LONDON (AP) — Dozens of people were arrested outside a London courthouse on Thursday after expressing support for Palestine Action, a protest group that has been banned as a terrorist organization by the British government.
The arrests came as Palestine Action was given the go-ahead to ask the U.K. Supreme Court to overturn the year-old ban, which makes membership in or support for the group a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
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A demonstrator is arrested by the police outside the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Thursday, July 30, 2026, as a plea hearing for 25 people accused of showing support for Palestine Action takes place. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A Palestine flag waves outside the Westminster Magistrates Court, in London, Thursday, July 30, 2026.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A demonstrator is arrested by the police outside the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Thursday, July 30, 2026, as a plea hearing for 25 people accused of showing support for Palestine Action takes place. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A demonstrator is arrested by the police outside the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Thursday, July 30, 2026, as a plea hearing for 25 people accused of showing support for Palestine Action takes place. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A demonstrator is arrested by the police outside the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Thursday, July 30, 2026, as a plea hearing for 25 people accused of showing support for Palestine Action takes place. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Police detained protesters who gathered outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court shouting “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” as onlookers shouted “Shame!” The Metropolitan Police force said 77 people had been arrested, most for “expressing support for a proscribed organization.”
More than 3,000 people have been arrested for actions as simple as holding signs declaring “I support Palestine Action” since the group was outlawed. More than 1,200 have been charged under the Terrorism Act, although no one has yet been convicted.
The government outlawed Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in June 2025 to protest British military support for Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
The group challenged the ban, and it was quashed by the High Court in February. But in June the Court of Appeal ruled that the ban was a “justified and proportionate” interference with freedom of expression. It said the group had gone beyond direct-action civil disobedience and used violence “to destroy property and cause injury.”
On Thursday the Supreme Court said Palestine Action founder Huda Ammori can take the case to the country’s top judges. The case is due to be heard sometime between October and December.
All cases of people charged with breaching the ban have been put on hold until the Supreme Court rules, court officials said.
A demonstrator is arrested by the police outside the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Thursday, July 30, 2026, as a plea hearing for 25 people accused of showing support for Palestine Action takes place. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A Palestine flag waves outside the Westminster Magistrates Court, in London, Thursday, July 30, 2026.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A demonstrator is arrested by the police outside the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Thursday, July 30, 2026, as a plea hearing for 25 people accused of showing support for Palestine Action takes place. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A demonstrator is arrested by the police outside the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Thursday, July 30, 2026, as a plea hearing for 25 people accused of showing support for Palestine Action takes place. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A demonstrator is arrested by the police outside the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, Thursday, July 30, 2026, as a plea hearing for 25 people accused of showing support for Palestine Action takes place. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — At 60, Too $hort is helping usher hip-hop into what he calls its senior citizen era. Just don’t expect him to rap like one.
The Oakland hip-hop pioneer is still recording, touring and talking slick more than four decades after he began selling homemade tapes on the streets of the Bay Area. While the genre has long treated aging like an unwritten career-ending offense, Too $hort is breaking the rule and challenging the culture’s elder statesmen to keep going with him.
His latest proof is “Sir Too $hort Vol. 2: Drink & Smoke,” his 23rd studio album, produced entirely by longtime collaborator Lil Jon. It arrives Friday, exactly 20 years after the release of his enduring hit “Blow the Whistle.”
Too $hort, whose catalog also includes classics like “The Ghetto” and “Shake That Monkey,” says he isn’t interested in slowing down anytime soon. That was certainly evident when he and E-40 performed at the NFL Honors in February.
In an interview with The Associated Press this week, Too $hort reflected on turning 60, challenging hip-hop’s age limits, preserving the legacy of Lil Jon’s late son, DJ Young Slade, the staying power of “Blow the Whistle” and why he has no plans to stop until “the wheels fall off.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
TOO $HORT: At the age of 14 or 15, my mentality was, “Let people hear this music. We’re going to rock some house parties and high school dances and sell some tapes to fans in the streets.” When I got my foot in the door, I knew this was going to be my job. It was always “till the wheels fall off.” It was never, “Let’s do this for 30 or 40 years.”
I’ve always said the day hip-hop is no longer my job is probably the day I’ll stop. But the love I have for hip-hop won’t allow me to stop recording. I’ve never taken a long break. I’ve continuously been in the studio, continuously doing shows. I just keep it going because it’s my job.
TOO $HORT: I truly love making music. It’s never felt like work. I could have stopped after “Blow the Whistle” and been like, “Story told.” But somebody’s got to go out into these uncharted waters and blaze the trail. Look at E-40,Snoop Dogg,Fat Joe and the other guys who kept going after the kids were grown and the grandkids were on the way.
Who laid the rule down that in hip-hop you gotta stop at 40? Every milestone they said was old. First it was 30, then it was 40, then it was 50. Now we got senior citizen rappers, and this ... is real. Hip-hop is entering the place where jazz, blues and R&B have older artists who are still performing and recording. We should too.
TOO $HORT: I don’t know if you could give me the ingredients and tell me how to do it again; I don’t think I could. It had to happen organically. I give Lil Jon a lot of credit because he’s made a lot of songs we’ve loved since the day they came out. We make good music together, and that’s why I’m excited for people to hear what we’re still doing 30 years after we first worked together.
TOO $HORT: His son passed away after we finished recording. We had actually done about twice as many songs as ended up on this project. I saw how it affected Jon, and I had recently lost my brother, so I knew that feeling of loss. The whole time, Slade was producing or co-producing a lot of the tracks I was working on. The first thing that came to me was that I’d be more than proud to be part of his son’s legacy and give something to the world that would help him live forever. Jon keeps saying, “Slade’s legacy,” and I’m just trying to be a part of that and show the world we lost another good, talented person.
TOO $HORT: We did one in 2020, but it wasn’t a battle. We had a good time. We did a lot of laughing, a lot of togetherness. I didn’t want to battle 40 then, and I don’t want to battle him now. That’s my best friend in hip-hop. I’d sign up for me and 40 against anybody. That’d be fun. They haven’t had two groups. … I put that out there: Who wants to battle Too $hort and E-40 in Verzuz?
Too $hort poses for a portrait on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Too $hort poses for a portrait on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Too $hort poses for a portrait on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Too $hort poses for a portrait on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Too $hort poses for a portrait on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
