Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
Newsbrief

Palestine Action co-founder challenges terror ban at UK Supreme Court

Published

Lawyers for Huda Ammori told the court on Wednesday that the ban on Palestine Action is disproportionate and weakens counter-terrorism laws. Some protesters were arrested outside the court, and more than 300 people were arrested outside the US embassy in London last weekend.

Ammori's lawyers said only three of 385 actions over five years met the definition of terrorism when the group was banned. Lawyer Raza Husain said the suffragettes and other groups used tactics similar to those of Palestine Action, or more extreme ones.

The Home Office argues that the group's escalating actions amounted to terrorism and justified the ban. It said a 2024 attack on the Elbit site involved violence and weapons used against security staff and police officers. The damage from that raid was estimated at £1m (R22m).

Home Office statistics show more than 3,600 arrests linked to support for the group between the ban in July 2025 and June. Total arrests linked to Palestine Action now exceed 4,000.

Key facts

Who
Huda Ammori (Co-founder of Palestine Action, challenging the ban); Raza Husain (Lawyer representing Huda Ammori); Palestine Action (Campaign group proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government); Home Office (UK government department that argues the group's actions amounted to terrorism)
What
At the UK Supreme Court, lawyers for Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori argued that the ban on the campaign group was disproportionate and undermined counter-terrorism laws. Some protesters were arrested outside the court, and more than 300 people were arrested the previous weekend outside the US embassy in London.
When
4 November 2026
Where
United Kingdom, London, Scotland
Status
Reported

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

  1. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll
  2. IEC says local election voting went largely smoothly
  3. IEC says about 12 million had voted by 5pm

See every update

US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update