English Premier League football giants Manchester United could become the latest European club to come under Chinese ownership after a mystery buyer was reported to have expressed an interest in buying out some of the club’s shareholders.
The UK newspaper The Sunday Times reported that a buyer from China has contacted some of United's independent shareholders in an attempt to purchase a holding in the Old Trafford club.
The report comes a week before the start of the new EPL season – next Sunday Man United take on West Ham
Negotiators, said to be working on behalf of a Chinese billionaire, have been in touch with several United shareholders in the past few weeks.
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The mystery investor may have been given encouragement to pursue a stake in the 20-times English champions by persistent rumours that certain members of the Glazer family would be open to the idea of selling a bigger chunk of the club.
According to The Sunday Times, of the six Glazer children, three are said to be interested in a sale. One City source claims that a sizeable block of shares - about 8 per cent of the club - was being offered for sale last week by an American broker. The underlying owner of the stake was unclear.
The United States-based Glazers control around 80 per cent of United, with the rest being held by investment funds in the UK and US.
* Agencies
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
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- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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