The United Kingdom’s High Court has ruled that the government’s ban on the pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action was unlawful, citing the disproportionate use of anti-terror legislation, but membership of and support for the group remain criminal offences.
Judges, led by Dame Victoria Sharp, said that although some of the group’s actions met the legal definition of terrorism, the scale and persistence of those activities did not justify proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The ruling follows the group’s 2025 ban after activists targeted the UK subsidiary of Israel’s arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, causing millions of pounds in damage.
The decision applies nationwide and comes amid ongoing debates over free speech, protest, and claims of government overreach.
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori described the ruling as a “monumental victory” for fundamental freedoms in Britain. However, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government disagreed with the court’s finding and intends to appeal.
Supporters of the group, including activists and human rights campaigners, welcomed the decision and described the arrests and prosecutions of thousands of protesters since the ban as “unjust”.
The court emphasised that general criminal law remains available to address acts of violence or property damage. The ban will remain temporarily in force until a further hearing later in February determines the next steps, including any potential appeal.
The ruling prompted scenes of celebration outside the High Court in London, with chants in support of Palestinian rights.
Statements from campaign groups such as CAGE International and Defend Our Juries described the decision as a vindication of civil disobedience.
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European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Kazakhstan’s security service has arrested Nurlan Zhakupov, CEO of Samruk-Kazyna, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, on suspicion of corruption. Yelzhas Otynshiyev, Chairman of KTZ, Kazakhstan’s national railway firm has also been detained.
Eight people have been killed and at least 17 injured after an apartment building collapsed into a neighbouring construction site in Brooklyn, New York, as rescuers continued searching the rubble for possible survivors.
BMW is recalling more than 720,000 vehicles in the U.S. over a fire risk, warning owners to park outside and away from buildings until repairs are completed. The recall follows 10 reported fires involving cars previously repaired for the same fault.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says 3.7 million children in Afghanistan are suffering from acute malnutrition, as worsening drought and funding shortages threaten to deepen the crisis amid the COP31 climate summit in Türkiye.
A consortium of Türkiye’s Limak and Qatar’s HBK Contracting has won an international tender to build and operate a new airport terminal in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, under a 23-year public-private partnership, with the project potentially costing up to $300 million.
Spain’s parliament has approved a government package aimed at easing the country’s housing crisis, a day after workers staged the first general strike in 14 years over soaring housing costs.
Here's your AnewZ Technology Daily Brief for the 13th of November. This week, a Microsoft outage hit Australian agencies, Google restricted mapping data in South Korea, a lawsuit targeted advanced AI development, and Nvidia faced a leadership crisis after Jensen Huang's resignation.
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