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An LGBTQ+ activist from Qatar says “people need to be worried” about Sheikh Jassim’s bid to buy Manchester United. Dr Nasser Mohamed, who now lives in San Francisco in the United States, sees the efforts to acquire United as part of a “pattern” of purchases by individuals or funds connected to Qatar, and says global brands in multiple sectors are “surrendering control to an authoritarian regime”. Sheikh Jassim made an improved fourth bid to buy 100 per cent of the club and clear United’s debts on Tuesday but faces competition from chemicals billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Sources close to Sheikh Jassim have repeatedly insisted he is bidding alone as a private individual, without any direct or indirect support from the Qatari state or any of the country’s sovereign wealth funds. Many United fans appear to see Sheikh Jassim’s bid as preferable, amid reports Ratcliffe’s bid would be structured to allow current co-owners Avram and Joel Glazer to maintain a minority stake. But Dr Mohamed, whose Alwan Foundation seeks to advocate on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community across the Middle East, told the PA news agency: “The sad reality is that everybody has a price. “People need to be worried. Surrendering control to an authoritarian regime, giving them more and more with the money that they have… (Qatar) is doing this everywhere. By controlling a big team like (United), they will continue to grow in their influence and their voice and their presence. Dr Nasser Mohamed “They’re doing it through real estate. They’re doing it in fashion, they’re doing it in sports, they’re doing it in tech, and they’re gaining control. And you really need to be worried. “It’s the same pattern, right? It’s establishing dominance and having influence over people. And by controlling a big team like (United), they will continue to grow in their influence and their voice and their presence. “As a global community, should we let people with money basically do what they want to unchecked, with nobody stopping them? “Can anybody stop them from doing anything? People want oil and gas from the region and that is impacting our ability to push back on it. “There are people with this insane amount of power that can just go in and do whatever they want, and nobody can stop them.” Even if the Premier League did establish there was state involvement or control of United, it is unclear if new rules around human rights in the league’s owners’ and directors’ test would be a barrier, because Qatar and members of its government are not the subject of human rights sanctions from the UK government. Dr Mohamed says conditions in Qatar for its LGBTQ+ community have returned to how they were prior to the World Cup. Dr Mohamed, who says he is directly in contact via social media with more than 100 members of the community, spoke prior to the World Cup about the persecution he alleges the community faced from the country’s Preventive Security Department, including detention, beatings and forced conversion therapy. He said there had been a period of calm in the two months immediately after the World Cup, but said shortly before the start of Ramadan in March “the crazies came back out”. “Arrests happened again, another round of them,” he added. “And the intrusive searches in the airports, the hunting, all of the things that they were doing (before the World Cup) are back again as of a month and a half ago.” The Qatar government said in October last year that claims of mistreatment of the LGBTQ+ community contained in a report by Human Rights Watch were “unequivocally false” and that the country “does not tolerate discrimination against anyone”. He also criticised the countries involved in the OneLove campaign during the World Cup for failing to offer practical support to the Alwan Foundation, which recently was able to provide a scholarship for a transgender person from Qatar who has resettled in England. FIFA threatened the seven European nations involved, including England and Wales, with sanctions starting at a yellow card for their captains if the rainbow-coloured armbands were worn. Germany’s players covered their mouths in a team photograph prior to their match against Japan, with their coach Hansi Flick saying they had wanted to convey the message that FIFA was silencing them. “I did meet the presidents of the FAs who were going to wear the OneLove armband. I gave them an hour’s talk about driving change. They were like, ‘cool, that’s good to know’ – and they just walked away,” Dr Mohamed said. “You have the Germany team, they made the whole gesture – they didn’t put a single dollar towards the cause. Why are you making a scene? What’s the point? “If you’re going to speak about an issue that’s difficult, let’s be solution-oriented. Let’s not just be provocative for the sake of being provocative. You know, like that just is not helpful.” The Football Association declined to comment. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Michael Vaughan to return to BBC cricket coverage this summer Manchester United could be without Marcus Rashford for Bournemouth game Sam Allardyce wants positive Patrick Bamford response to social media threats

BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 27, 2023--

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UFC 295 will culminate in two title fights tonight as Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira clash for the vacant light-heavyweight belt, after Tom Aspinall faces Sergei Pavlovich for interim gold at heavyweight. Prochazka relinquished the light-heavyweight title in 2022 after suffering an injury, and his successor Jamahal Hill succumbed to the same fate earlier this year. As such, the belt is vacant again, and Prochazka will bid to regain it from Pereira, who held the middleweight title from late 2022 until this spring. In the co-main event, Aspinall goes up against Pavlovich in a meeting of quick finishers, as the heavyweights fight on short notice. The original main event of UFC 295 pitted heavyweight champ Jon Jones against divisional great Stipe Miocic, but an injury to Jones opened the door for Aspinall vs Pavlovich. Britain’s Aspinall has sealed all of his UFC wins in the first two rounds, while Pavlovich has earned all of his UFC victories in the opening frame. Follow live updates and results from the UFC 295 main card and prelims, below.

Federal prosecutors have given former president Donald Trump’s legal team access to much of the unclassified evidence against him, including multiple recordings of Mr Trump made during interviews of him since the end of his presidency. Attorneys working under the supervision of Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith revealed the existence of the recordings in a late Wednesday court filing which detailed what has been turned over to Mr Trump’s lawyers thus far as part of the legally-mandated “discovery” process, in which the government reveals what evidence it intends to use against a criminal defendant at trial. Specifically, the document says the government has turned over copies of “any written or recorded statements” made by Mr Trump or his co-defendant, Walt Nauta. Prosecutors said that category of evidence includes multiple “interviews” of Mr Trump by “non-governmental entities,” such as the 21 July 2021 interview referenced in the indictment of the ex-president. During that interview, Mr Trump spoke to two people who were assisting his ex-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, with the writing of a book about his former administration, and discussed a document which the ex-president claimed to be a war plan for attacking a foreign country. At the time, Mr Trump described the document as “secret information” and noted that he was not able to declassify it because he was no longer president. The batch of documents provided to Mr Trump’s defence team also includes transcripts of testimony given by witnesses to grand juries in Washington, DC and Florida during the government’s investigation into his alleged mishandling of national defence information, as well as other materials obtained by the government by way of subpoenas and search warrants, such as surveillance footage from his Mar-a-Lago property. Prosecutors wrote that the tranche of evidence made available to the ex-president’s attorneys “includes the grand jury testimony of witnesses who will testify for the government at the trial of this case”. Under the terms of a protective order issued last week by Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, Mr Trump is barred from viewing the evidence against him outside the presence of his attorneys. The order states that Mr Trump “shall only have access to Discovery Materials under the direct supervision of Defense Counsel or a member of Defense Counsel’s staff,” and prohibited either of them from retaining copies of the materials themselves or taking any notes with them after viewing any of the materials. The protective order and the restrictions it places upon Mr Trump are meant in part to prevent him from directing his followers to harass any witnesses against him or any FBI or DOJ personnel involved in the case. Magistrate Judge Reinhart also ordered that the discovery materials be kept only by Mr Trump’s legal team and stored securely on premises controlled by them. Read More Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

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