LONDON: Protesters supporting the group Palestine Action, which is banned in the UK, will withhold personal details from police officers, The Guardian reported on Friday.

Defend Our Juries, the group organizing demonstrations in support of Palestine Action in the UK, on Friday said the move will be part of a broader strategy to disrupt police stations and make it “practically impossible” to arrest everyone at the protests.

Showing support for a proscribed group in the UK is a criminal offense and can carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

Palestine Action was banned earlier this year under terrorism laws following several incidents, including one where activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and sprayed red paint on military planes.

Earlier this month, 532 people were arrested in Parliament Square for showing support for the group, with 212 refusing to give their details to police.

Defend Our Juries said a protest in London on Sept. 6 will go ahead if it can find 1,000 people to attend. It added that 2,500 people have expressed interest.

Those who sign up will be asked to sign a pledge saying: “I am committed to attending the mass-participation sign-holding action on 6 September 2025,” and “I understand that joining this action comes with risk of arrest and other legal consequences.”

They will also be asked not to comply with the “charade” of street bail, which requires them to give their details to the police, and instead insist on being “taken to a police station, which ensures the provision of immediate legal advice,” hindering the ability of officers to arrest people quickly.

Tim Crosland, a spokesperson for Defend Our Juries, said: “The police were only able to arrest as many people as they did (in Parliament Square) because of their trick of using ‘street bail’ on a mass scale, meaning people arrested of terrorism offences were denied the free legal advice they are entitled to when taken to a police station.

“If 1,000 people sign the pledge to take part on 6 September, ensuring we have the critical mass we need for the action, and hundreds of them insist on their right to receive immediate free legal advice at a police station, the charade will be exposed.

“It will be practically impossible for the police to arrest 1,000 people taking part. Any law that is so obviously wrong that it meets mass public opposition quickly becomes unenforceable, as it was with the poll tax in 1990, and the government will have to scrap it.”

It comes after a man said he was dragged from his bed in the town of Hinckley and arrested on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action after posting about the group on social media.

Matt Cobb, 52, said he was handcuffed and taken to a police station on Wednesday despite having never attended a protest.

He was held for six hours and questioned over posts he made on Facebook, before being released under investigation.

“This is a matter of human rights — not just the right to free speech but the rights of Palestinians as they are being murdered,” Cobb told The Independent.

“For the government to respond to this protest by banning the group that’s protesting is a terrifying development.

“If they are going to proscribe non-violent people for protesting against mass murder, they are tyrants.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper continues to insist the ban on Palestine Action is necessary, saying she has seen evidence of “ideas for further attacks” and the group is “not a non-violent organisation.”

But the ban is unpopular with supporters of the Labour government, with a Survation poll on Monday finding 70 percent of members oppose it.

Crosland said: “The government’s monumental waste of policing resources to criminalise cardboard sign-holding against genocide has already been widely condemned by politicians and public figures across the political spectrum.

“Now the Labour Party has turned against the ban, with more than 70 percent of its members opposed to it, and MPs are claiming to have been tricked by Cooper.”

At least 12 people died while four others went missing after a part of an under-construction bridge in China collapsed on Friday, state media reported. The video shared by the state media showed the bridge suddenly breaking from the middle, and a part of it then fell into the Yellow River below.

Global Times said that incident happened after a construction cable on the Jianzha Yellow River Bridge along the Qinghai section of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway in China snapped while under construction. The incident has led to 12 death, and four others have gone missing.

🇨🇳 — CHINA: A bridge under construction on a railway collapsed yesterday in Qinghai Province in China after a cable snapped, killing 7 and leaving 9 missing. pic.twitter.com/MVTn3W9Bwo — Belaaz News (@TheBelaaz) August 22, 2025

16 people were on site

Fifteen workers and a project manager were on-site at the time of the mishap, reported CBS News, citing The People’s Daily newspaper. The death toll was initially reported as seven, but state TV doubled the toll, CBS News added.

The collapse occurred following a rupture during the steel strand tensioning operation on the bridge. Xinhua news agency said the rupture caused the 108-meter steel beam main arch rib to collapse.

ALSO READ China gifts another Hangor submarine to Pakistan Navy ahead of Modi–Xi SCO Summit

Mass rescue ops underway

According to state media CCTV News, a total of 91 vehicles have been engaged in a major rescue operation at the site. Apart from this, 27 boats, 1 helicopter, 5 robots, and 806 personnel have also been deployed for the rescue work. Six hospitals have opened green channels for treatment, the media report said.

It added that the Ministry of Emergency Management has also sent a work team to guide the rescue and response efforts.

ALSO READ China continues to expand infrastructure and upgrades air bases in Tibet

Last year in December, 13 people went missing after a cave-in at a construction site for a major railway in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. None of them reportedly survived. CBS News stated that industrial accidents are quite frequent in China because of vague regulations and lenient safety standards.

Last Updated: August 22, 2025, 17:24 IST

Footage aired by state broadcaster CCTV captured the dramatic moment when the middle section of the bridge’s arch gave way, crashing into the Yellow River below.

A section of an under-construction bridge collapsed in northwest China on Friday, leaving 12 people dead and four missing, according to state media.

Hundreds of emergency personnel were deployed for ongoing search and rescue efforts, Xinhua said. (Image: X/@spotlightoncn)

India To Make Engines Of 5th-Gen Fighter Jets With French Firm Safaran: Rajnath Singh

Brazil Police Say Ex-President Bolsonaro Planned To Flee To Argentina Amid Coup Probe

Elon Musk’s X Gets Reprieve In Lawsuit Over Firing Of 6,000 Ex-Twitter Employees

17 Killed In Car Bomb And Helicopter Attack In Colombia, President Petro Blames FARC Dissidents | 4K

According to state news agency Xinhua, failure of a steel cable resulted in the collapse.

At the time of the mishap, 15 workers and a project manager were present at the construction site, People’s Daily newspaper reported.

The bridge, part of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway project, is described as the world’s largest-span double-track continuous steel truss arch bridge, People’s Daily report mentioned.

It is also China’s first railway steel truss arch bridge to span the Yellow River, the country’s second-longest river.

advetisement

Images released by state media show the bridge’s partially built structure with a large central gap, flanked by towering scaffolds and cranes.

At least 12 workers have died and four others are missing after an under construction bridge collapsed into the Yellow River in northwest China on Friday, state media said.

Footage aired by state broadcaster CCTV captured the moment the arch section of the bridge gave way and crashed into the waters below.

Tired of too many ads? go ad free now

According to state news agency Xinhua, the disaster was triggered by a steel cable failure.

China’s Big Offer To Zelensky After He Rules Out Beijing As Security Guarantor For Peace With Russia

The People’s Daily reported that 16 people: 15 workers and a project manager had been on site when the structure gave way. CCTV confirmed that ten people were killed, while two others were seriously injured at first and died later.

Four people have yet to be found, AFP reported.

The bridge, part of the Sichuan–Qinghai Railway, has been hailed as the world’s largest-span double-track continuous steel truss arch bridge.

It is also the first railway steel truss arch bridge in China to cross the Yellow River, the country’s second-longest river.

Pictures shared by state media showed the broken frame of the unfinished bridge, its middle section missing, with cranes and tall scaffolding towers standing around the site.

Hundreds of emergency responders were dispatched to join search and rescue efforts, Xinhua said.

Accidents of this kind are not uncommon in China, where enforcement of safety rules is often weak. In December last year, 13 workers went missing after a cave-in at a railway construction site in the southern city of Shenzhen. No survivors were reported.

Palestine Action supporters in UK will refuse to cooperate with police at upcoming protests

LONDON: Protesters supporting the group Palestine Action, which is banned in the UK, will withhold personal details from police officers, The Guardian reported on Friday.

Defend Our Juries, the group organizing demonstrations in support of Palestine Action in the UK, on Friday said the move will be part of a broader strategy to disrupt police stations and make it “practically impossible” to arrest everyone at the protests.

Showing support for a proscribed group in the UK is a criminal offense and can carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

Palestine Action was banned earlier this year under terrorism laws following several incidents, including one where activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and sprayed red paint on military planes.

Earlier this month, 532 people were arrested in Parliament Square for showing support for the group, with 212 refusing to give their details to police.

Defend Our Juries said a protest in London on Sept. 6 will go ahead if it can find 1,000 people to attend. It added that 2,500 people have expressed interest.

Those who sign up will be asked to sign a pledge saying: “I am committed to attending the mass-participation sign-holding action on 6 September 2025,” and “I understand that joining this action comes with risk of arrest and other legal consequences.”

They will also be asked not to comply with the “charade” of street bail, which requires them to give their details to the police, and instead insist on being “taken to a police station, which ensures the provision of immediate legal advice,” hindering the ability of officers to arrest people quickly.

Tim Crosland, a spokesperson for Defend Our Juries, said: “The police were only able to arrest as many people as they did (in Parliament Square) because of their trick of using ‘street bail’ on a mass scale, meaning people arrested of terrorism offences were denied the free legal advice they are entitled to when taken to a police station.

“If 1,000 people sign the pledge to take part on 6 September, ensuring we have the critical mass we need for the action, and hundreds of them insist on their right to receive immediate free legal advice at a police station, the charade will be exposed.

“It will be practically impossible for the police to arrest 1,000 people taking part. Any law that is so obviously wrong that it meets mass public opposition quickly becomes unenforceable, as it was with the poll tax in 1990, and the government will have to scrap it.”

It comes after a man said he was dragged from his bed in the town of Hinckley and arrested on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action after posting about the group on social media.

Matt Cobb, 52, said he was handcuffed and taken to a police station on Wednesday despite having never attended a protest.

He was held for six hours and questioned over posts he made on Facebook, before being released under investigation.

“This is a matter of human rights — not just the right to free speech but the rights of Palestinians as they are being murdered,” Cobb told The Independent.

“For the government to respond to this protest by banning the group that’s protesting is a terrifying development.

“If they are going to proscribe non-violent people for protesting against mass murder, they are tyrants.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper continues to insist the ban on Palestine Action is necessary, saying she has seen evidence of “ideas for further attacks” and the group is “not a non-violent organisation.”

But the ban is unpopular with supporters of the Labour government, with a Survation poll on Monday finding 70 percent of members oppose it.

Crosland said: “The government’s monumental waste of policing resources to criminalise cardboard sign-holding against genocide has already been widely condemned by politicians and public figures across the political spectrum.

“Now the Labour Party has turned against the ban, with more than 70 percent of its members opposed to it, and MPs are claiming to have been tricked by Cooper.”