LONDON: An Egyptian-British mother on hunger strike in protest against the detention of her activist son in Cairo has been given a glucose drip after being hospitalized in London, a campaign group said on Friday.
Laila Soueif, 68, has been on hunger strike for 152 days and was admitted to London’s St. Thomas’s Hospital late on Monday due to “dangerously new lows” in her blood sugar and sodium levels, as well as her blood pressure.
She had previously turned down artificial glucose, despite being warned there was an “immediate risk to life,” but agreed at the request of her daughters Sanaa and Mona to take one dose “in an effort to extend her life,” campaign group Free Alaa said in a press release.
Soueif has lived on only coffee, tea and rehydration sachets since September 29, 2024, the date that marked five years in detention for her son Alaa Abdel Fattah.
Fattah, 43, a pro-democracy and rights campaigner, was arrested by Egyptian authorities in September 2019 and later given a five-year sentence for “spreading false news.”
His family criticized his trial as a “farce” and has demanded he be released having completed his sentence.
Soueif started the drip on Thursday and the dose was given to her over the course of 12 hours “due to the dangers of the intervention at this stage in her hunger strike,” said the campaign group.
“Doctors at the hospital have stressed that this is a temporary intervention, that they cannot guarantee it will extend Laila’s life, and that if it does it will be for a limited time, possibly only a few hours, and if lucky a few days,” they added.
Soueif has lost almost 30 kilograms (66 pounds) since starting her hunger strike, which she has vowed to continue until her son is released.
For weeks, Soueif braved London’s bitter cold to demonstrate outside Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Downing Street office each working day since the date she says her son should have been released.
Sanaa Seif called on Starmer to take urgent action.
“When we met Keir Starmer he asked us for more time and promised that he would do all he could to free my brother,” she said.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to convince mum to do this again. So we desperately urge the prime minister to use this time well,” she added.
Hunger-striking mother of jailed UK-Egyptian activist on glucose drip
https://arab.news/yznym
Hunger-striking mother of jailed UK-Egyptian activist on glucose drip
- Laila Soueif, 68, has been on hunger strike for 152 days and was admitted to London’s St. Thomas’s Hospital late on Monday
- She had previously turned down artificial glucose, despite being warned there was an “immediate risk to life“
OPINION: Saudi Arabia’s cultural continuum: from heritage to contemporary AlUla
- The director of arts & creative industries at the Royal Commission for AlUla writes about the Kingdom’s cultural growth
AlUla: Saudi Arabia’s relationship with culture isa long and rich. It doesn’t begin with modern museums or contemporary installations, but in the woven textiles of nomadic encampments, traditional jewellery and ceramics, and of course palm‑frond weaving traditions. For centuries, Saudi artisans have worked with materials drawn directly from their environment creating objects that are functional, but also expressions of identity and artistry.
Many of these traditions have been recognised internationally, with crafts such as Al-Sadu weaving inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
This grounding in landscapes, resources, and collective history means Saudi Arabia’s current cultural momentum is not sudden, but the natural result of decades — even centuries — of groundwork. From the preservation of heritage sites and, areas, some of which have been transformed into world-renowned art districts, to, the creation of institutions devoted to craft, the stage has been set for a moment where contemporary creativity can move forward with confidence, because it is deeply rooted.
AlUla, with its 7,000 years of human history, offers one of the clearest views into this continuum. Millennia-old inscriptions at Dadan and Jabal Ikmah stand alongside restored mudbrick homes in Old Town and UNESCO-listed Hegra. In the present, initiatives like Madrasat Addeera carry forward AlUla’s craft traditions through design residencies and material research. And, each winter, the AlUla Arts Festival knots these threads together, creating a season in which heritage and contemporary practice meet.
This year, that dialogue began in the open desert with Desert X AlUla 2026. Now in its fourth edition, the exhibition feels like the pinnacle of the current moment where contemporary art, heritage, and forward-thinking meet without boundaries. The theme of Desert X AlUla 2026 was “Space Without Measure,” inspired by the work of Lebanese-American artist and writer Kahlil Gibran[HA1] [MJ2] . The theme invited artists to respond to the horizons of AlUla’s landscape and interpret its wonder through their perspective.
Works by Saudi and international figures converse directly with nature: Mohammed Al-Saleem’s modernist sculptures bring in celestial-inspired geometry; Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons translates the colour of AlUla’s sunsets; Agnes Denes “Living Pyramid” turns the oasis into a vertical landscape of indigenous plants, . The 11 artists of this year’s edition were able to capture AlUla’s essence while creating monumental works that speak directly to our relationship with the environment.
In AlJadidah Arts District, “Material Witness: Celebrating Design From Within,” features heritage craft and material research from Madrasat Addeera alongside work by regional and international designers, showing how they translate heritage materials into contemporary forms.[HA3] [MJ4]
Music adds another element of vitality, filling the streets of AlJadidah Arts District, with performances supported by AlUla Music Hub, featuring local musicians.
The opening of “Arduna,” the first exhibition presented byof the AlUla Contemporary Art Museum, co-curated with France’s Centre Pompidou, adds another layer to this conversation. Featuring Saudi, regional, and international artists, from Picasso and Kandinsky to Etel Adnan, Ayman Zedani and Manal AlDowayan, the [HA5] [MJ6] exhibition signals the emergence of a global institution rooted in the heritage and environment of AlUla, placing local voices in context with world masters.
Each activation in this year’s AlUla Arts Festival is part of the same Saudi cultural continuum, . This is why the Kingdom’s cultural rise feels different from rapid developments elsewhere. The scale of cultural infrastructure investment is extraordinary, but its deeper strength lies in how that investment connects to living traditions and landscapes.
The journey is only accelerating. Rooted in heritage yet open to the world, the Kingdom’s cultural future is being shaped not by sudden inspiration, but by our traditions and history meeting the imagination and creative voices of our present.
