Aug. 29 (UPI) — Far-right political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos was deported to the United Kingdom, immigration officials said Saturday.
The Department of Homeland Security said Yiannopoulos, a British citizen, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the New Orleans International Airport on Friday.
He was deported “back to his home country” that same night, a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to the BBC.
Yiannopoulos entered the United States legally in May 2019 but “chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws,” DHS said in a statement on X.
“Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an Immigration Judge on July 22, after failing to show up for his immigration hearing,” the statement added.
Yiannopoulos was an editor for Breitbart News and interned for former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
In 2024, he worked on the presidential bid of rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.
Yiannopoulos is a vocal supporter of immigration enforcement.
“California needs ICE checkpoints at supermarket entrances, gas stations, strip malls, intersections and government buildings, with on the spot deportation for anyone who can’t prove they are in the US legally,” he wrote on X last year.
In 2025, he said “We have got to deport millions and millions of people.”
“Without that, nothing else matters,” he added in a social media post.
LONDON — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, as they make a fresh start in Britain after six years in the United States, U.K. media reported.
The news comes less than a week after the couple surprised fans and critics alike with plans to return to Britain. The return was reported by media such as the BBC and the Daily Telegraph, with the newspaper reporting that their plane landed at Birmingham International Airport around noon.
Flight tracking websites showed a private charter flight from Van Nuys, arrived at the airport at 11:56 a.m.
The couple’s children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, have already enrolled at British schools and will start classes in September. The family plans to live at a private, nonroyal residence outside of London, but haven’t said exactly where that will be.
Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties and moved to California more than six years ago to earn their living through lucrative contracts with Netflix and Spotify.
Relations with the rest of the royal family quickly soured as the couple said palace staff had been insensitive to Meghan’s mental health and leveled charges of racism and media manipulation at members of the royal family.
Harry recently expressed an interest in reconciliation so he could spend more time with his father, King Charles III, who is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer. But relations with his brother, Prince William, who is heir to the throne, remain tense.
“Everywhere I go, the kids call me ‘the book lady.’”
Dolly Parton wore the moniker like a badge of honor, and she earned it too. Through her Imagination Library program, launched by the Dollywood Foundation in 1995, she put more than 330 million books into the hands of children across America, Canada, the U.K., Australia and the Republic of Ireland.
The program is rooted in a childhood of poverty and illiteracy — roots that those who knew Parton said she never denied or abandoned.
Parton, 80, died Tuesday after a brief battle with cancer. And although the country western superstar collected accolades — including 10 Grammy Awards, a National Medal of the Arts and two Academy Award nominations — across her storied career, Parton said her contributions to children’s literacy were most precious to her.
In 2023, the American Library Assn. awarded the singer-songwriter, book lady and philanthropist its highest honor — lifetime membership — to recognize her lasting impact on literacy and inspiring a love of reading in children.
“Dolly Parton represented the very best of America,” ALA President Maria McCauley told The Times on Tuesday, adding that, like people all over the world, she’s been playing Parton’s music since news of her death broke, particularly the song “I Can See the Light of a Clear Blue Morning.”
“That song has so much resonance right now,” she said, noting its lyrics capture a theme of resilience and faith in overcoming dark times.
“We want to make sure that Dolly’s vision, that reading is for everyone, becomes a reality. That’s something that we can all carry forward in memory of Dolly.”
Parton’s Imagination Library gifts a book a month to children signed up for the program from the time they are born until they are 5 years old. Parton described the program best when speaking with librarian Carla Hayden in 2018. “We send the book in the mail with their name on it. It’s not in the care of Mom and Dad — it’s got their little name on it, and they love to think, ‘This is mine.’ They wait at the mailbox. They get their little books, and to them, it’s personal.”
Parton understood the novelty of owning your very own book. Growing up in the Great Smoky Mountains town of Sevierville in east Tennessee, Parton was the fourth of 12 kids. Her father, a tobacco sharecropper, couldn’t read or write, and the family lived in a one-room cabin with no electricity. There were no books in the home, aside from the Bible.
The singer’s upbringing, particularly her father’s illiteracy and his shame around what he considered a shortcoming, was what inspired her to launch the Imagination Library. With the help of her dad, they set out to foster a love of reading in the kids of Sevier County. Reading, she believed, was the gateway to dreaming, and dreaming, the first step in the path toward success.
By 2000, the program had expanded beyond the Smoky Mountains and into a nationwide movement. By 2003, the Imagination Library had mailed 1 million books to budding readers. After the United States, the gifting initiative launched in Canada in 2006, then the U.K. in 2007, Australia in 2013 and the Republic of Ireland in 2019.
The program operates on a shared funding model split between the Dollywood Foundation — which manages the central overhead, administration, and global book-selection strategy of the Imagination Library — and local community partners including businesses, school districts, small or large organizations, or individuals who share in the mission.
Selina Brown, a U.K. author whose book “My Rice Is Best” was selected by the Imagination Library this year, said that 14,000 copies had been distributed across the U.K. to children in underprivileged areas. “To know that my book has gone into the hands of young children across the U.K. is absolutely incredible,” she told The Times.
Brown said that public figures often make shallow promises and vanity moves, but “with Dolly Parton, you can actually see her work manifest, and it really makes an impact. In the U.K. alone, there are children who do not have books in their house, and because of Dolly Parton, they now have their own library.”
Canadian author Melanie Florence, who penned “Sarabeth’s Garage” — another of Imagination Library’s picks — also grew up in a small town, with no bookstore, during a time with no online retailers. “If that had existed when I was a kid, being gifted a book that you get to keep, it’s a big thing, especially for a kid like I was, who just lived to read,” Florence told The Times.
“I think that’s such a beautiful legacy,” Florence said, “her music and this spirit of generosity.”
But it’s also a working legacy that Parton built to last, according to Dollywood Foundation’s president, Jeff Conyers.
“Dolly’s legacy was never meant to be something we simply preserve or look back upon,” Conyers said. “She built things that could keep doing good in the world.”
Conyers said the foundation was set to “make certain the love at the heart of her work continues reaching children, families and communities long into the future.”
Although the foundation is heartbroken after Parton’s death, he said, “the mission she gave us is as clear today as it has ever been, and we will carry it forward for generations to come.”
Dolly Parton marks the 100 millionth book donation by her Imagination Library to the Library of Congress collection in 2018.
(Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)
Washington, D.C., Councilmember Charles Allen said he was visiting family in east Tennessee more than decade ago when his 2-year-old niece went tottering off toward the mailbox. When her parents brought her back in, she was holding a book with her name on it. Allen said his brother had signed her up for Parton’s Imagination Library at the hospital just after she was born — “right then and there.”
Allen said he was inspired by “the joy on my own niece’s face when she opened up a book with her name on it” to write a D.C. law called “Books From Birth.”
“We basically borrowed that program and then partnered with them,” he said. “And now every child in D.C. from the time they’re born ’til they’re 5 years old gets a free book delivered.”
Allen said that the program is now 10 years old, and 4 million books have been distributed to about 100,000 kids: “It’s made a big impact.”
Allen met with Parton years ago and said she never forgot her roots.
“Watching her own parents struggle with literacy and kind of hiding it, she realized very quickly the power that she had as this just massive cultural and musical star,” he said, adding that she was going to use that power for something that would outlast her. “It’ll outlast me. It’ll outlast everybody.”
Children of D.C. “they know Dolly Parton,” he added. “They know she’s the lady that delivered the books. I have all the confidence in the world that she is smiling somewhere, knowing that so many people think of her as the book lady. That she was going to battle illiteracy, one kid, one family, one household at a time.”
In 2018, Parton donated her 100 millionth book to the Library of Congress.
During the ceremony Hayden, the librarian, asked the country star if she ever thought she’d be known so widely as “the book lady.”
Parton responded with her signature self-deprecating wit and wisdom: “I never thought about being the book lady — the painted lady, yes. The overexaggerated, overdressed lady — yes. But that just goes to show you that you can’t judge a book by looking at the cover, right? Or even a 100 millionth book by looking at the cover.”
In September, 336,004,951 books will have been distributed through Imagination Library. More than 3.6 million families have been registered globally.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly moving back across the pond, six years after their dramatic exit from the Royal family stunned Americans and Britons and exposed scandal in Buckingham Palace.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will return to British soil along with their two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, for an extended period starting this month, People reported last week. While the pair’s decision may be unsurprising to some, Prince Harry and Meghan made clear in 2020 that their personal Brexit was because of several factors, ranging from severe scrutiny by the British media to alleged racism and bullying from the royal family.
Meghan, during the couple’s memorable tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, spoke plainly of her experience among the royals: “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was very clear and real and frightening.”
King Charles III is aware of the plans for his son and Meghan‘s U.K. return and “welcomes the opportunity to see more of the Sussex family in a private and personal capacity,” People reported. The spouses are also said to retain their property in the affluent Santa Barbara enclave of Montecito, and vacation home in Portugal while also making a “private, non-royal” home in Britain. This retrospective tracks the early years of the highly scrutinized pair’s relationship, the fallout from their royal exit, their media ventures and more.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 at Nathan Philips Square in Toronto, Canada.
(Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)
“Personally, I love a great love story.”
That’s what Meghan Markle, formerly of “Suits” fame, told Vanity Fair in October 2017. By then, more than a year of media speculation and rumors surrounded the L.A.-raised actor and activist’s romance with Britain’s Prince Harry, younger brother to Prince William and the second son of Charles and the late Princess Diana, who was killed at age 36 in 1997 after the car she was in crashed while fleeing paparazzi in Paris.
Meghan and Prince Harry kindled a romance in 2016 at that year’s edition of his veteran-centered Invictus Games, held in Orlando. Markle quickly found herself in the beloved “bad boy” Royal’s orbit — including the tireless swarm of tabloids and paparazzi who have captured almost his every move from childhood. The pair was already subject to media frenzy early in their relationship, prompting Harry via Buckingham Palace to plead with reporters to respect his then-girlfriend’s privacy and to condemn the “outright sexism and racism” in online comments. Markle had also remarked early on that she was disheartened that so much coverage of her romance focused on her ethnicity.
News of their engagement in 2017 further raised eyebrows among the public and even more so with established British tabloids, including the Daily Mail, which had once described the pair’s relationship as a “VERY unlikely romance.” In the context of the longstanding (and almost exclusively white) British monarchy, Meghan was an outsider: American, mixed-race (she is half white and half Black), an outspoken public figure and a divorcée (she was previously married to film producer Trevor Engelson).
Prince Harry and Meghan married in May 2018 and were named Duke and Duchess of Sussex. At the time, Prince Harry was sixth in line to the British throne. During the wedding ceremony, the Rev. Michael Bruce Curry heralded the pair’s union with calls for justice and equality — amid the country’s early steps into leaving the European Union — and made references to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“When love is the way, there’s plenty of room for all of God’s children,” Curry said during the ceremony. “When love is the way, we actually treat each other — well, like we are actually family.”
Between the newlyweds and the British royals, family ties proved only so strong.
As new parents, the Duchess and Duke of Sussex pose with their newborn son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019 in England.
(WPA pool / Getty Images)
Marrying into British royalty did not shield Meghan from criticism, speculation and attacks by the press — it appeared to have the opposite effect. Sound familiar?
British tabloids and several media personalities continued taking aim at Meghan, portraying her as a rude “trailer trash” personality amid a rumored riff with Princess Kate and using racist imagery to mock the arrival of her firstborn son, Archie, in 2019. The public ridicule remained ceaseless, but alleged tension was also brewing behind palace walls.
Less than a year after their first heir’s arrival, the Duke and Duchess announced in a shocking personal statement in 2020 that they would step down as senior members of the royal family and would work to become financially independent. They also announced at the time that they would split their time between the U.K. and North America. A year later, the spouses announced they would not return to royal duties. Shortly after, they memorably shed light on their decision in a bombshell CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey, unleashing a disturbing look into their life as members of the royal family.
Meghan claimed that while pregnant with Archie, she and her husband were informed their son would not have the title of prince or princess, which she said deviated from longtime protocol, and would not be entitled to security. The actor also implied that during discussions about her son’s title, there were “also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
“They were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem?” Winfrey asked.
“If that’s the assumption you’re making,” Meghan replied, “I think that’s a pretty safe one.” She did not identify the person who made the remarks: “I think that would be very damaging to them.”
Winfrey later clarified that Harry said neither his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II or his grandfather Prince Philip “were a part of those conversations.”
Meghan also spoke about her struggles with her mental health while part of the royal family. She revealed that she was suicidal while pregnant with Archie, citing isolation and helplessness amid ceaseless attacks by the press.
“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought,” she said, adding that she went to the palace’s corporate institution for help. “I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution.” At the time of the interview, Harry and Meghan revealed they were expecting a baby girl. Lilibet was born June 2021.
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement responding to the spouses’ interview. “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
Prince Harry with Meghan, standing behind Prince William and Kate, during the funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
(WPA pool / Getty Images)
In addition to Harry and Meghan’s self-demotion, Buckingham Palace faced tragedy and additional criticism in the following years. Prince Philip died in April 2021 and long-reigning Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 at age 96. Prince Harry and Meghan both attended the queen’s funeral, but under close watch by the British media.
Charles ascended to the throne after Queen Elizabeth’s death, marginally moving up Harry and his children with Meghan — the children later received their royal titles of prince and princess. — in the line of succession to the British throne.
When 2023 arrived, so did a fresh batch of revelations about the Windsors. Prince Harry published his memoir, “Spare,” providing readers an unflinching look at his family but an even more unforgiving description of the paparazzi. In the book he recalled needing to ask his grandmother’s permission to propose to Meghan, wrote that older brother Prince William had “been pretty discouraging about my even dating Meg” and accused queen consort Camilla of making shady deals with the press.
Months after the memoir’s publication, Prince Harry and Meghan were asked to vacate their British home of Frogmore Cottage on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Reportedly, King Charles began the eviction process the day after his son published the memoir.
Meghan, left, and Chrissy Teigen in an episode of Netflix’s “With Love, Meghan.”
(Jake Rosenberg / Netflix)
As Meghan and Harry moved to separate themselves from the royal family and from life in the U.K., they settled down in California in the affluent neighborhood of Montecito and into new business ventures. Among their earliest post-palace endeavors was the creation of multimedia company Archewell Productions, which in September 2020 inked a multiyear deal with Netflix to produce series, docuseries, documentaries and other programming.
For Netflix, the spouses have put forward numerous projects, including documentary series and reality shows “Harry & Meghan,” “Heart of Invictus” and cooking show “With Love, Meghan.” The pair opted last year to maintain its relationship with the streaming giant, signing another multiyear, first-look deal.
Additionally the ex-royals’ Archewell Audio inked a multiyear deal with Spotify to produce podcasts and shows for the platform in a deal that was reportedly worth $20 million. Archewell Audio released a 30-minute holiday special in 2020 and one audio series — “Archetypes” — hosted by Meghan in August 2022. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex‘s podcasting endeavor at Spotify ended in 2023.
Unsurprisingly, Prince Harry and Meghan, who have also busied themselves with various philanthropic causes, faced backlash for their Spotify departure. Meghan was also accused of faking some “Archetypes” interviews.
In addition to big-swing media ventures, Meghan launched a lifestyle and food business that had undergone multiple name changes. She initially launched her brand under the moniker American Riviera Orchard, specializing in artisan jams she notably gifted to celebs, including Kris Jenner, Chrissy Teigen and Mindy Kaling. She later rebranded the line to As Ever, following a minor roadblock with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
“I was figuring it out in real time,” she told People of the naming debacle in 2025. She also said she now sees herself “as an entrepreneur and a female founder.”
According to recent reporting, Meghan can add “actor” back into that description. She is reportedly in talks to join the third season of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series “The Gentleman.” That would be her first acting gig since the end of “Suits” and marrying into the royal family.
Reform U.K.’s Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Robert Jenrick, unveils his party’s plans for drastic cuts to welfare at a news conference in London on Monday. Photo by Andy Rain/EPA
Aug. 17 (UPI) — Britain’s Reform U.K. party said Monday that it would slash almost $68B from welfare, were it to win power at the next election.
The largest single ticket-items, saving $58.3 billion, would come from halting welfare payments to non-citizens and a shake up of disability and ill-health benefits.
Cutting off nationals of other countries, including those with settled status and resident EU nationals would save $28.5 billion by year five, according to Reform, but would breach the country’s 2019 Brexit deal with Brussels and would therefore require it to be renegotiated.
Foreign nationals would become ineligible for six main benefits from the state including “universal credit,” housing payments, free childcare and unemployment, child and disability checks.
All families whose children were born in Britain would continue to receive payments for each child under 16 [under 20 if in non-higher education or training] and free school meals for those with after-tax household incomes of $10,000 or less.
Danny Kruger, Reform’s work and pensions spokesman, told BBC’s Breakfast program it was fair that people requiring welfare should have it paid by the country of which they are a citizen.
“I’d understand if the Europeans decided to apply the same principle that we are and to deny our nationals access to their welfare system and we will pay for that ourselves.”
Kruger acknowledged that many settled overseas nationals living in Britain would simply apply for — and would likely be granted — British citizenship, insisting that the savings calculated took account of that scenario.
He said the plan had also taken into account that the EU would likely take reciprocal action, halting welfare payments to Britons who had not become citizens of the EU country where they were living.
The other biggest area of savings — $29.8 billion — would come from reforming disability benefits, including scrapping so-called personal independence payments for disabled people and replacing them with another cash benefit available only to those deemed “gravely ill and severely challenged.”
Kruger stressed that Reform accepted some people were unable to ever work, saying that those people would continue to be properly supported and would no longer be required to repeatedly be assessed to see if they were still eligible.
The pro-EU Best For Britain group criticized Reform’s plan, in particular the potential negative impact on relations with the EU.
“Our polling shows that people do want to renegotiate our relationship with Europe, but by moving closer, not by damaging ties with vital allies and punishing our neighbours, colleagues and friends who have settled status here,” said policy executive director Tom Brufatto.
Labour MP Rachael Maskell was critical of the targeting of disability benefits.
“When Pip helps people go to work, play a role in our society and simply live, threatening to remove Pip demonstrates that Reform do not want disabled people to play a full role in our society,” said Maskell who previously led a rebellion by Labour backbenchers against efforts by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer to cut welfare.
In April, the Office for Budget Responsibility said it expected Britain’s welfare bill for 2025-2026 to hit $452.4 billion, equivalent to 10.6% of GDP, and accounting around 24% of all government spending.
However, more than half of all welfare spending goes on pensioners, nearly all of it on the State Pension, an inflation-protected pension which people pay into until they retire and is topped up by the government.
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Reform U.K. leader Nigel Farage (L) and his Home Affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf (R) at the launch Monday of the party’s “Operation Fortress” policy to stop the influx of migrants to the country arriving on small boats by deploying the Royal Navy. Photo by Tolga Akmen/EPA
Aug. 3 (UPI) — Britain’s Reform U.K. party vowed Monday that if elected it would use the Royal Navy to turn back small boats bringing migrants across from France and Belgium, in what it said would be the largest military operation in the English Channel since World War II.
The policy launched at a news conference in London calls for the military to “intercept” the boats and return them to France or Belgium, with the party claiming “Operation Fortress” had the backing of former senior military brass and that it was in line with international law because its purpose was humanitarian.
Reform U.K. Home Affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf told the BBC that it would be possible for Britain to return the migrants without agreement from France, arguing that international law required they dealt with migrants on their territory and not let them continue onto Britain.
States are permitted to pull people from the sea but can only bring them to another country with the agreement of that country.
Yusuf acknowledged the move could spark a “diplomatic argument” between Paris and London.
Under agreements with the United Kingdom, authorities on the continent prevent thousands of migrants from setting sail for England, but those that do manage it are met by U.K. Border Force and Coast Guard vessels which take the migrants aboard and bring them ashore to ports in the south of England.
The announcement came hours after new Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham vowed he would be “relentless” in combatting small boat crossings after some 60,000 migrants overwhelmed the border of the Spanish territory of Ceuta on the north African coast on Thursday and Friday.
Britain is separated from Ceuta by the channel, several European countries and more than a thousand miles, but Burnham said his concern was with “the broader issue of the Schengen [free travel] Area and our relationship with it,” saying he would seek regular dialogue with the European Union on the matter.
The Schengen Convention of 1990 abolished border controls across 29 mostly EU member European countries. Migrants arriving in Europe are supposed to be processed in the first safe country they reach but in practice they’re often allowed to move on, via several countries, to their desired destination. Migrants wanting to get to Britain end up in northern France, or the Belgian coast.
Burnham stressed that in order to defeat people trafficking gangs organizing the boat crossings refugees needed “safe routes” of reaching Britain. Currently, people must get to Britain before they can claim asylum, an almost impossible hurdle for nationals of countries from which most migrants hail without resorting to traffickers.
The number of people crossing the English Channel in small boats fell 43% in the first seven months of this year, compared with the same period in 2025, according to Home Office data. However, numbers have fallen in all of the past four years after peaking in 2022.
LONDON — The British government on Thursday urged FIFA to investigate Argentina’s team after players posed with a banner claiming sovereignty over the contested Falkland Islands.
Argentina beat England 2-1 in a World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Atlanta.
During post-match celebrations, Argentine players held a banner handed over by fans in the stands, reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” — “The Malvinas are Argentine.”
Argentina refers to the Falkland Islands as Islas Malvinas. They were invaded in 1982 under orders from Argentina’s then-military dictatorship, triggering a 10-week war won by Britain.
“The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are,” a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday. “Self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.”
Starmer supported calls for FIFA to investigate, the spokesperson said, after U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the players’ behavior was “entirely inappropriate.”
FIFA can prosecute Argentina’s players and soccer federation because its disciplinary code prohibits at stadiums any “message that is not appropriate for a sports event” including those of “a political, ideological, religious or offensive nature.”
The FIFA fines for political messaging are $5,000 to $20,000.
FIFA was approached for comment Thursday.
A FIFA disciplinary case under previous leadership banned a South Korea player for two 2014 World Cup qualifying games because he held up a similar banner about a territorial claim against Japan at the 2012 London Olympics. Park Jong-woo took a fan banner with the slogan “Dokdo is our territory” after South Korea beat Japan in the men’s bronze medal game.
On Wednesday, Argentina player Lisandro Martínez was asked if the banner could have stirred deep emotions and tears for a veteran of the Malvinas conflict.
“We couldn’t let the Argentine people down” said Martínez, who has played in England for the past four years with Manchester United.
The sporting rivalry between the two countries is heightened by political tensions over the South Atlantic archipelago. It is a British overseas territory with a population of around 3,500 people located about 8,000 miles from the U.K. and 300 miles from Argentina.
Argentina argues that the islands were illegally taken from it in 1833. Britain, which says its territorial claim dates to 1765, sent a warship to the islands in 1833 to expel Argentine forces who sought to establish sovereignty over the territory.
The war in 1982 killed 649 Argentine troops, 255 British service personnel and three islanders.
That conflict ended during the 1982 World Cup in Spain where Argentina, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all played. British television networks declined to broadcast Argentina playing in the tournament’s opening game, when the defending champion lost to Belgium.
“Sadly, it is a sad part of our history,” Argentina player Leandro Paredes said in Atlanta about the banner, “for everyone involved in that chapter of, I repeat, our history. And it hurts. We knew we were playing for them, too.”
British government minister Kyle told the BBC “politics needs to be separate from football.”
“In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football,” he said. “That is now a matter for FIFA.”
FIFA’s statutory political neutrality has been questioned at this World Cup after its president, Gianni Infantino, and disciplinary process — which could now judge Argentina — seemed to cave to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump in allowing United States forward Folarin Balogun to play Belgium in the round of 16.
Balogun was shown a red card in the previous round and FIFA disciplinary rules mandated he should be banned from his team’s next game. FIFA deferred that suspension for one year of probation, provoking an all-time controversy in modern World Cup history. Belgium beat the U.S. 4-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Infantino is expected to sit with Trump and Argentina President Javier Milei, who are political allies, at the World Cup final Sunday. Argentina plays Spain in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Argentina players showed the same “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” slogan at a warmup game in June 2014 in Buenos Aires for the World Cup that started days later in Brazil.
FIFA’s disciplinary panel ruling in that case was published after the tournament finished and fined the Argentina federation $37,000.
In the 2012 London Olympics case, FIFA’s ruling said the conduct of the South Korea player “cannot be tolerated.”
At the 2022 World Cup, FIFA fined the Serbia federation 20,000 Swiss francs ($24,800) for hanging a political banner about neighboring independent state Kosovo in the locker room before playing Brazil.
It showed a map of Serbia that included the territory of Kosovo, which has been an independent state since 2008, and the slogan “No Surrender.”
Lawless and Dunbar write for the Associated Press. Dunbar contributed to this report from Geneva.
LONDON — Reform UK leader Nigel Farage announced Tuesday that he will quit his seat in Parliament and seek reelection in an effort to clear his name over financial allegations linked to millions of dollars’ worth of donations.
The unexpected resignation is an effort by the anti-immigration politician to preempt a standards investigation that could have seen him ejected as a lawmaker, and to present himself as the victim of a witch hunt by the news media and his political foes.
“I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage, a prominent ally of President Trump, said in a statement broadcast by his party. Media outlets were not allowed to attend the broadcast and he did not take questions.
Farage faces a parliamentary standards investigation about undeclared and potentially rule-breaking donations, including a $6.7-million gift he received from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. A finding of wrongdoing could lead to Farage being suspended or expelled from Parliament. But he has made the first move by triggering an election for his seaside seat of Clacton in eastern England.
“The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” Farage said. “This will be a people versus the establishment by-election.”
And, he said: “I will fight to win.”
Farage won Clacton comfortably in the 2024 election, taking 46.2% of the vote, and stands a good chance of winning reelection. Reform UK said it was willing to pay for the special election, which may deflect claims it is wasting taxpayers’ money.
Farage’s opponents were unimpressed. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the announcement “a desperate stunt” from a man “up to his neck in sleaze.” Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch claimed Farage was having a “hissy fit” and triggering an “ego by-election.”
Farage may run almost unopposed. The opposition Liberal Democrats called on other parties to not enter the contest in order to starve Farage’s “vanity project” of oxygen. The Labor Party said it would not stand a candidate, as did the Conservatives, who also confirmed they would not run.
The gambit may only postpone Farage’s problems. Even if he wins, the standards inquiry is likely to resume.
Farage tipped by some as a future prime minister
Scrutiny of Farage’s finances has spurred speculation about the future of a politician some considered the favorite to be prime minister after the next national election.
One of the most high-profile and controversial figures in British politics, Farage has had an outsized effect as a champion of leaving the European Union and foe of large-scale immigration. He was key in securing victory for the “leave” side in the 2016 EU membership referendum.
His rise has echoes of Trump’s nationalist, anti-immigration playbook. Farage has capitalized on — critics say stoked — concerns about migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, which he has called an invasion, and alleges that white people face discrimination from police.
He also rails against “the establishment” and the media, which he claimed are using “foul means” to stop him.
A skilled communicator whose supporters see a beer-drinking plain-speaker, and whose critics see a populist rabble-rouser, Farage has had a checkered political career and was elected to Parliament in 2024 only after seven failed attempts. He also has a history of walking away from parties he led, stepping down from both the UK Independence Party and its successor, the Brexit Party, in the last decade.
Reform UK has only eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons but consistently leads opinion polls over the governing Labor Party and the main opposition Conservatives.
Farage’s party was the big winner in local and regional elections in May that led to the ouster of Starmer at the hands of his own Labor Party.
But Reform UK has lost three consecutive special elections that it hoped to win, a possible sign its support may be sagging. The most recent loss was to Labor’s Andy Burnham, who is likely to succeed Starmer as prime minister within weeks.
Donors include a crypto billionaire and a fraudster
Parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg is investigating the 5-million-pound donation to Farage from Christopher Harborne, a British businessman based in Thailand. Farage says the money was a personal gift that he used to fund security and came before he was elected to the House of Commons.
U.K. rules state that newly elected lawmakers must declare gifts worth more than $400 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.
Farage is also facing questions about claims, reported by the Sunday Times, over his financial relationship with George Cottrell, an aristocratic crypto-gambling entrepreneur, convicted fraudster and on-off aide to the Reform UK leader.
Cottrell was arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare airport in 2016, while traveling with Farage, over allegations he offered to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers. Indicted on 21 counts relating to money laundering, fraud, blackmail and extortion, he agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of wire fraud, admitting attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web by masquerading as a money launderer. He served eight months in prison.
Cottrell, 32, remains close to Farage, and the Sunday Times said he gave the politician funding for staffing and security before Britain’s 2024 general election, as well as the use of a London townhouse near Buckingham Palace.
Lawless writes for the Associated Press.
Britain’s culture minister may challenge Paramount Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery — presenting a potential speed bump to David Ellison’s plan to wrap up his $111-billion deal by September.
Earlier this month, Paramount secured the U.S. Justice Department’s blessing to buy the Warner assets, which include CNN, HBO, Cartoon Network, Animal Planet and the Warner Bros. film and TV studios in Burbank.
Paramount also must win the approval of British and European regulators, who are known for drilling deeply into media matters because of their influence on society.
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority took a preliminary step this month by opening an investigation into Ellison’s proposed merger.
On Tuesday, Lisa Nandy, Britain’s secretary of state for culture, media and sport, notified Parliament that she was inclined to intervene in the blockbuster deal.
In a written statement, Nandy cited her ability to weigh in on “public interest grounds,” due to concerns about maintaining a competitive media market in Britain.
“The UK’s move to intervene in the Paramount–WBD deal confirms what we’ve been saying for months. The real regulatory risk was never in the US — it’s in Europe,” Forrester VP Research Director Mike Proulx said Tuesday in a statement.
While Nandy cautioned she has not made “a final decision on intervention at this stage,” she has invited Paramount and Warner Bros. to respond to her concerns by Monday.
Lisa Nandy, Britain’s secretary of state for culture, media and sport, has said she may intervene in the deal on “public interest grounds.”
(Alishia Abodunde / Getty Images)
Paramount did not offer immediate comment.
The company owns CBS News, children’s channel Nickelodeon and Channel 5, one of the largest over-the-air television broadcasters in the United Kingdom.
Warner Bros. Discovery owns CNN, Cartoon Network and TNT Sports, which broadcasts the Olympics, Champions League and Premier League soccer matches.
“I am conscious that the proposed acquisition is global in nature,” Nandy wrote in her statement. “In reaching this decision, my focus has been, and will remain, on the UK public interest and the range of services available to UK audiences, including Channel 5, TNT Sports, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and CNN International, as well as Paramount+ and HBO Max.”
If Nandy decides to intervene, the Office of Communications, known as Ofcom, would launch an assessment of the deal. Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority also would determine how the merger might reshape the competitive landscape.
Teams from the two companies have been huddling for months to plan for the melding of the two operations as soon as Paramount receives all of its regulatory approvals.
Australia, New Zealand, China, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Serbia, France and Italy have already given their approvals to the deal.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is planning to contribute $10 billion to help the billionaire Ellison family pull off the merger, which would make the Saudi royal family a significant, although passive, equity owner. In addition, the royal families of Qatar and Abu Dhabi have agreed to each contribute $7 billion in equity financing.
The Federal Communications Commission must evaluate the foreign ownership stakes due to Paramount’s holding of CBS broadcast licenses. U.S. antitrust regulators already have concluded the combination would not violate federal anticompetition laws.
Approval had been expected because President Trump — who has friendly ties with Ellison and his father, tech billionaire Larry Ellison — favors the deal.
Trump has been eager for changes at CNN.
The U.S. government stopped short of asking Paramount to make concessions or divestitures. Many expect that Paramount may have to reconfigure its children’s television holdings abroad due to the proposed combination of two large players — Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.
Nandy suggested that Britain also should scrutinize the impact of combining two major streaming services, HBO Max, a Warner property, with Paramount+.
HBO programming, including “Game of Thrones,” “Boardwalk Empire” and “Succession,” has long been popular in Britain.
A coalition of state attorneys general, led by California‘s Rob Bonta, also is expected to challenge the deal, in part, due to concerns about news media consolidation. Bonta’s office has said the matter remains under review.
Opposition to the deal has been building in the U.S. for months. A group of Hollywood activists — led by actors Jane Fonda and Mark Ruffalo — have spearheaded a “block the merger” campaign that now has support from more than 5,000 entertainment workers.
The group’s open letter calls on Bonta to take action to thwart the Ellison expansion effort. Paramount’s Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim has blasted the campaign, calling it “fear-mongering” and a partisan distortion of antitrust law.
Forrester’s Proulx noted differences in attitudes toward the deal among the various constituencies.
“For U.S. consumers, this merger has become a proxy fight about political influence and control of media,” Proulx said. “In the UK, it’s being treated as a structural competition issue where regulators, not consumers, will decide how this deal plays out and how long it takes.”
MANCHESTER, England — Andy Burnham, likely the next U.K. prime minister, pledged Monday to give away a chunk of his power by handing greater autonomy to local leaders in a “circuit-breaker” for the sclerotic British state.
The former mayor of Greater Manchester also said he would move part of the prime minister’s office from London’s 10 Downing St. to northwest England as part of “the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen.”
“Growth cannot be ordered from the top down. Instead, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up,” Burnham said in a speech aimed at bringing voters, Labour Party colleagues and financial markets up to speed with his economic vision.
Burnham is the strong favorite to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation last week.
“If councils can’t fix potholes, what chance do they have of bringing forward major regeneration schemes to get growth going?” Burnham said. He set out a 10-year plan to get “good growth in every postcode,” in a country where wealth and power are concentrated in London and the south of England.
He said he would reverse almost two decades of low growth since the 2008 financial crisis through an approach dubbed “Manchesterism” — harnessing private and public money to invest in areas like transport, housing and infrastructure. He also pledged to create new industrial jobs and better educational opportunities, and to reform the U.K.’s inefficient and expensive privatized water and energy utilities.
During the speech at the People’s History Museum in the city where he spent nine years as mayor, Burnham said a new government office in Manchester – dubbed “No. 10 North” — would oversee regional development and become “the nerve center of a rewired Britain,” tasked with equalizing living standards across the country. Regional mayors would get more power over housing, welfare and education as part of his planned reforms.
Burnham’s rousing speech was short on specifics about where the government would find more money, and he didn’t take questions from journalists.
Burnham won praise for his role in revitalizing and regenerating Manchester, but he has not served in a U.K. government for almost two decades, and may struggle to replicate “Manchesterism” on a U.K.-wide scale.
The Institute for Public Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank, said Burnham is right to focus on “rebalancing Britain.”
“The U.K.’s concentration of power and opportunity in Westminster has held back growth, productivity and living standards for too long,” said IPPR Executive Director Harry Quilter-Pinner. “The real test now is delivery.”
Matthew Flinders, a politics professor at the University of Sheffield, said replicating Burnham’s Manchester approach on a national level would require “a fundamental shift” in the way politics is done in Britain.
“And at the heart of that would be moving from a very traditional, elitist, centralized model of politics toward something that is in many ways far more European, far more based on power-sharing in order to develop long-term policymaking capacity,” he said.
Burnham will be aware that Starmer also announced a 10-year mission — the equivalent of two full terms in government —- to transform Britain soon after he was elected in a landslide in July 2024. Starmer is leaving after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.
Burnham won a special election for a seat in Parliament on June 18 and was sworn in as a lawmaker on June 22, the same day Starmer announced that he will resign as soon as a successor is chosen.
Burnham is so far the only contender in the Labour Party leadership contest. If no one challenges him, he will become prime minister by July 20.
While Burnham is considered more charismatic than the stolid Starmer, he will face many of the same political and economic challenges, including a sluggish economy, tattered public services and a cost-of-living squeeze. He will also be constrained by the platform the center-left Labour Party was elected on in 2024, with its pledges not to increase taxes on working people.
And like other NATO countries, the U.K. is under pressure to dramatically increase defense spending to counter a more aggressive Russia and less reliable United States.
The government’s long-awaited defense investment plan — which sparked the resignation of Defense Secretary John Healey on June 11 — is expected to be published before a NATO summit in Turkey on July 7 and 8. Starmer’s successor will be expected to stick to the commitments in the plan.
“Andy Burnham’s big idea is to shuffle power between politicians,” said opposition Conservative Party Chairman Kevin Hollinrake. “Not fix the welfare system. Not cut the taxes strangling working families and British business. Not fund the defense our country desperately needs.”
Grant and Lawless write for the Associated Press. Lawless reported from London. AP writer Brian Melley contributed to this report.
The TWZ Newsletter
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense is investigating reports that a Russian Navy warship fired warning shots near a British-registered yacht in the English Channel, according to a statement provided to TWZ today. The reported encounter is the latest in a series of increasingly tense interactions between the United Kingdom and Russia.
The incident reportedly occurred around 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, and outside British territorial waters. According to the Ministry of Defense, the initial report came from the crew of the U.K.-registered yacht, which alleged that a Russian warship fired warning shots at a distance of approximately 500 yards.
According to the Press Association, the incident occurred at around 11:40 a.m. local time, in waters between the Isle of Wight and Normandy.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson confirmed to us that they are investigating reports of the incident, but stressed that the investigation remains in its early stages.
“No injuries or damage have been reported by the yacht, which is continuing its journey,” the spokesperson added.
The Royal Navy was already shadowing the Russian vessel when the alleged incident occurred, the ministry confirmed.
“HMS Mersey was monitoring the Russian vessel at the time. We cannot provide further comment while investigations are ongoing. A seaboat from HMS Tyne has visited the yacht to gather details and check that they are safe.”
Both HMS Mersey and HMS Tyne are River class offshore patrol vessels, frequently used to shadow Russian and other warships passing through the Channel, which is widely considered the busiest shipping area in the world.
According to unconfirmed reports, the Russian warship said to be involved is the Admiral Grigorovich, the lead ship of its class, which is also known to NATO as the Krivak V class. The frigate is seen at the top of this story, during an encounter with Royal Navy vessels earlier this year, again in the English Channel.
[Unconfirmed] Russian frigate Grigorovich has fired warning shots at a British yacht in the channel.
British and French ships are mobilising in response.
Incident comes after the Royal Navy boarded Shadow Fleet tanker SMYRTOS (IMO: 9389100) which has been sanctioned by HM…
— Martin Kelly (@_MartinKelly_) June 16, 2026
The Ministry of Defence also sought to distance the incident from another recent maritime security operation in the Channel, in which British forces boarded the Smyrtos, a sanctioned shadow-fleet oil tanker, which was sailing under a false Cameroonian flag.
The boarding of the Smyrtos by Royal Marine Commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers from the National Crime Agency last Sunday was the first U.K.-led operation of its kind. The six-hour military operation also involved Chinook, Merlin, and Wildcat helicopters, a Royal Air Force P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, as well as the frigate HMS Sutherland and the mine countermeasures vessel HMS Ledbury.
It remains unclear exactly which Russian Navy vessel was involved in the incident today, what prompted the alleged warning shots, or whether any communication took place between the warship and the yacht before the incident.
We will update this post as we find out more about today’s incident.
UPDATE: 2:45 PM EDT –
There is growing speculation that the Russian warship involved in the incident may have suffered some kind of mechanical failure or difficulty at sea.
The U.K. Shadow Defense Secretary James Cartlidge said the incident was “very concerning” and the United Kingdom should “be in no doubt that Russia poses a direct threat.”
The leader of the Liberal Democrat party, Ed MacCleary, said: “These reports are extremely concerning. Russia is quite literally on our doorstep. Aggression and intimidation from Putin in the English Channel cannot be tolerated.”
These reports are extremely concerning – Russia is quite literally on our doorstep.
Aggression and intimidation from Putin in the English Channel cannot be tolerated.
This is a clear reminder that the Government cannot afford any further delays to the Defence Investment Plan. https://t.co/xhnoFQ98tE
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) June 16, 2026
UPDATE: 2:50 PM EDT –
According to BBC News, the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired warning shots after the two vessels came into close contact.
The broadcaster further reports that the “small, motorless yacht had drifted towards the warship in foggy conditions after setting off from the United Kingdom.”
The BBC cites the Russian Ministry of Defense as saying that the yacht had been on a “dangerous approach” towards the warship, and its crew fired into its path “with rifles” after making several attempts to contact it over the radio and after launching warning flares.
The Russian Ministry of Defense further claimed that its sailors had acted in “strict accordance with international shipping regulations.”
A U.K. government source told the BBC that a couple in their 60s were onboard the yacht at the time. They said they did not hear when the Russian frigate sounded its horn.
There have also been unconfirmed reports identifying the yacht involved:
Russians are saying the yacht was ‘Bright Future’ – a British registered 40′ sailing yaht in transit from the Solent to Cherbourg. pic.twitter.com/m3lKpgeHkJ
— JamesFennell MBE (@FennellJW) June 16, 2026
UPDATE: 2:55 PM EDT –
Data obtained by BBC Verify suggests that the Admiral Grigorovich has been in the Channel for an extended period, repeatedly being re-supplied by a repair vessel, so that it can escort shadow-fleet vessels through these waters.
Based on satellite images it has reviewed, the BBC says the frigate has been re-supplied by the PM-82, an Amur class repair ship, while operating between the Channel and the North Sea in recent months.
In April, the frigate was reported to have escorted six shadow fleet vessels through the Channel while being monitored by the Royal Navy.
Two scenarios with the yacht
1️⃣🇷🇺 response to Smyrtos boarding this weekend – #greyzone
2️⃣Risk of collision with drifting⛵️in low viz, followed by Ch 16 warning(?) then shot across bow in ‘self defence’ – #maritimebuffooneryBoth equally likely, I’d say…
— Tom Sharpe (@TomSharpe134) June 16, 2026
UPDATE: 3:00 PM EDT –
At least one Royal Air Force P-8 Poseidon has transited from its base in Scotland to patrol the Channel this evening, according to publicly available flight-tracking data. The maritime patrol aircraft is very likely tasked wth monitoring Russian naval activity in the area.
More details of the incident have been reported by Deborah Haynes, the security and defense editor at Sky News.
Haynes writes on X that the Russian frigate “fired a couple of warning shots” close to the yacht in the Channel after also sounding an alert to avoid it sailing too close. Citing an unnamed defense source, Haynes reports that it is understood that the Admiral Grigorovich appears to be having difficulty controlling its movements, perhaps due to a propulsion issue.
The warning shots “were certainly not fired at the yacht,” the same source said.
Additionally, while the Admiral Grigorovich has been escorting Russian-flagged vessels through the Channel in recent months, Haynes writes that it was not involved with escorting the Smyrtos, which was boarded by British forces at the weekend.
UPDATE: A Russian warship fired a couple of warning shots close to a UK-registered yacht in the Channel after also sounding an alert to avoid it sailing too close, a defence source said.
Investigations are still underway to establish exactly what happened.
From what is…— Deborah Haynes (@haynesdeborah) June 16, 2026
UPDATE: 3:05 PM EDT –
After reaching out to the U.K. Ministry of Defense for more clarification, TWZ received the following from a spokesperson:
“Following attempts to contact a British vessel in the Channel, the Grigorovich fired warning shots. These were not aimed at the vessel and were an attempt to prevent a possible collision.”
“We assess that this is an isolated incident and not linked to the UK’s interception of the Smyrtos this weekend. HMS Mersey has been monitoring the Russian vessel and support has been provided to the crew of the yacht.”
“We assess that the Grigorovich was displaying to other vessels that it was drifting rather than being manoeuvred under power, which may have made her feel more vulnerable, leading to warning shots being fired.”
“We assess that after sounding warnings, the Grigorovich fired several warning shots, but these were not aimed at the yacht.”
The spokesperson told us that they further assess that the shots fired were single rounds, rather than automatic fire.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
Summer, and all the vacation days and potential travel that implies, is upon us. And whether flying internationally or taking time off at home, you can’t beat a good British crime drama as the ultimate self-soother (especially in summer when the U.K.’s inevitable drizzly city streets and windswept moors can provide at least visual relief from the heat). The genre is varied, the casts inevitably fine and justice almost always prevails. So here are 15 shows, new and old, to watch. (And if that’s not enough, you can find 15 more here.)
Will we ever tire of reimagining Sherlock Holmes? Not anytime soon, apparently. Created by Matthew Parkhill and developed by Guy Ritchie (who directed two episodes), this version gives us a college-aged Sherlock (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) banished to the role of Oxford University porter by his fed-up older brother, Mycroft (Max Irons), who hopes to put the arrogant young rip on a steadier path. Alas, before you can say “Sir Bucephalus Hodge” (the Oxford bigwig played by Colin Firth), young Sherlock is up to his flat cap in murder and mystery, which he is determined to solve with the aid of his new best bud — wait for it — James Moriarty (Dónal Finn). An over-the-top romp that proves, if nothing else, the near-miraculous elasticity of Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic creation.
Mark Gatiss stars as Gabriel Book in “Bookish.”
(PBS)
Speaking of Holmes, “Sherlock” co-creator and co-star Mark Gatiss is up to it again, this time in the leading role. In post-World War II London, Gabriel Book (Gatiss) runs a secondhand bookshop, above which he and his beloved wife, Trottie (Polly Walker), live. But all is not what it seems, as Jack (Connor Finch), the young orphan ex-con they take under their wing, soon discovers. Gabriel apparently did something so important during the war that he is now the neighborhood’s go-to crime solver (with a letter from Winston Churchill to ensure VIP access). He also has a personal stake in Jack’s reclamation, which gives the series a fascinating and pathos-filled LGBTQ-history subtext.
Rishi Nair as Alphy Kottaram, left, and Robson Green as Geordie Keating in the 11th and final season of “Grantchester.”
(PBS)
The sacred meets the secular in this long-running pairing of a young vicar with a worldly police detective in the titular idyllic Cambridgeshire village during the 1950s and ‘60s. In Seasons 1-4, that vicar is Sidney Chambers (James Norton), a jazz enthusiast plagued by memories of WWII who offers unsolicited insights to gruff and initially ungrateful Det. Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green). Friendship inevitably blooms, and when Sidney leaves the scene (and Norton the series) at the end of Season 4, many hearts (including Geordie’s) are broken. But subsequent replacement vicars — Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) in Seasons 5-9 and Alphy Kotteram (Rishi Nair) in Seasons 9-11 — each find their way to Geordie’s side, bringing their own charms, detectival insights and personal woes. The final season premieres June 14.
DI Dave Creegan (a young Robson Green) is brought in to help DI Susan Taylor (an even younger Nicola Walker) of the Organized and Serial Crime Unit solve a series of abductions that Creegan comes to believe have been committed by a serial killer. The relationship sticks and the pair goes on to track down all manner of nasty killers with a combination of unconventional techniques and good police work. Green’s Creegan gets top billing, and a deeply resonant personal story, but seeing Walker (who would go on to star in so many fine series, including the terrific crime dramas “River” and “Unforgotten”) play a finely tuned second fiddle is great fun too.
For fans of Scottish crime drama (see also “Case Histories,” “Shetland” and “Dept. Q”), Det. Inspector Karen Pirie (“Outlander’s” Lauren Lyle) is a refreshing historic cases hero. Smart, ambitious and dogged, she is not burdened by a dark past or traumatic pain or the generally dour outlook that plague so many of her peers. Based on the books of Val McDermid, the series is set on the Scottish peninsula of Fife (the first season involves the picturesque town of St. Andrews) and all the gloriously broody scenery that implies. Murder mystery plus vicarious international mini-break.
This cheeky spinoff of the iconic “Father Brown” puts a sweet-faced Catholic nun (Lorna Watson) at the center of all manner of murder in the fictional 1960s Cotswolds town of Great Slaughter. Sister Boniface is, of course, not just any nun. Having served as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park during WWII before entering the convent, she holds a PhD in chemistry, which makes her the perfect, if most unlikely, forensic specialist. (She also rides a red Vespa and serves as the convent’s vintner.) Unflappably brilliant and sincere in her vocation, she proves that faith in action can be both serious and great fun to watch.
Like Sister Boniface, Susan Grey (Anna Maxwell Martin) served her country as a codebreaker, but she is finding post-WWII life a bit more, well, boring. Forced back into the traditional roles of wife and mother, Susan tries to make do until a series of murders suggests to her a pattern unnoticed by the police. Gathering her former and still formidable colleagues who are also languishing in a sexist world, she creates, for two marvelous seasons, her own private crime unit. (See also, the one-season spinoff, “The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco.”)
When truculent Gary Jackson (Alun Armstrong) is murdered by an arrow outside his home in Nottinghamshire, near Sherwood Forest, Det. Chief Supt. Ian St. Clair (David Morrissey) is quick to put down any Robin Hood references and look instead at the town’s 30-year-old but still roiling divisions over the U.K.’s 1984-85 miners’ strike. Based on real events, “Sherwood” is both a murder mystery and a contemplation of the damage done by class-based strife and longheld grudges, often based on misinformation. With an incredible cast, including Lesley Manville, Kevin Doyle and Lorraine Ashbourne, it is deeply moving drama that illuminates the personal price of social divisions. Season 3 premieres this year.
Lesley Manville as Susan Ryeland and Timothy McMullan as Atticus Pund in “Magpie Murders.”
(Nick Wall / Eleventh Hour Films / PBS)
Season 3 of “Magpie Murders” — titled ”Marble Hall Murders” — is also set to bow this year, so now is a good time to catch up on the previous adaptations of Anthony Horowitz’s Susan Ryeland novels, which both satirize and honor the murder-mystery genre. Ryeland (Lesley Manville) is a book editor whose most famous — and tiresome — author, Alan Conway (Conleth Hill), has just turned in his final murder mystery called “Magpie Murders.” Only the last chapter is missing and Conway has just been found dead at his country home. So it’s up to Ryeland, working with Conway’s literary detective Atticus Pünd (Tim McMullan), to figure out what happened, both in real life and in the book. This mystery-within-a-mystery launches two vivid characters, Ryeland and Pünd, working separately and together to solve crimes, sometimes in two different timelines.
Bill Nighy as headmaster Alan Lockwood, from left, Sharon Small as Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers and Nathaniel Parker as Det. Inspector Thomas Lynley in “The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.”
(Alex Bailey / BBC)
The many, and voluminous, novels of Elizabeth George are being adapted in “Lynley,” a new series that has its charms. Still, I’m sticking with the older version, which ran from 2001 to 2008. Over six seasons, the unlikely partnership of Det. Inspector Thomas Lynley, eighth earl of Asherton and generally natty guy played by Nathaniel Parker, and his distinctly working-class and perpetually disheveled sergeant, Barbara Havers (Sharon Small), creates a classic odd-couple mix that allows some actual insight into issues of class and gender. But mostly, they make a great detective team, often using their differences to their advantage. The mysteries range far and wide over the U.K., from gritty streets to posh country homes, and 24 90-minute episodes are enough to keep you going all summer long.
Derek Jacobi in the title role of “Cadfael” in 1995.
(ITV)
Though the oldest series on this list (1994-1998), “Cadfael,” based on the books of Ellis Peters, remains a classic and constant recommendation. The great Derek Jacobi plays the titular 12th century monk who was once a soldier of the Crusades. Now a botanist and apothecary, Cadfael aids the local sheriff in solving all manner of crimes committed in and near Shrewsbury Abbey during England’s 15-year civil war known now as the Anarchy. Though the series does not delve as deeply into the politics of the time as the novels do, it creates an uncertain world in which violence runs rampant. Mercifully, there is a monk who knows his stuff, and if Jacobi isn’t enough reason to watch, the costumes and landscape are pretty great too.
Joanna Scanlan was punk rock long before her turn in “Riot Women,” especially as the wildly frank, slightly raunchy, take-no-prisoners DI Viv Deering in this blackly funny depiction of the wayward Friday Street division of the Manchester Police. They are not misfits exactly — Deering knows what she’s doing as does her team, including the ambitious Det. Constable Dinah Kowalski (Elaine Cassidy), the self-doubting Det. Sgt. Joy Freers (Alexandra Roach) and Paul Ritter’s wise-cracking Randolph Miller (OK, maybe he is a misfit) — but they are much more recognizably human than most TV coppers. We know they’ll get their man, but it will take some time, and more than a few hilarious and heartbreaking misfires.
After the murder of his wife, Inspector George Gently (Martin Shaw) leaves London’s Metropolitan police force in search of a more peaceful life in 1960s Northumberland. But as anyone who has seen “Vera” could tell him, Newcastle Upon Tyne is far from peaceful. Still brokenhearted, Gently finds himself solving crimes, and trying to teach his sergeant John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) to be an honorable man in a time of shifting social mores and political upset.
Come for the Jack the Ripper overtones, stay for the always great character actor Phil Davis (“Trying,” “Vera Drake”). He plays old-school Det. Sgt. Ray Miles, a member of an East End squad that is less than thrilled by their new guy, opposite the smooth and ambitious Det. Inspector Joseph Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones), who shows up to his first crime scene in a tux and doesn’t appear to understand that this is the East End. But with what seems like a Ripper copycat on the loose, everyone needs to put aside their preconceived notions and figure out what’s going on. The series is wildly atmospheric with plenty of gallows humor and more than a few truly loopy plotlines, but great fun with Davis managing, as ever, to sell even the most preposterous scene.
James Norton as Henry Alveston, from left, Matthew Rhys as Darcy and Matthew Goode as Wickham in “Death Comes to Pemberley.”
(Robert Viglasky / PBS)
This adaptation of P.D. James’ sequel to “Pride and Prejudice” is a miniseries, and just three episodes long, so this might be a bit of a cheat. But if you haven’t seen it, you should. Elizabeth Darcy (nee Bennet) (Anna Maxwell Martin) and Fitzwilliam Darcy (Matthew Rhys) are happily married and planning a ball. Sure, a couple of servants see a ghost in the woods (where Elizabeth encounters a suspicious woman), and Col. Fitzwilliam (Tom Ward) clearly wants to marry Georgiana (Eleanor Tomlinson), who doesn’t seem too keen, but what of it? Then Elizabeth’s sister Lydia (Jenna Coleman) shows up uninvited and hysterical; her still-caddish husband, George Wickham (Matthew Goode), had an argument with his friend Capt. Denny (Tom Canton), and the two vanished into the woods where shots were subsequently heard. Once again, Mr. Darcy must do what he can to protect the dreaded Wickham, and in doing so all manner of secrets are revealed. Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie with a cast either writer would kill for.