Pro-Palestine protesters block three key routes in central London
Youth Demand activists blocked Holland Park roundabout, Euston Road outside King's Cross station and a key junction in Holborn on Saturday, calling for the government to impose a trade embargo on Israel.
Protesters were seen chanting 'free the people, free the land' as they lit flares in the street in Holland Park. Meanwhile, traffic could be seen building up nearby.
On the other side of central London, protesters waved flags and chanted 'shut it down for Palestine' on Euston Road. Activists also chanted 'stop bombing Gaza' as drivers waited for the road to clear.
Drivers were then seen beeping their horns in frustration as protesters held flares up in Holborn, while a cyclist looped around the activist with a Palestine flag attached to the back of his bike.
Youth Demand explained its activists had blocked the roads to demand 'an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza'.
The group wrote on X: 'By arming Israel, our government is complicit in the bombing and starvation of millions.'
Youth Demand, an offshoot of Just Stop Oil's youth wing, has been demanding that the UK government impose a full arms and trade embargo on Israel and immediately halt the development of new oil and gas projects.
The group, which describes itself as leaderless but guided by a "strategy team", previously said politicians had committed a 'betrayal of our generation,' and warned of an 'unimaginable outbreak of collective power, creativity, love and defiance.'
Youth Demand had vowed to 'shut down' London by swarming the capital's roads and holding demonstrations during a month-long period of action in April.
The group held several protests across the month, briefly closing roads. At the end of April, two Youth Demand activists jumped the barriers at the London marathon and threw red powder paint in the air moments before the elite men's race ran over Tower Bridge.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Steve Witkoff's sanitised Gaza tour snubbed US doctor who said people being 'shot like rabbits'
We've seen this many times before. Highly anticipated talks and meetings with America, Israel's closest ally and the one country with the power to pressure to change course, then nothing changes. We need to give Steve Witkoff time to report his assessments back to the White House before we can give a complete verdict on this visit but what we've seen and heard so far has offered little hope. The pressure on to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in is mounting after a small but vocal contingent of his base expressed outrage. Even one of his biggest supporters in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Green, has referred to it as a genocide. It was little coincidence Mr Witkoff was dispatched to the region for the first time in three months to speak to people on both sides and "learn the truth" to quote US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who accompanied him to an aid site in Gaza. The pair spent five hours in Gaza speaking to people at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation centre and it's understood saw nothing of the large crowd of Palestinians gathering a mile away waiting for food. Their sanitised tour of Gaza did not include a visit to a hospital where medics are receiving casualties by the dozen from deadly incidents at aid sites, and where they're treating children for malnutrition and hunger. A critical trauma nurse at Nasser hospital told us a 13-year-old boy was among the people shot while Mr Witkoff was in the enclave. An American paediatrician at the same hospital who had publicly extended an invitation to meet with Mr Witkoff heard nothing from the US delegation. Read more from Sky News: Dr Tom Adamkiewicz described people "being shot like rabbits" and "a new level of barbarity that I don't think the world has seen". The US delegation was defensive of the controversial GHF aid distribution that was launched by America and Israel in May, hailing its delivery of a million meals a day. But if their new system of feeding Gaza is truly working, why are we seeing images of starved children and hearing deaths every day of people in search of food? The backdrop of this trip is very different to the last time Mr Witkoff was here. In May, life was a struggle for Palestinians in Gaza, people were dying in Israeli bombings but, for the most part, people weren't dying due to a lack of food or getting killed trying to reach aid. Mr Netanyahu's easing of humanitarian conditions a week ago, allowing foreign aid to drop from the sky, was an indirect admission of failure by the GHF. Yet, for now, the US is standing by this highly criticised way of delivering aid. A UN source tells me more aid is getting through than it was a week ago - around 30 lorries are due to enter today compared to around five that were getting in each day before. Still nowhere near enough and it's a complex process of clearances and coordination with the IDF through areas of conflict. Lorries are regularly refused entry without explanation. Then there was Mr Witkoff's meeting with hostage families a day later where we began to get a sense of America's new plan for Gaza. The US issued no public statement but family members shared conversations they'd had with Mr Trump's envoy: bring all the hostages home in one deal, disarm Hamas and end the war. Easier to propose than to put into practice. Within hours of those comments being reported in the Israeli media, Hamas released a video of hostage Evyatar David looking emaciated in an underground tunnel in Gaza. Now 24 years old, he was kidnapped from the Nova festival on 7 October and is one of 20 hostages understood to be still alive. The release of the video was timed for maximum impact. Hamas also poured water on any hopes of a deal in a statement, unless an independent Palestinian state is established. Hamas has perhaps become more emboldened in this demand after key Israeli allies, including the UK, announced plans for formal recognition in the last week. It's hard to see a way forward. The current Israeli government has, in effect, abandoned the idea of a two-state solution. The Trump administration's recent boycott of international conferences on the matter suggests America is taking a similar line, breaking with its long-standing position. Arab nations could now be key in what happens next. In an unprecedented move, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt joined a resolution calling for Hamas to disarm and surrender control of Gaza following a UN conference earlier this week. This is hugely significant - highly influential powers in its own backyard have not applied this sort of pressure before. For all the US delegation's good intentions, it's still political deadlock. Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza left to starve and suffer the consequences.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ninja sword ban will 'impact limited number of situations', warns crime commissioner
A new ban on ninja swords 'will only have an impact in a limited number of situations', Thames Valley's police boss has warned. Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber has criticised the decision to ban ninja swords as he says most weapons used are 'normal household knives'. It comes after the Home Office introduced new legislation which came into force at the start of this month, meaning it is now illegal to possess, manufacture, import or sell ninja swords in England and Wales. Anyone caught in possession of this kind of weapon in private could face six months in prison, to be increased to two years under the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill. READ MORE: Footballer drowned after getting into difficulty in River Thames, inquest hears Those caught with a ninja sword in a public place already face up to four years in jail. But Mr Barber warned that 'we should not lose sight of the fact that most weapons used by criminals are normal household knives'. In a statement issued on Saturday, August 2, he said: "Whilst this new ban will make a difference in providing the police with additional powers to remove these deadly weapons, we should not lose sight of the fact that most weapons used by criminals are normal household knives. "Dealing with individual types of weapons is helpful, but there is no substitute for a robust policing response and continued work to prevent people carrying knives in the first place. "The ban will undoubtedly assist the police in keeping our streets safe, but the new legislation will only have an impact in a limited number of situations. "We should be cautious of governments, of all shades, seeking to create the impression of action through announcements and bans, rather than applying a razor-sharp focus on tackling the root of the problem. READ MORE: Police step up patrols after 'drug use' in wooded area "In Thames Valley I have deliberately focussed our efforts on knife possession to ensure robust police enforcement and early intervention to prevent young people carrying weapons." The ban on ninja swords is the first part of the government's manifesto commitment to introduce Ronan's Law, and latest step under the pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade. It comes after at least a thousand deadly weapons were handed in following the country's largest weapons surrender scheme. A knife amnesty bin (Image: TVP) Launched in June, the Home Office developed this scheme with members of the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime to provide a broader range of ways the public could surrender weapons outside of police stations. This saw Faron Paul, CEO of FazAmnesty, driving a custom built and fully secure surrender van, across London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, and Words4Weapons supplying 37 new surrender bins, all funded by the Home Office.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Wall Street Banks Lose Ground in Europe as Tariffs Spook Clients
(Bloomberg) -- As US President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric against trading partners in Europe — corporates across the continent are taking notice. The World's Data Center Capital Has Residents Surrounded An Abandoned Art-Deco Landmark in Buffalo Awaits Revival We Should All Be Biking Along the Beach Seeking Relief From Heat and Smog, Cities Follow the Wind NYC Mayor Adams Gives Bally's Bronx Casino Plan a Second Chance As a result, some companies have begun to diversify their banking relationships away from the giants of Wall Street, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's been a boon for Europe's leading banks, which have been actively vying to win the extra business. 'Some players are saying that it's better to go to European or French investment banks for advice on financing or mergers and acquisitions,' said Arnaud Petit, managing director of Edmond de Rothschild's corporate finance business. Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing sees similar in potential clients' requests for proposals: 'It is happening every day with client wins and RFPs and new business that we put on.' So far this year, roughly half of the euro bond deals from non-US companies did not involve any of the five biggest US banks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's up five percentage points from a year earlier. For sterling bonds the gap has widened even further — Wall Street banks were shut out of just 47% of deals throughout all of last year. So far this year, though, they've been excluded from 64% of them. The emergence of the ability of a few European banks 'to be able to offer competitive services and advice to clients' has created a desire among clients to switch, according to UBS Group AG Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti. 'We believe we are well placed to continue to benefit from that diversification.' 'Specific Skills' Even before Trump's trade war kicked off in earnest, the biggest of the US banks warned that it was starting to see an impact. By April, JPMorgan Chase & Co. had already lost 'a couple' of bond deals tied to the tariff uncertainty, with companies opting for local banks instead, Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said in an interview with Fox Business at the time. He warned that the tumult was 'causing cumulative damage including huge anger at the United States.' The latest example of a win for non-US banks came this week, when Zurich-based insurer Chubb Ltd. issued an offshore yuan-bond. It opted for Standard Chartered Plc to help take on the deal. The bank was told: 'We want to bank with the regional champions, rather than just with global banks in general,' Standard Chartered Chief Financial Officer Diego de Giorgi said. 'Because we think that you guys bring specific skills in a world that is fragmenting.' Chubb is not an exception. The effect is most pronounced in Asia, where economies are expected to be hard hit by the changing trade regimes and the re-routing of supply chains, said Ruchirangad Agarwal, head of corporate banking for Asia and the Middle East at the research firm Coalition Greenwich. 'The willingness of companies in Asia to change their transaction bank is currently at a high: a third of them plan to issue a new RFP within the next 12 months,' Agarwal said. Already, US lenders' market share in financing trade for Chinese companies has dropped in recent years - from 12% in 2017 to about 7% share now, he added. 'We expect to see heightened uncertainty and customer churn at US banks as large corporates take an active risk management stance on FX, interest rates, counterparty risk, geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions,' said Martin Smith, head of markets analysis at East & Partners. BNP Paribas SA, meanwhile, has gained more share than any other player in Asia, Smith said. 'There are clearly strategic opportunities in the tectonic shifts that the world has been seeing in recent months' Societe Generale SA CEO's Slawomir Krupa said of companies looking to shift toward European banking partners. 'The logic behind this form of risk diversification has become more apparent for companies.' --With assistance from Harry Wilson, Claudia Cohen and Noele Illien. How Podcast-Obsessed Tech Investors Made a New Media Industry Everyone Loves to Hate Wind Power. Scotland Found a Way to Make It Pay Off Russia Builds a New Web Around Kremlin's Handpicked Super App Cage-Free Eggs Are Booming in the US, Despite Cost and Trump's Efforts What's Really Behind Those Rosy GDP Numbers? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
