As the United Kingdom raised its national terror threat level to “severe,” meaning an attack is considered “highly likely,” security experts are warning that Britain’s separate illegal migration crisis is adding to broader concerns over border control and vetting, with small boat crossings now nearing 200,000 arrivals since 2018.

The U.K.’s Joint Terrorism Analysis Center raised the national threat level from “substantial” to “severe” last week following a stabbing attack in Golders Green in North London, warning that the broader Islamist and extreme right-wing terror threat in Britain has been increasing “for some time.”

At the same time, official figures cited by GB News and The Sun show small boat arrivals across the English Channel are approaching the 200,000 mark, intensifying political debate over illegal immigration, deportations and national security.

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Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK Party, said in a Facebook video Tuesday that “most of them are unidentified, young males of fighting age” and warned the crossings pose “a risk not only to women and girls in this country but a risk to our national security.”

Security analysts say the combination of elevated terror concerns and mass illegal migration is adding pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government to demonstrate greater control over Britain’s borders.

“Channel migrants pose a potential security threat,” Dr. Michael McManus, director of research at the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital.

“Minimal vetting of the migrants means we have no way to know who is really coming to the country. The vast majority are combat-aged males from war zones and regions associated with terrorism.”

McManus added that “the current government is failing to read the mood in the country, which overwhelmingly wants action to deter and deport those who pose a threat.”

“So long as the immigration system fails to deter crossings, and the system makes deportation almost impossible, we will only see more,” he said.

According to The Sun, 7,612 migrants have been deported or removed since the crisis began, representing less than 4% of total arrivals.

The debate intensified this week after British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood outlined plans to expand “safe and legal” refugee pathways once the government regains greater control over the asylum system, according to GB News reporting.

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Speaking to GB News, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden defended the government’s broader migration policy and said Mahmood was doing a “very good job.”

“We want to make sure that it’s a level that is good for the economy, that can be absorbed by the country, and that is done under proper rules,” McFadden said.

The Home Office has argued the government is increasing enforcement efforts against trafficking gangs and strengthening cooperation with France. A Home Office spokesperson said that the government had signed a “landmark new deal” with France aimed at boosting enforcement operations on beaches and disrupting smuggling routes.

The crossings themselves remain dangerous. Over the weekend, two Sudanese women reportedly died attempting to cross the Channel after a boat carrying dozens of migrants encountered problems off the French coast, according to British media reports.

According to the Refugee Council, many of those arriving by small boat originate from countries experiencing war, persecution or political instability, including Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Iran and Sudan. The group says the vast majority of small-boat arrivals go on to apply for asylum in the UK.

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The small boat crisis first escalated in 2018 after tighter security reduced attempts to enter Britain hidden in trucks and ferries. Since then, the crossings have become one of the most politically explosive issues in British politics, fueling growing pressure on both Labour and Conservative leaders to demonstrate control over the border.

Hungary’s Prime Minister-elect Péter Magyar will meet Italian PM Giorgia Meloni for talks on Thursday, Rome said in a statement on Wednesday but gave no further details about what the pair would talk about.

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The lack of information has led to speculation about what Magyar and Meloni could discuss and how relations between Budapest and Rome might look different after 16 years of government under previous PM Viktor Orbán.

Orbán and Meloni, who both sit on the political right, were allies, although Italy did not have the same degree of close cooperation with Hungary as it did to Robert Fico’s Slovakia or Poland under previous premier, Mateusz Morawiecki.

While both Meloni and Orbán were united in the fight against immigration and are key figures in the illiberal, right-wing camp, Italy’s PM has a far more pragmatic and less confrontational approach to the European Union than Orbán did.

And Meloni is far more pro-Ukraine as it continues to fight off Russia’s full-scale invasion than Orbán, widely seen as the most Moscow-friendly leader in Europe, ever was.

Moreover, the two parties belong to different blocs in the European Parliament.

Orbán’s Fidesz is a member of the Patriots for Europe group, while Meloni’s Brothers of Italy are the dominant force in the European Conservatives and Reformists.

Fidesz tried to join that party group in 2024 but there was pushback from several leaders, including Meloni, and the Hungarians ultimately abandoned the idea.

Hungary’s incoming governing party, Tisza, is a member of a third group in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party.

Nevertheless, it seems possible that Meloni will also be able to establish a working relationship with Magyar.

In recent weeks, several of Orbán’s allies have expressed an openness to working with the new Hungarian government, with US President Donald Trump saying he thinks Magyar is a good man and that he will do a good job.

Magyar: ‘We had to fight a different kind of mafia in Hungary’

Magyar left Hungary for Italy on Tuesday to attend the Riviera Film Festival. At the festival in Sestri Levante, the documentary film Spring Wind – The Awakening, which depicts the rise of the future prime minister, was screened.

Magyar credited that film with helping him get elected, saying it was seen online by millions of people helped them “get to know me” despite state propaganda.

“Spring Wind – The Awakening” directed by Tamas Yvan Topolanszky, chronicles the two-year campaign leading up to Magyar’s crushing victory in parliamentary elections in early April that forced Viktor Orban out of office after 16 years in power.

Before the film, voters “didn’t have the chance to get to know our goals…like my kids, watching the propaganda, they didn’t have the chance to meet with the truth,” Magyar told journalists at the Riviera International Film Festival in the Italian city of Sestri Levante.

During production, the future prime minister said he had not been able to tell whether the film would make an impact on voters ahead of elections.

But after the film’s first limited theatrical release in Hungary “I saw the result in the movie, the emotions and everything and in that moment I felt that it could have been an impact, a strong impact,” he added.

He said he had later tried to convince the filmmakers to try to show it to a wider audience. It was eventually shown on YouTube for a few days over the Easter weekend and viewed by 3.4 million people, according to producers.

“This (Easter) is the weekend when the Hungarian families are together, the younger generation, the elderly, and I hoped, and maybe I was right, that that’s the right moment for the family to sit together, to watch the film, and then to speak to each other,” he said.

Magyar said he hoped viewers would understand that the film was not about his conservative pro-EU Tisza party, but “rather about the two years of our nation, the past and the possible future of our nation.”

Magyar is due to be sworn in as prime minister in Budapest on Saturday.

Stefon Diggs’ acquittal in court clears a path for the four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver to return to the field.

He still could face discipline from the NFL.

“We have been monitoring all developments in the matter which remains under review of the personal conduct policy,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Tuesday.

Diggs was found not guilty Tuesday of assaulting his personal chef. The charges stemmed from a Dec. 2 incident at his house in Massachusetts where Jamila Adams, a former live-in personal chef, testified that Diggs slapped and choked her during an argument. He had pleaded not guilty to a felony strangulation charge and a misdemeanor assault and battery charge. The jury deliberated for less than two hours before clearing Diggs of all charges.

“The evidence has shown what we’ve maintained from day one: Mr. Diggs was wrongly accused, and this case represents exactly the kind of opportunistic targeting that players can face the moment they step off the field,” Diggs’ attorney, Mitch Schuster, said in a statement.

Diggs spent last season with the New England Patriots, helping them reach the Super Bowl, where they lost to Seattle. He was released in March and remains a unsigned.

That could change in the coming weeks, though league discipline is still a possibility.

Several NFL players, including Ben Roethlisberger, Jameis Winston and Ezekiel Elliott, have been suspended for violating the personal-conduct policy despite not being arrested or charged with a crime.

Roethlisberger, the former Steelers quarterback was suspended six games — it was later reduced to four after an appeal — in 2010 following sexual assault accusations.

Winston was in his fourth season with the Buccaneers when he was suspended three games in 2018 following a sexual assault allegation.

Elliott, a three-time Pro Bowl running back, was in his second season with the Cowboys when he was suspended six games in 2017 following a league investigation into domestic violence allegations. An arbitrator upheld the six games following an appeal.

Diggs led New England with 85 receptions and 1,013 yards receiving with four touchdowns in his only season with the team. He was the go-to option for Drake Maye, who finished runner-up to Matthew Stafford for the AP NFL MVP award.

Diggs, who turns 33 on Nov. 29, has played for three teams in the last three seasons. He began his career in Minnesota in 2015 and went from fifth-round pick to No. 1 receiver in five seasons with the Vikings.

He was traded to Buffalo for a first-round pick in 2020 and had an All-Pro season that year. Diggs spent four seasons with the Bills before he wore out his welcome. He played for the Texans in 2024.

Here are five potential landing spots for Diggs going forward:

Baltimore Ravens

Despite drafting Ja’Kobi Lane in the third round and Elijah Sarratt in the fourth, Baltimore could use another veteran receiver to pair with Zay Flowers and give Lamar Jackson more options.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers acquired Michael Pittman Jr. in a trade to join DK Metcalf and tried to select Makai Lemon in the first round before the Eagles swooped in and took him instead. The Steelers ended up taking wideout Germie Bernard in the second round but Aaron Rodgers, if he returns, prefers veterans and Diggs would be a fit.

Los Angeles Chargers

Fourth-round pick Brenen Thompson joins a group that’s led by Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston and includes Tre’ Harris. Diggs would give Justin Herbert a dependable target.

Los Angeles Rams

After exploring the possibility of a trade for A.J. Brown earlier in the offseason, the Rams could still be in the market for another veteran to add to a formidable unit led by All-Pro Puka Nacua and six-time Pro Bowl pick Davante Adams.

New England Patriots

They’re likely going to acquire Brown from the Eagles after June 1. However, bringing Diggs back if the price is right could be an option. He knows the offense and didn’t hold any grudges after being informed he was going to be released. Diggs posted his appreciation for the organization, saying: “We family forever.”

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