he ceased all contact with says he ceased all contact with the businessman as it's revealed mi5 have started an investigation. home secretary yvette cooper will visit rome today. don't worry, she's not on her jollies. today. don't worry, she's not on herjollies. she's today. don't worry, she's not on her jollies. she's there for talks with her italian counterpart on how the two countries can work together on combating illegal immigration. this comes as gb news can exclusively reveal that more than 35,000 small boat migrants have crossed the english channel so far this year. so can labour finally get a grip on the small boats crisis? and is the sussexes new netflix show a royal flop? reports suggest prince harry and meghan markle's £80 million netflix deal could be on the rocks. after scathing reviews of polo, with some saying it could be the nail in the coffin for the couple's

lucrative netflix partnership signed. but four years ago. well, i'm darren grimes and the weekend starts here. yes, sally costello and ben said earlier that it was dawn neesom. ihave earlier that it was dawn neesom. i have left my blonde bob at home. but fear not, because this show it's still the same. nothing without you and your views. let me know your thoughts on all of the stories we'll be discussing today by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay. join the conversation now. keeping me company this hour is the former labour adviser scarlett mccgwire, as well as the political commentator and broadcaster duncan box. but before we get stuck in to today's stories, we're going to get your news headlines with tatiana sanchez.

>> darren, thank you very much. and good afternoon. let's get you up to speed on that. breaking news that more than 35,000 migrants have crossed the engush 35,000 migrants have crossed the english channel illegally in small boats so far this year. the milestone figure was reached this morning after at least 250 migrants made that illegal journey in five small boats. after more than a week of no small boat crossings because of bad weather in the channel, more than 1150 migrants reached uk waters in just the past three days. it takes the provisional number assessed by gb news to 35,130 since the beginning of the year. the prime minister, sir keir starmer, has promised to end small boat crossings by smashing the gangs. meanwhile, the home secretary will travel to italy today for talks on illegal migration this weekend, as hundreds of people continue to cross the channel in small boats. yvette cooper is set to meet her italian counterpart,

along with the un refugee agency's representative to the country, at the end of a week of diplomacy on migration. in other news, chinese money linked to prince andrew is now under investigation by m15 as more details emerge about the embattled duke's connection to an alleged spy. it's believed prince andrew invited the man in question, described as a close confidant to buckingham palace, with their relationship reportedly dating back to 2012. the royal has now said he ceased all contact with the businessman in question and denied discussing anything of a sensitive nature. meanwhile, buckingham palace have claimed it has no power to scrutinise the duke's finances. home secretary yvette cooper says the government will always take necessary action when it comes to the country's security. >> well, our security and intelligence agencies are continually vigilant for any threat to uk national security, whether that be around foreign influence, whether it be around

espionage, whether it be around any security threat. and so, of course, we won't hesitate to take action in individual cases or more widely, wherever any challenge arises. >> well, in response to the duke of york's links to the alleged chinese spy, prince andrew's office said this. the duke of york followed advice from hmg and ceased all contact with the individual. after concerns were raised, the duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed, he's unable to comment further on matters relating to national security. uk's chinese embassy had this to say. some individuals in the uk are always eager to fabricate baseless spy stories targeting china. they say their purpose is to smear china and disrupt normal exchanges between chinese and british personnel. elsewhere, construction workers are four times more likely to die by suicide than the national average. it makes it one of the deadliest professions for mental

health problems in the uk, according to a new report. social media company on the tools, the uk's largest community of tradespeople, has found that 73% of the country's 2.1 million construction workers have been affected by mental illness in the last decade, 7000 have taken their own lives. the company is trying to raise £2.5 million to fund counselling for workers in the industry. overseas. now south korea's parliament has voted to impeach president yoon suk yeol over his short lived attempt to impose martial law. earlier this month. mr yoon's decision put the country into a constitutional crisis as soldiers clashed with protesters on the streets of the capital seoul. tens of thousands of demonstrators have descended onto the streets of the city every night for the past two weeks, calling for mr yoon's removal and arrest. the state of emergency only lasted about six hours, as parliament voted to block the decree. yoon suk yeol has vowed today not to give up

and said he would do his best until the last minute for the country , and a lawyer is seeking country, and a lawyer is seeking the dismissal of a so—called frivolous rape lawsuit against us rapper jay—z, after the accuser apparently addressed inconsistencies in her allegations. jay—z previously claimed he was at the centre of a blackmail attempt after a lawsuit was filed, accusing him and sean diddy combs of drugging and sean diddy combs of drugging and raping a 13 year old girl at and raping a 13 year old girl at a party. after the mtv video music awards in 2000. in one claim, the anonymous woman said her father picked her up after the alleged assault, but her father has since told nbc news that he cannot verify her claims. i've made some mistakes, the female accuser told the us outlet when asked about inconsistencies in her account, but said she overall stands by her allegations. jay—z and his lawyer, alex spiro, shared statements via the acas account of the us musician's entertainment company, roc nafion entertainment company, roc nation regarding that lawsuit, saying true justice is coming. we fight from victory, not for

victory. and those are the latest gb news headlines. for now, i'm tatiana sanchez. more news from me in half an hour. >> thank you very much, tatiana. we're going to get stuck in to today's topics now. chinese money linked to prince andrew is now under investigation by m15 as more details emerge about the embattled duke's connection to an alleged spy. now, it's believed that prince andrew ianed believed that prince andrew invited the man in question, described as a close confidant to buckingham palace, with their relationship reportedly dating back to 2012. the royal now claims to have ceased all contact with the businessman, and denies discussing anything of a sensitive nature. meanwhile, buckingham palace says it's no power to scrutinise the duke's finances and does not

act for him, given that he's no longer a working royal. well, to discuss this further, i'm joined by the royal broadcaster, helena chard helena. thank you very much for your company. now, just how serious is this and how embarrassing is this for the palace? the idea that, you know, a an alleged spy could have had links into buckingham palace itself. >> goodness me. i mean, i mean, this is terribly embarrassing for the royal family and, you know, the fact that prince andrew is again embroiled in another controversy is, is awful. i mean, obviously, this is an alleged chinese spy, chinese businessman, close confidant of prince andrew, now banned from the uk. i mean, i do feel that alarm bells must have been ringing for so long with our intelligence services. and, you know, we know that prince andrew has had a previous poor

record, a previous record, shall i say, of poorjudgement. and i say, of poor judgement. and for a long time now there's been various different cases to do with his finances. i think we as the general public, are pretty surprised at his potential to create national security threats, which is something else. and i think, you know, we all have to remember that he did have a trade role for ten years. i think it was international trade and investment. he was involved in. so he made a major contribution over the years. his pitch for the palace he was involved in meant he was moving involved in meant he was moving in lots of entrepreneurial circles. so no surprise that he was meeting people from different countries. close association with china. as we know, he was seen as a good friend of china. great involvement, escorting, you know, helping out on chinese state visits and having that close relationship with china. i think it's embarrassing. it's terrible. we're sort of just

heanng terrible. we're sort of just hearing about it over the last couple of days. i think for hearing about it over the last couple of days. i