La Liga chief urges FIFA president Infantino to step down

Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming, and Benedict Wong are calling on the British government to step in and stop a massive media merger. They believe the deal could seriously damage the country’s entertainment industry. The three actors co-wrote an opinion piece for the Guardian, warning readers about the potential fallout from the merger. They urged immediate action to prevent it from going through. The well-known performers argued that the merger poses a serious threat to the public, describing its consequences as deeply harmful to people across Britain. Their intervention follows similar pushback from actors in Hollywood, adding British voices to the growing opposition against the proposed $111 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. The trio emphasized their long-standing ties to the UK’s creative industry, noting decades spent collaborating with British crews on British stages and film sets. They framed their involvement as a natural extension of their responsibility toward audiences who support and enjoy their work. According to the actors, the merger threatens nearly 180,000 jobs within the UK’s entertainment sector. It also puts billions of pounds in annual production spending at risk. They described the situation as one where intervention could still make a difference, calling it a battle that can still be won if action is taken soon. The piece also referenced recent comments from UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who has hinted she might take formal steps to intervene in the deal. The actors suggested that Nandy’s potential involvement represents one of two major fronts in the broader fight to stop the merger. They called any decision from her department potentially one of the most consequential moves affecting British film and television in years. Towards the end of their piece, the trio acknowledged that actors are typically expected to steer clear of legal and regulatory debates. However, they pushed back against that expectation, explaining that their years spent working alongside British crews, watching talented homegrown productions struggle to secure funding, gave them a personal stake in the outcome. Their public stance adds significant star power to the growing resistance against the merger. Industry figures on both sides of the Atlantic continue voicing concerns about its potential impact on jobs, cultural output, and the broader landscape of film and television production in the UK.

A new White House report released Thursday estimates that the United States is losing between $19 billion and $26 billion annually in tax revenue due to foreign nations routing exports through third-party countries to evade American tariffs. The report emphasizes that Chinese manufacturers responded to 2018 trade duties by redirecting goods to more than 40 intermediate nations, including Mexico and Malaysia, for minimal assembly or repackaging prior to US entry. White House trade counselor Peter Navarro described the practice as “the great transshipment scam,” asserting that it masks the true volume of Chinese imports while undermining US domestic manufacturing, automotive, and electronics sectors. The findings come ahead of a scheduled September visit to Washington by Chinese Leader Xi Jinping. Navarro indicated that future trade agreements negotiated by the Trump administration will incorporate strict enforcement mechanisms and penalties to punish countries facilitating trade re-routing schemes.