Gina Miller's stunning Supreme Court victory against Boris Johnson is the latest legal triumph for the Guyana-born businesswoman, making her a hero to Brexit opponents, and a villain to its supporters.
The 54-year-old now has a 2-0 record against the government of the day in the highest court of the land, dealing hammer blows to the Brexit plans of then-prime minister Theresa May and current incumbent Boris Johnson.
Miller, an investment fund manager, has said she was moved to action immediately as the result of the 2016 referendum became clear, when her 11-year-old son told her: "You're going to do something, mummy, you always do."
She decided then that the courts would be her battlefield, becoming the figurehead of the legal fight to give parliament a say on Brexit -- a position that has exposed her to an onslaught of death threats and racist abuse.
Born into a privileged household in what was then British Guiana -- her father became the country's attorney general after independence 

Gina Miller: Anti-Brexit crusader with winning touch

PTI Automatic

British police announced on Tuesday that they had arrested 23 people as part of a series of investigations into suspected people smuggling.
The arrests were made between September 11 and 21, and included 11 individuals suspected of facilitating illegal crossings of the Channel -- between France and England -- in small boats.
Among those being held are British, Iraqi and Iranian nationals, according to the interior ministry.
"The organised crime groups behind the illegal attempts to cross the border, either by land or sea, are putting the lives of vulnerable people in serious danger for their own financial gain," said Steve Dann, director of the ministry's criminal and financial investigations.
More than 80 people who entered Britain illegally on small boats have been returned to Europe.
Border Force cutters are now patrolling the Channel, and equipment including CCTV and night goggles have been deployed on the French coast, according to police.
British authorities intercepted two ...

23 arrested in UK people-smuggling probes

In the wake of protests calling for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's ouster, Egypt came under fire Tuesday for arrests of journalists and was accused of blocking news websites.
A New York-based press watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said three Egyptian journalists were arrested for covering protests which followed a football match in Cairo on Friday night.
The group also said that several websites were disrupted, including those of news outlets BBC and the US-government funded Al-Hurra television.
Safaa Faisal, Egypt's BBC bureau chief, confirmed to AFP that the news site was inaccessible on Monday without any specific explanation from authorities.
However, Makram Ahmed, head of Egypt's Supreme Media Regulation Council, had told BBC that authorities may have blocked some sites including BBC Arabic for "inaccurate coverage" of the protests.
Many users have also reported difficulties with accessing popular app Facebook Messenger, according to CPJ.
"Egyptian ...

Egypt arrests journalists, blocks websites after protests

President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned the United States was watching the situation in Venezuela "very closely," as it unleashed new sanctions targeting the crisis-wracked country's ties with Cuba.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, Trump assailed Venezuela's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, as "a Cuban puppet, protected by Cuban bodyguards."
"The United States has vast humanitarian aid to be delivered," Trump said, adding Washington was "watching the Venezuela situation very closely."
"We await the day when democracy will be restored, when Venezuela will be free, and when liberty will prevail throughout this hemisphere," he said.

Trump says US watching situation in Venezuela 'very closely'

Iran on Tuesday rejected "ridiculous" allegations that it carried out this month's attack on Saudi oil infrastructure, after the leaders of France, Germany and Britain backed US conclusions that Tehran was responsible.
"These allegations, which lack evidence, are based solely on a ridiculous rationale that 'there is no other possible explanation'," Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The September 14 blasts at the Abqaiq and Khurais facilities temporarily knocked out half of Saudi Arabia's oil production.

Iran blasts Europe's 'ridiculous' accusations over attacks on Saudi

Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has come under attack for wildfires that are raging in the Amazon, told the United Nations Tuesday that the rainforest is his country's sovereign territory.
"It is a fallacy to say that the Amazon is the heritage of humankind, and a misconception confirmed by scientists to say that our Amazon forests are the lungs of the world," he said.
Bolsonaro then hit out at detractors, saying that while every country had problems, sensational reporting in the international media "aroused our patriotic sentiments."
"Using and resorting to these fallacies, certain countries, instead of helping ... behaved in a disrespectful manner and with a colonialist spirit," he said.
"They even called into question that which we hold as a most sacred value, our sovereignty." He also defended his record on the treatment of indigenous people and said many backed him.
"Some people both inside and outside Brazil, supported by NGOs ... have insisted on treating and ..

'Fallacy' to say Amazon is the heritage of humankind: Bolsonaro

Andy Murray ground out his most significant victory since major hip surgery with a 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-1 win over Tennys Sandgren on Tuesday at the Zhuhai Championships.
This was the former number one's first triumph in a singles match on the ATP Tour since the 32-year-old had a career-saving operation in January.
A three-time Grand Slam winner but now ranked 413 in the world, the Briton has competed mostly in doubles since and recently played singles on the lower-level Challenger Tour.
He faces seventh seed Alex de Minaur of Australia in the second round in southern China after coming through a physically demanding test lasting more than two and a half hours.
Murray looked exhausted at the end, slumping in his chair and puffing out his cheeks.
There were glimpses of Murray at his best as he sealed the first set in 41 minutes after the 69th-ranked Sandgren planted a backhand wide.
Murray, finally free of hip pain and now attempting to build up his creaking body for the rigours of elite .

Andy Murray ramps up comeback with first ATP Tour win since surgery

The United States hit Venezuela with a new round of sanctions on Tuesday, targeting the crisis-battered country's ties with Cuba, which supports Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.
"Maduro's Cuban benefactors provide a lifeline to the regime and enable its repressive security and intelligence apparatus," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
The move is the latest US escalation of sanctions aimed at undermining support for Maduro, who is grappling with a political and economic crisis that the United Nations says has left a quarter of Venezuela's 30 million people in need of humanitarian aid.
The new sanctions hit four companies -- three registered in Panama and one in Cyprus -- that ship oil from Venezuela to Cuba, and names four specific oil tankers.
"Venezuela's oil belongs to the Venezuelan people and should not be used as a bargaining tool to prop up dictators and prolong the usurpation of Venezuelan democracy," Mnuchin said.
The US Treasury, which calls Maduro's ...

US targets Venezuela's ties to Cuba with new sanctions

US President Donald Trump put China on notice at the United Nations Tuesday, declaring that the time of trade "abuses" by Beijing was "over" and calling on the country to protect Hong Kong's "democratic ways of life."
"For years, these (trade) abuses were tolerated, ignored, or even encouraged," he told the UN General Assembly, arguing that "globalism" had caused world leaders to ignore their own national interests.
"But as far as America is concerned, those days are over," he said.  The US president added that his administration was "carefully monitoring" the way China handles the crisis in Hong Kong.
"The world fully expects that the Chinese government will honor its binding treaty... (and) protect Hong Kong's freedom and legal system and democratic ways of life".

Trump warns China over trade and Hong Kong

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday renewed his call for the rival Labour Party to back new elections after the Supreme Court ruled that his suspension of parliament was illegal.
"The obvious thing to do is call an election. Jeremy Corbyn is talking out the back of his neck," Johnson told reporters on a visit to New York, referring to the Labour leader.
"And he should have an election," Johnson said.
Johnson took the unusual step of suspending parliament as he races to divorce Britain from the European Union by the end of next month, even without a deal.
But Britain's Supreme Court said that the move was unconstitutional, with parliament set to reconvene on Wednesday. Corbyn called on Johnson to resign over the debacle.
The ruling came just as Johnson was taking part in the annual UN General Assembly, where he is set to hold talks with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

British PM renews call for elections after court setback

French President Emmanuel Macron said he hoped for progress on Iran "in the coming hours" Tuesday after a lengthy meeting with his counterpart Hassan Rouhani.
"I'm hoping that we can make progress in the coming hours," Macron told reporters as he tries to organize a summit between US and Iranian leaders at the United Nations.

Macron hopes for progress on Iran 'in coming hours'

US President Donald Trump made a fresh attack against the global order Tuesday in a speech before the United Nations, saying that "globalists" would not triumph.
"The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots," Trump said.
"The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations who protect their citizens, respect their neighbors and honor the differences that make each country special and unique," he said.

Trump at UN: future belongs to 'patriots,' not 'globalists'

Russian high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene on Tuesday hit out at Moscow's sports officials ahead of this month's world championships in Doha, saying she will not let them stop her from going to another Olympics.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Monday gave Russia three weeks to explain "inconsistencies" in a cache of laboratory data handed over to investigators, raising the possibility of a fresh ban on the country in the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics.
Lasitskene, a two-time Olympic champion, is one of the Russian athletes who has been allowed to compete under a neutral flag while others have been banned from sport since November 2015 over a vast doping scandal.
She was barred from taking part in the 2016 Rio Olympics, and said she has "no certainty" that Russian athletes will be allowed to take part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"I do not intend to miss a second Olympics in a row because of some strange people that cannot do their job honestly," the 26-year-old wrote on ...

Top Russian athlete hits out at Moscow sports officials

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects Paul Pogba to make his return from injury against third-tier Rochdale in the League Cup on Wednesday.
The French international midfielder has been sidelined for three weeks by an ankle injury, but Solskjaer is confident he will definitely be fit for Arsenal's visit in the Premier League on Monday.
"He'll probably get some minutes against Rochdale," said Solskjaer on Tuesday.
"But we definitely think he's ready for Arsenal."
Solskjaer's options in attacking areas have been hampered by a number of injuries in recent weeks and Marcus Rashford is also now sidelined by a groin problem that forced him off in Sunday's 2-0 defeat at West Ham.
The England international will not feature in midweek, but has not been ruled out of a return against Arsenal with United badly in need of three points.
Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw also remain out injured but teenager Mason Greenwood, who scored the winner in a 1-0 Europa League win over Astana ...

Pogba set to make Man Utd return

Zinedine Zidane claims he has not even thought about the criticism aimed at him in recent weeks as Real Madrid look to build on Sunday's morale-boosting win away at Sevilla.
Madrid eased the growing pressure on their coach with a determined performance at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan after they had been beaten 3-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League four days before.
That loss was Madrid's worst during Zidane's two spells as coach and prompted questions about the Frenchman's future, with Jose Mourinho among those linked with taking charge.
Madrid play newly-promoted Osasuna on Wednesday and could go top of La Liga with a victory.
"It's always the same, there has always been criticism and there always will be," Zidane said in a press conference on Tuesday.
"I don't even think about it. It is what it is, it happens. When we lose, I'm going to get sacked and when we win, I'm the best. You just have to keep working.
"I feel strong but I feel the same as I did a month ago. The ...

Zidane brushes off criticism as Madrid look to continue recovery

Air strikes allegedly carried out by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen on Tuesday killed 16 people including seven children, an official and a doctor said.
The raid came days after the Huthi insurgents offered to halt drone and ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to end a war that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
The rebels claimed responsibility for the September 14 attacks on Saudi oil installations that knocked out half of the OPEC kingpin's production and sent shockwaves through energy markets.
The United States and Saudi Arabia have however blamed Iran, saying the strikes were carried out with advanced cruise missiles and drones.
Tuesday's air strikes in Qatabah in Daleh province in south Yemen, partly controlled by the rebels, marked the first major attack believed to have been carried out by the coalition since the Huthis' offer.
"Sixteen people, including women and children, were killed and nine others injured" in a ..

7 children among 16 killed by air strikes in Yemen

Twelve people were killed late Monday in fresh attacks by suspected jihadists in northern Mozambique ahead of elections next month, officials said.
Ten people were murdered in the village of Mbau, in Mocimbao da Praia district, and half of the homes in the locality were burned down, along with the offices of the ruling Frelimo party, a local official said on Tuesday.
"They entered the village and came across a group of young people who were drinking alcohol. Many were killed," the official, Assane Issa, told AFP.
"The villagers then fled into the forest." Police then intervened, forcing the assailants out after a gun battle that finished at around 1 a.m., Issa said.
Earlier Monday, suspected jihadists attacked the village of Mindumbe, a few dozen kilometres (a couple of dozen miles) to the south.
"The rebels came across two men in their fields -- they killed them and then decapitated them," a villager told AFP.
Northern Mozambique has borne the brunt of a nearly two-year-old wave of ..

12 killed in jihadist attacks in Mozambique

Negotiators for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main opponent Benny Gantz met Tuesday to discuss possibilities for a unity government that both men say they should lead after last week's deadlocked election.
The chief negotiators for Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and Gantz's centrist Blue and White gathered to follow up on a meeting between their two leaders and Israel's president late on Monday.
That encounter was their first formal meeting since the September 17 election ended with Gantz winning the most seats, but with neither having a clear path to a majority coalition.
The two men are due to meet again with President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday.
The negotiators' meeting concluded after two hours, with a joint statement saying it was "topical and carried out in good spirits."
The Likud negotiator, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, noted he was representing "all 55 members of the right-wing bloc."
Netanyahu and the heads of the right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties ...

Israeli negotiators seek to break Netanyahu-Gantz deadlock

Investigators searched disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein's luxury Paris apartment on Tuesday, advancing a French probe into allegations that the sex offender procured young women to abuse in France.
Epstein was arrested in New York in July on multiple charges of trafficking underage girls for sex.
He was found hanged in his New York jail cell on August 10 while awaiting trial over a string of sordid abuses involving girls at his Palm Beach home and on his private island in the Caribbean.
Epstein's ownership of an apartment in the heart of upmarket Paris and allegations from women who say they were abused in France prompted French prosecutors to open their own criminal probe last month.
Epstein's flat on Avenue Foch near the Champs-Elysees -- one of the world's most exclusive addresses -- was scoured for evidence from Monday afternoon to the early morning hours of Tuesday, a source close to the probe told AFP.
A week earlier, investigators searched the nearby headquarters of Karin 

Investigators search sex offender Epstein's Paris flat

Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters outside Indonesia's parliament Tuesday as thousands demonstrated nationwide against a new criminal code that would, among other things, outlaw pre-marital sex and weaken the country's anti-graft agency.
Protesters covered their faces and scattered in all directions as chaos erupted in the centre of the sprawling capital, Jakarta.
Police also fired teargas at rock-throwing protesters in Makassar on Sulawesi island, while demonstrators broke down a barrier outside the governor's office in Semarang on Java island.
"(We) forcibly dispersed student because they were carrying out anarchist acts, damaging government property and throwing stones at police," said Dicky Sondani, a South Sulawesi police spokesman.
The police action came after flag- and placard-waving demonstrators gathered across the Southeast Asian archipelago -- including in cultural capital Yogyakarta and holiday hotspot Bali -- for a second day in a row.
On ...

Indonesia police fire tear gas at students protesting sex, graft laws

Iran's armed forces chief of staff on Tuesday vowed to destroy any enemy that attacked the country, a news agency reported.
"The result of any aggression will be destruction" and "captivity", the Fars news agency reported Mohammad Bagheri as telling parliament.
Iran has "no animosity towards the countries of the region", Bagheri said, according to the agency close to the country's ultra-conservatives.
But he alleged Saudi Arabia and its ally the United Arab Emirates had "lost their way" and were "at the source of plots against Iran".
Tensions have soared in the Gulf since a September 14 attack on Saudi oil facilities that Washington and Riyadh have blamed on Iran, which denies involvement.
In the wake of the attack that slashed Saudi oil output by half, the United States said it had ordered reinforcements to the region.
US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani are both to address the UN General Assembly in New York this week.  But no encounter has so far ...

AFP

AFP

Page 379 - Afp/pti