LONDON (AP) — Dozens of people were arrested at a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in London on Saturday in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action, police said.
London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement that 48 people had been arrested and that the majority of the arrests were related to individuals expressing support for a proscribed organization.
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People take part in a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in support of Palestine Action ahead of a U.K. Supreme Court hearing over the group's proscription in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
People take part in a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in support of Palestine Action ahead of a U.K. Supreme Court hearing over the group's proscription in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
A protester holds a placard during a demonstration in support of Palestine Action, outside the US embassy, in London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Demonstrators hold placards in support of Palestine Action, outside the US embassy, in London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Police officers arrest a protester during a demonstration in support of Palestine Action, outside the US embassy, in London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
“Officers remain at the scene and are continuing to make arrests," it said.
More than 100 people took part in the protest, with many holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
Some protesters could be heard applauding and chanting “free, free Palestine” when people were taken away to police vans.
The U.K. government outlawed the direct-action protest group last year as a terrorist organization. The ban makes membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Demonstrators also held a vigil in support of Palestine Action outside the U.S. Consulate in Edinburgh, Scotland, holding placards akin to those in London. No arrests were reported there, but Police Scotland said that inquiries to identify people seen wearing T-shirts and holding banners showing support for a proscribed organization were ongoing.
“Evidence is being reviewed and further action will be taken as appropriate," it said.
The protests came before an appeal on Nov. 4 at the Supreme Court against Palestine Action’s designation as a terror group. Supporters say the ban is draconian and that it violates their freedom of speech.
In August, the U.S. government announced sanctions against Palestine Action, designating it as a terror group.
Palestine Action, founded in 2020, aims to stop U.K. military support for Israel, which it says is committing genocide against the Palestinians — an accusation that Israel strongly denies.
The group says it aims to stop genocide by disrupting “corporate enablers of the Israeli military-industrial complex.”
In 2024, its activists broke into a factory owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK, smashing equipment with sledgehammers and crowbars. In June 2025, activists broke into a Royal Air Force base, sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes and caused further damage with crowbars.
People take part in a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in support of Palestine Action ahead of a U.K. Supreme Court hearing over the group's proscription in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
People take part in a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in support of Palestine Action ahead of a U.K. Supreme Court hearing over the group's proscription in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
A protester holds a placard during a demonstration in support of Palestine Action, outside the US embassy, in London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Demonstrators hold placards in support of Palestine Action, outside the US embassy, in London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Police officers arrest a protester during a demonstration in support of Palestine Action, outside the US embassy, in London, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of mostly young protesters took to the streets across France on Saturday in a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education.
About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across the country, and Paris marches were rerouted to the capital’s edge. Youth-led demonstrations were also reported in Germany and Italy.
France's government estimated that 320,000 people protested nationwide Saturday, fewer than in previous protests but still a significant turnout. Mass protests on Oct. 17 that deteriorated into some of France's worst rioting in years drew more than 500,000 people around France, and demonstrations on Oct. 24 drew 410,000, according to government estimates. Organizers’ turnout estimates are much higher.
Authorities in France reported about 300 arrests nationwide so far — down from 800 at the same time last week.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a “very high risk” of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween. Police had arrested thousands of people following riots and looting that marred the largely peaceful protest marches the previous two Saturdays.
At Porte de Bagnolet, on the eastern edge of Paris, thousands gathered behind a line of students who led the march hand in hand. Security agents from the CGT, one of France’s largest labor unions, were keeping watch at the front of the gathering, while police were massed on side streets.
The Interior Ministry told reporters that of the 320,000 protesting Saturday, 70,000 people are estimated to have turned out for the main protest in Paris, which police moved outside the city center to reduce the risk of unrest around government buildings and tourist sites after a last-minute court battle.
The marchers’ grievances are diverse.
Each group carried its own banner: high school students, climate activists and people angry about the cost of living.
Corentin Cabreux, a 21-year-old student, said that he lives in a state-run student residence where “there are damp stains all along the bottom of my walls, whole sections peeling off, cockroaches everywhere, rats.”
The crowd streamed along the Boulevards des Maréchaux, the ring of avenues that skirts the edge of Paris, in a march that was joyful for hours. Techno music blasted from speakers, a painter at work along the route drew cheers from the crowd, and some marchers went trick-or-treating. A police helicopter hovered overhead as the sun set slowly over the city.
Later, clashes broke out near Porte de Charenton, where the march ended. Protesters hurled glass bottles and fireworks at police. Officers responded with volleys of stun grenades and tear gas. The blasts echoed through the streets, and smoke filled the air as dusk fell.
Many peaceful marchers turned back, coughing, their eyes streaming with tears, and left the march, some scattering into the nearby Bois de Vincennes, one of the largest parks in Paris.
The rallies started last month as a movement of high school students protesting neglected buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system seen as unfair to disadvantaged students. Labor unions and others angry at President Emmanuel Macron joined in with a variety of demands.
While the vast majority of protesters have been peaceful, groups of troublemakers routinely target police with fireworks and projectiles. Some protests have degenerated into rioting and looting — including unrest on Oct. 17 that appeared to take the government by surprise. Police have responded with tear gas, dispersion grenades, water cannons and other tactics that have resulted in severe injuries.
Macron said that Saturday's marches would stay out of city centers to protect shops. Police also barred people from entering Place de la Republique and Les Halles from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Unaccompanied minors face a separate 9 p.m. curfew around the Champs-Elysees. A Paris court on Wednesday suspended an earlier curfew on minors as a serious and illegal infringement of freedom of movement.
In Germany, a youth initiative called “Gen Z regelt” — roughly “Gen Z’s got this” — rallied in more than 30 cities “for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life,” and against any return of military conscription. Organizers said that tens of thousands participated in the protests across the country, but official figures weren't immediately available.
In Berlin, young protesters also gathered at Brandenburg Gate on Saturday afternoon, demanding more investments in education and housing.
"We call for more money to be invested in social services and education, as well as in climate protection — in short, in our future — because we are the ones who will be affected by this the longest and who will have to live with it," high school student Lara Breitenbach said.
Janelle Schulz, another high school student from Berlin, also said that the authorities had to invest more money in education.
“At my school, the ceiling is collapsing because of water damage, nothing is being done about it, we have a shortage of teachers, the toilets are broken,” she said.
Later on Saturday, police ended a protest march early in the western city of Cologne after protesters used pyrotechnics, threw stones at them and covered their faces despite a ban. Police also used water cannons to disperse demonstrators. In the northern city of Hamburg, some protesters also shot pyrotechnics toward police and burned down barricades. Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowds in Hamburg.
Elsewhere in Europe, people also protested against the housing crisis and for a better future.
Thousands of protesters, including families with small children, converged in downtown Lisbon to peacefully protest Portugal's housing crisis, holding up placards reading “Houses or Fire” and “We are not Afraid.” Others in the crowd held aloft small cardboard houses while a few dressed up for Halloween.
In The Hague, Netherlands, there was a strong police presence in and around the downtown shopping area on Saturday afternoon after online appeals for protests and fears of rioting and looting. However, there was little sign of protests and no major disturbances by midafternoon. Police frisked some groups of black-clad youngsters and checked their identities, local media reported. Many stores in the city were boarded up as a precaution.
Kirsten Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Angela Charlton and Thomas Adamson in Paris; Kerstin Sopke and Geir Moulson in Berlin; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; and Helena Alves in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.
Demonstrators stand in front of police officers during a protest under the slogan "Gen Z Takes Care of It" in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Demonstrators with a banner reading " The Youth Is Angry" attend a protest under the slogan "Gen Z Takes Care of It" in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Protesters march during a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
A protester holds a banner depicting a skull during a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Demonstrator prepare stones during protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A demonstrator holds a French flag during a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
A luxury boutique is covered by protective wooden boards ahead of a planned large-scale protest scheduled for tomorrow, in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Workers install protective wooden boards over the windows and storefront of a luxury boutique, ahead of a planned large-scale protest scheduled for tomorrow, in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A man sits next to a car that is examined by Police officers before protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Protesters hold a banner reading: "Thank you youth, love will win" during a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Demonstrators hold a banner reading: "Injustice brings chaos" as they gather before a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
A march passes in front of the Ministry of Education at Piazza dell'Emporio. Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Photo by Valentina Stefanelli /LaPresse via AP)
Exterior view of a shop of the Saint Laurent fashion company before protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Police vehicles are parked on the day before protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A man stands in front of a barricaded shop of the soccer team Paris Saint-Germain before protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Worker install safeguards on a shop before protests over living costs and education in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A protester throws a projectile towards police after a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Police officers run toward protesters during a demonstration against rising living costs in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
