures after this summer’s crash of Arts Council England’s grant processing platform.
ACE’s online portal, Grantium, was used by artists to submit and manage funding applications. But when it crashed in July, it left thousands of applications for vital funding in doubt – a situation that persisted for several months until applications reopened in late September.
Campaigners say problem so common that some of the UK’s most irreplaceable ancient trees in danger of being lost
When Linda Taylor Cantrill finally found her dream family home in Exmouth, Devon, it wasn’t the location, the square footage or the local amenities that finally made up her mind – it was the 200-year-old oak tree in the garden.
“The way we felt about just standing in the shade of the tree was: ‘We need this house, because look how beautiful it is,’” she told the Guardian.
