Serena Williams: My heroes are mothers

With one in every 10 children working, the world is on the brink of "losing ground in the fight against child labor," UNICEF and the International Labor Organization have warned.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is facing mounting demand from Western consumers for ethical chocolate -- a product that is ecologically sound and made without child labour. In a widely publicised operation named Nawa 2, police picked up dozens of children in a crackdown in Soubre, the country's cocoa-producing heartland 400 kilometres (250 miles) west of the economic capital Abidjan.

A recent UN report reveals child labor has been surging in recent years. The coronavirus pandemic may make the situation even worse for kids.

A new UN report says there has been a drastic increase in child abduction, rape and other forms of sexual violence in various crisis regions in the year 2020.

In Yemen, families send their children to so-called summer camps. There, adolescents are given combat training and taught why they should fight for God. Both government forces and Houthi rebels use child soldiers.

For the first time in 20 years, child labour has increased around the world. Last year, 160 million youngsters were working, or 8.4 million more than in 2016. The Covid-19 crisis and resulting rise in poverty are often responsible. In Iraq, the number of children forced to work has increased steadily in recent decades due to conflict, forced displacement and economic challenges. Our correspondents Jack Hewson and Lucile Wassermann went to meet some of those who are trying to stem the scourge of child labour.

German police say they are investigating more than 1,600 people from multiple countries on suspicion of possessing or sharing images of child sex abuse. Many of the suspects are themselves children.

Last week, lawmakers at California's 2nd District Court of Appeal agreed with the Maleficent star that John Ouderkirk should have disclosed prior business dealings with Pitt's lawyers

"NeuralHash" technology makes it possible to detect child sex abuse images uploaded to the cloud. Privacy advocates fear technology invites political mission creep, especially in authoritarian states.

The iPhone and iPad manufacturer said its plan to check the photos of US users for evidence of child abuse had been widely "misunderstood". CEO Tim Cook is yet to publicly comment on the privacy row.

Indonesia has one of the world's highest Covid mortality rates for children, according to its paediatric association and NGO Save the Children.

The feature had been intended to scan for images of child sexual abuse. But it quickly drew concern over potential misuse as a "backdoor" for hacking and surveillance.