SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Formally dressed in a traditional Qatari bisht, Dr. Nasser Mohamed strolled past a crowd of several hundred people outside Chase Center as the England-Croatia World Cup match was shown high above on the big screen. His gold-and-black robe featured a flourish: rainbow piping down each sleeve and the words “love” and “freedom” written in Arabic.
“That’s why the World Cup is really powerful, because people don’t need to hear about who I am — I can just walk, be seen, and that’s it,” he said. “We don’t have to say a word.”
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Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Four years ago, when the World Cup was played in his home country and Mohamed was already living across the world in San Francisco, he came out and became an exceptionally rare openly gay man from Qatar, where gay sex is prohibited and he can't dress how he'd like.
Mohamed is speaking up again for those without a voice. The 39-year-old now feels secure enough to walk around with confidence, and without fear of harm, while wearing chunky heeled boots, mascara and 2-inch dangly earrings. He still gets regular backlash and hate, but he has also found support and kindness from around the globe that helps drown out the death threats and divisiveness.
“I am so loved in San Francisco, really, truly,” Mohamed said of the city he moved to more than a decade ago. “I have not worn this since I was a kid in Qatar, and San Francisco put it back on my shoulders, with rainbows.”
For him, donning the bisht for everyone to see is important: “The emir of Qatar put it on (Lionel) Messi at the last World Cup to celebrate Messi. We should be celebrated too.”
An LGBTQ+ activist and family doctor who treats HIV, “Dr. Nas” — as he is known — launched his “Love is the Goal” campaign ahead of the World Cup and Pride Month, hoping to humanize all people taking part. For a video, he combined soccer lingo with references to love, such as him reading “love is kickoff, the very first touch,” and someone else offering “love is the assist, finding you exactly where you are.”
“Saving a life like mine is very expensive, and I know that, and this is the hard truth,” Mohamed said. “So that’s why I had to pave my own path and get out. I lost everything. I’m disowned completely. I had to build myself from scratch, the ground up, all of it.”
On Wednesday, Qatar plays its final group-stage match, against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Seattle. Mohamed won't be there, but he was at the team's first game, on June 13 in Santa Clara, California. He had clear and visible security, and was escorted by California state Sen. Scott Wiener to the 1-1 draw with Switzerland. A photo from the day has more than 12 million views on social media.
“As I was passing, everybody was taking pictures of me with the senator,” he recalled. “It was so dramatic.”
And emotional.
“In the stadium I couldn’t speak because if I started talking I’m not going to stop crying, because when am I going to see Qatar again in my life?” Mohamed said through tears. “When is it ever going to happen again? I don’t know. When am I going to see home? I can’t see Mom and Dad, even when they were getting hit by missiles.”
After the game, he hosted a dance party at the San Francisco Mint highlighted by a performance “Let Your Love Shine,” written by close friend Simon Tam and sung by Debby Holiday.
“Nas’ journey moves me because it is rooted in extraordinary courage and an enormous heart,” Tam said. “He’s taken his own truth and turned it into a way to help others feel seen, worthy, and less alone.”
Tam believes Mohamed can change the world — and that's the doctor's hope, too.
“The first step to heal is to witness things the way they are,” Mohamed said. “My endgame is for every child to belong with their own family and their own society.”
Still, it breaks his heart knowing he can't go back to Qatar. Mohamed has been ostracized by his own family because of his sexuality and for standing up to power to help others. For those in need, including a transgender woman who had been imprisoned and tortured, he has aided their moves out of Qatar and secured resources so they could rebuild their lives elsewhere.
Mohamed is thankful for this new existence, embracing the obstacles that come with his work, even as he believes his safety could be at stake.
“We all fled persecution and took political asylum in the U.S., and now we invited all of them to come here to play soccer,” he said. “I didn’t feel safe leaving my apartment.”
Still, after everything, he roots for Qatar — and the Americans. He plans to watch the U.S. during the round of 32 next week in Santa Clara.
“I am cheering for both the United States and for Qatar with love,” he said. “They both had homes for me and, when I challenge either of them, it is out of love, and I mean it.”
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, of Qatar, is photographed, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
LONDON (AP) — Large parts of western Europe were baking Wednesday as a “heat dome” brought extreme conditions that many forecasters warned could present a risk to life.
A day after France recorded its hottest-ever day, the U.K. was set to see its highest ever June temperature, prompting the national weather forecaster to issue a "red heat health” alert for much of central and southern England, as well as Wales.
This is only the second such warning ever issued by U.K. authorities following July 2022, when temperatures exceeded 40 degrees C (104 F) for the first time ever. The temperature is set to fall short of 40 degrees C on Wednesday but could breach that level — not long ago considered as unimaginable — on Thursday.
“Red warnings are reserved for the most severe events and we’re expecting severe and significant impacts from this heat wave, with health impacts likely for many, even beyond those who are normally more vulnerable to the heat,” said Mark Sidaway, deputy chief forecaster for the U.K. Met Office.
Authorities in France, Italy and Spain have also issued warnings about the risks of extreme heat for tens of millions of people.
Records are being broken across Europe, seemingly every year, and authorities are struggling to adapt their societies to the realities of the new heat environment. Many of the buildings, work places and transport networks just aren’t fit for purpose as human-caused climate change leads to increasingly extreme weather. U.N. climate agency projections say the next five years are likely to shatter more heat records.
“Heatwaves are becoming more frequent, longer and hotter with climate change, as a direct result of the fossil fuels we are releasing as a society,” said Hayley Fowler, a professor at the Centre for Climate and Environmental Resilience at Newcastle University in the northeast of England. “We can expect to have to cope with more and more of these types of events in the years to come.”
France has borne much of the brunt of the current heatwave. On Tuesday, the average of temperatures measured at 30 weather stations was 29.8 C (85.6 F), the latest in a series of never-before-registered highs heaped on Europe’s largest country.
Unsurprisingly, many of the country's major attractions, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum in Paris have restricted visiting hours while schools and transportation schedules were upended.
Some schools in England have also closed due to the heat and many train services have been canceled, with passengers urged to avoid nonessential travel in areas covered by the red warning.
Network Rail, which operates Britain’s railroad network, warned of “significant disruption” across England and Wales as it imposes speed restrictions to minimize the risk from heat-related issues such as buckled tracks and sagging overhead electric wires.
Eurostar, which connects the U.K. to continental Europe under the English Channel, said it canceled four trains planned between London and Paris on Wednesday and Thursday “due to expected adverse weather."
Italy’s Health Ministry issued “red alerts” for 16 cities on Wednesday with major cities such as Rome, Milan, Florence and Turin affected. The “bollino rosso” red alert signals emergency conditions that can affect not only vulnerable people but also healthy adults.
Temperatures could reach highs of 41 C (105 F) in Florence and 38 C (104 F) in Milan, while Rome and Naples are forecast to remain below 36 C (96.8 F).
Italy has been roasting in high temperatures for days. Fashion journalists sweated through runway shows in Milan’s fashion capital earlier this week. Many fashionistas who were on hand to see the menswear offerings for Spring-Summer 2027 snapped up battery operated fans with misters in subway kiosks.
One designer, Philipp Plein, had to change his venue just four hours before the show due to an air conditioning malfunction, while others provided hand-held fans, misters and even big umbrellas as protection against the sun and heat for outdoor shows.
Designers broadly agreed that a well-dressed man still wears a suit. The challenge was how to survive the heat. The response was ventilation, with dress shirts left unbuttoned or, in some cases, simply done away with.
Even the British decided it was too hot for unneeded layers of clothing. Male journalists covering the U.K.'s tradition-bound Parliament will be allowed to remove their jackets in the press gallery of the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Britain’s heat advisory remains in effect through Thursday, with overnight temperatures remaining well above average.
“If you think it’s hot already, well, we ain’t seen nothing yet,” Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said on Wednesday morning.
One remedy being touted comes via soccer's World Cup, which is currently taking place in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The European Trade Union Confederation said employers should take inspiration from the cooling breaks used at the World Cup to grant all workers paid breaks and help keep them safe during heat waves.
“Builders, fruit pickers, or bus drivers need much longer than three minutes to recover, but it is a good example of how work can be adapted to a changing climate," said ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch.
“Taking a break in high temperatures is a common-sense precaution, but too many employers are refusing to put these and other necessary measures in place or even discuss them with trade unions, leading to a rising number of avoidable deaths in European workplaces,” she added.
Jill Lawless in London, Colleen Barry in Milan, Samuel Petrequin in Paris and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed.
A drugstore sign shows the temperature 43 degrees Celsius (109,4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Rennes, western France, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)
Parisians bath in the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris, as the national weather service, Meteo France, placed 54 departments, about half the country, under a red heat wave alert, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena )
A man runs over a bridge in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Faithful shelter for the hot sun as they wait for Pope Leo's XIV weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
A faithful cools off as they wait for Pope Leo's XIV weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
