of children forced into commercial sexual exploitation, or other harmful forms of work. the research has been carried out by the international labour organisation and according to their estimate, around 1.7 million children are involved in the practises. the ilo's director general said the situation was getting worse — and often it was down to the way families felt they had to respond to global inflation. in some families, it really does make the difference between having one meal a day or not. and therefore the temptation of bringing the young girl for example to the street or try to entice them to go for the sex work increases. and therefore increase the risk of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and therefore the worst form of child labour.

the ilo is speaking there. let's try to put that into context now. commercial sexual exploitation is a murky issue, with many countries having no publicly available database for the illegal activity. kenya is one such nation — it has been identified by the us state department as both a source, a transit country, and a destination for the crime. one recent study estimated that more than 2,400 children between the ages of 13 and 17 were currently subject to sexual exploitation in two regions bordering the port city of mombasa. this week on bbc news, we're bringing you a special series on the impact of the cost of living crisis on children around the world. our first report comes from our state department correspondent barbara plett usher — and we should warn you, you may find some of the details distressing. in mombasa, life is hard for those on the margins, but tough economic times are making

it even harder, forcing some parents to take painful decisions. this mother washes clothes a few times a week to support her three children. she doesn't want us to use her name. the money for school fees quickly runs out. there's barely enough for food, so her daughter has to find work. she's started selling her body. she's 14 years old. as a parent, it's not easy to tell a child to do something like that. i would like her to go to school like other children, but because i don't have any means, she's forced to do thatjob. my heart is broken and i don't want it to continue. she's not the only one. we've spoken with a woman who runs a brothel. she told us she's been getting more and more young girls.

at this shelter, a rare moment ofjoy celebrating a birthday party. these children were abused, abandoned or trafficked, some forced into the sex trade. rescue centres are struggling to meet the growing needs. everyone wants to survive. they've been giving away their children. for exchange of money. and has it always been that way, or is it more so now? now it's more so because there is no money. there is no money. there is nojob. "we are tired." that's the chant at protests against rising prices and higher taxes. there's anger and frustration across the country. it's the poorest kenyans who've

been hit the hardest. and in mombasa, they can tap into a thriving business. mombasa has long been a well—known hub for child sex tourism, but covid and the increasingly harsh cost of living have helped push the sex trade online and further underground, drawing even more children into the industry. kenyan police are fighting back against the dark trade in child sex. they track down suspects using cyber tips from a database in the united states. then, search phones and computer drives for explicit material about children. up against an economy of depravity that feeds on desperation. this woman is in charge of the unit. she says there's no data on whether the recent cost of living crisis has driven more children into the sex trade. but her team has begun monitoring it. of course, of course it is a major contributor into child sex trafficking.

so we would say that poverty, would say that unemployment. there are so many children that are dropping out of school. and then you find that they're getting to this especially in the coastal region. one girl who hasn't escaped the streets told me about the despair that shapes her young life. we're using her words, but not her voice. i am afraid, because i know that when you're sleeping with a man, you can get hiv or become pregnant. sometimes i feel so hungry. and when i look at other children, they don't suffer. sometimes i think that i have no reason to live. barbara plett usher, bbc news, mombasa. that was barbara plett usher in kenya with the first in a series of reports exploring the global cost of living crisis and its impact on

children. tomorrow we look at the impact in lebanon. let's get some of the day's other news now. taiwan's south—western coastline has been hit by heavy rain and powerful winds as typhoon haikui made landfall for a second time. roads were flooded and others were blocked by fallen trees. haikui initially made landfall on sunday. it was the first typhoon to hit the island in four years. many schools and businesses have remained closed. the spanish authorities have issued weather warnings in the regions around madrid, because of flooding caused by exceptionally heavy rain. a number of train services across the country have been cancelled. the floods brought by storm dana have caused mudslides and swept debris into the roads, making many impassable. more rain is expected on monday. the french government has reiterated its commitment to maintaining troops in niger and keeping its ambassador in place. the military leadership in niamey demanded the envoy�*s expulsion more than a week ago. thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital for a third consecutive day

near a french military base. france has about 1,500 soldiers stationed in niger. as we mentioned in our headlines. the hunting of whales has resumed in iceland after the country decided not to extend a temporary ban that was put in place earlier this summer. a series of new regulations and increased monitoring, will be put in place. but opponents are outraged by the decision. just three countries allow commercial whaling, and iceland is the only place where large fin whales are still caught. from reykjavik, adrienne murray reports. this old whaling boat will soon be heading out to sea to go hunting. earlier in the summer, the practice was suspended over animal welfare concerns. now the government has let whaling restart, though the minister said she had done so reluctantly. translation: this discussion is far from over. _

i think it is important that it continues in the society as a whole and in politics. we are the last nation in the world that allows hunting of whales in this way. environmentalists and animal rights activists condemned the move. it's a very sad day. i'm not really proud to be an icelandic citizen today, but at the same time i am, because the majority of us really doesn't want this and is actually fighting this. we're very disappointed by this decision. - we're obviously living in a... ..in a biodiversity. and a climate crisis. and all our decisions should be based on solving these crises. i an injunction has been filed in a bid to block further whaling. i want to encourage iceland to maintain the ban on whaling. while some hollywood film—makers and actors have called for a stop. fin whales are listed as vulnerable globally, but stocks in iceland are reportedly stable. only one whaling station still hunts them and mostly exports the meat to japan.

the firm hvalur says it won't hang up its harpoons any time soon. if you have a healthy stock of fish or whales, you utilise them. if the stocks are not healthy, you don't utilise it. it's as simple as that. and we have about a stock estimate for fin whales around iceland is about 40,000 animals. the quota is about 160. just two other countries, norway and japan, still allow commercial whaling. in 1986, there was a global moratorium due to dwindling whale stocks. iceland halted the practice not long after, but restarted again in 2006. around the world, commercial whaling has mostly been consigned to the history books. but here in iceland, it remains a highly emotive issue. in recent years, the views of icelanders have undergone a sea change and the latest poll shows 42% are against the practice,

while 29% remain in favour. at this restaurant, whale dishes are among the best sellers. we make whales sesemi, - and it's influenced by the japanese. and we have whale pepper steak, we have a local customers - and then a lot of tourists. obviously, it's a tradition, l because we've been hunting the whale for since 1947, but years, years and - the century before. but while whaling has been done for centuries, one in four visitors now go whale watching and it's a chance to see these creatures in the wild that's become one of iceland's biggest draws. adrienne murray, bbc news, reykjavik. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. preparing for a challenging journey. these skaters call themselves

the un skateboards. they're getting ready ind barry, ahead of skating from here to anglesey in three days to raise funds in memory of theirfriends, wayne phillips and james rush, who both had brain tumours and died after receiving end of life care at the nightingale house hospice in wrexham. well, we lost two close friends who were very active and loved being outdoors and challenges. so i guess in the essence of that we thought this would be an epic challenge to do. the group have been putting in plenty of training over recent weeks to try and get used to skating through the very varied terrain they'll face and the possibility of all sorts of weathers. plenty of energy from the first push on a journey covering nearly 280 miles up and down the hills and mountains of wales from barry island to the isle of anglesey in memory of two friends and their own adventurous spirit. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. you're live with bbc news.

a bbc investigation has found that at least five women have died after family courts allowed fathers accused of abuse to apply for contact with their children. some took their own life and one had a heart attack outside court. a separate study has found that 75 children in england were forced into contact with fathers who had previously been reported for abuse. all the fathers in the study had responded to allegations of abuse in court with a disputed concept known as "parental alienation" — in which they claimed the mothers had turned the child against them without good reason. the ministry ofjustice is now consulting on new draught guidelines for handling "parental alienation" claims. our correspondent ed thomas told us more about the investigation. we started investigating allegations of serious failures inside the family courts several months ago and a patten started to emerge. we were contacted by dozens and dozens of mothers who all said

they were victims of domestic abuse and something else was going wrong, they were being accused of something called parental alienation. this was a term i had never heard of before the start of this investigation and it is a disputed term, criticised for a lack of evidence and basically means when one parent turns the child against another parent and when women were going to the family courts, they expected to talk about the abuse they had suffered. very quickly, they were accused of parental alienation and it was that which became the focus of the family court investigations and as you outlined, it's had some severe consequences. and this is a deep concern to people who have oversight of the family courts. the domestic abuse commissioner said the cases we uncovered were harrowing and she was calling for urgent reform of the family courts.

you can read more about that investigation on the bbc news website. let's speak now to the domestic abuse commissioner for england and wales nicole jacobs. a very warm welcome. if read and seen the investigation. what do you make of it? ~ ~ make of it? well, i think it highlights _ make of it? well, i think it highlights some _ make of it? well, i think it highlights some very - make of it? well, i think it highlights some very real. make of it? well, i think it - highlights some very real issues that we know are happening in the family court. issues like this are here in my office every day. so, i really appreciate that this is coming to light and we are talking about this more because it is the one issue that i'm contacted. family court experiences, misunderstanding and not feeling listen to within the family court for domestic abuse victims. ~ ., , ., ., , , .,

victims. what needs to happen to better regulate _ victims. what needs to happen to better regulate these _ victims. what needs to happen to better regulate these situations? | victims. what needs to happen to i better regulate these situations? it can be very worrying for women in these situations.— these situations. that's right. several things _ these situations. that's right. several things need _ these situations. that's right. several things need to - these situations. that's right. | several things need to happen these situations. that's right. - several things need to happen but first and foremost about this use of parental alienation as a counter allegation is we need to prioritise understanding the context of domestic abuse first, alienation and a reluctance or resistance of a child or children can only be understood adequately if you understand the whole context. what's happening now in family court is theseissues happening now in family court is these issues are being looked at in parallel. for example, domestic abuse and so—called parental alienation is being looked at the same time. that makes no sense. we can only understand the context any reluctance or refusal, resistance of a child or children, if we understand domestic abuse first. this is what is happening

internationally in terms of best practice in the area and we need in the uk, particularly in england and wales which is my remit, to wake up to the issue and to make sure that victims are not suffering in the court when they are very courageously making these allegations and raising them, of a piece, which of course at the root of them are being told to the court in order to protect their children. we discussed this concept of parental alienation. we discussed this concept of parentalalienation. do we discussed this concept of parental alienation. do you think it should exist in the form that it does and how much does it play into the wider concern? frankly, it doesn't. ~ ., , doesn't. we are in some cases adequately _ doesn't. we are in some cases adequately addressing - doesn't. we are in some cases adequately addressing these l doesn't. we are in some cases - adequately addressing these issues by looking at these concerns that relate to domestic abuse first, really centring the voice of the child and hearing that in a

meaningful way and considering our own legislation. we had the domestic abuse act, the one that created my role a couple of years ago, defining a bus domestic abuse as including children in their own right as victims. the same piece of legislation defines coercion and controlling behaviour after separation a legal offence. we need to see this reflected in private law family court cases and in these family court cases and in these family court cases we need more support for victims going into court because where this all unravels is that fundamental lack of understanding at the start of domestic abuse. that goes to legislation but also the context. domestic abuse victims do not go into family court assuming that the court will have trouble understanding domestic abuse is a concept and what that range of coercive and controlling behaviour is and then they are often very

shocked to find they are being misunderstood and in fact allegations are coming to them about somehow putting forth these concerns because of so—called parental alienation. it falls apart when we don't understand domestic abuse first and foremost and have all of the players, judges, solicitors, family court advisers and the so—called experts really fully understanding and putting forth the context of domestic abuse first. i wasjust reading here it says the was just reading here it says the judiciary has commissioned a report to examine the potentially heightened risk of suicide after involvement in family court proceedings. it's a very serious concern as well. what would you say needs to be done to protect people and their mental health when they are going through these processes? i'm glad to hear that's happening. i guess i would say, what do we need

to do? a few years ago the ministry ofjustice published a report about reforms in family court that relate to these matters, it's called the han panel report. i published in the summer a policy report with recommendations on it and a lot of this in similar directions. we need to have legal presumption that heavily waits children seeing both parents which of course in many, many cases is absolutely appropriate. we also need to be oriented to new ways that the court can prioritise understanding the context of the family first. there's a couple of pilots happening in north wales and dorset that i'm supportive of and want to see rolled out the best practices and then learn from them as quickly as

possible, where that early child assessment is happening we are finding out and understanding more about domestic abuse earlier and then of course the decisions made in and around that family are much more appropriate. i also really want to see support for domestic abuse victims going into family court before they are in the middle of these very complex legal arrangements. so that people are feeling supported not only about the legal aspects of their case, which of course they need legal aid for but the emotional support and confidence to really talk about their concerns in family court. it's all in a policy report that i published this summer and with the powers of my office i'm waiting for government to respond to those recommendations at the end of september. so, all eyes are watching and we know this is a problem and we know there are ways to sort these out more clearly and so i welcome

this research to date because it amplifies this urgent, urgent need for reform that the government can make decisions about right now and i look forward to hearing from them officially at the end of the month. nicole jacobs, domestic abuse commission for england and wales, thank you very much for coming on to talk about what is a very important and serious issue. organisers of the burning man festival in the us state of nevada have postponed the event's finale the burning of a large wooden effigy until monday. it's because of the treacherous weather conditions. heavy rain has turned nevada's black rock desert into a quagmire. some of the tens of thousands of people there have managed to leave, despite orders to stay put. our north america correspondent david willis reports from the festival site. # i want to know, have you ever seen the rain? they've seen it here. what's thought to be the longest, heaviest rainfall since this festival was launched 37 years ago.

the day before people were due to start heading home, the dusty desert sand was transformed into a quagmire, prompting organisers to close the gates. a driving ban remains in force here but the organisers say it's too wet and muddy for people to leave and they're warning that heavy vehicles could end up getting bogged down in the mud. but for those who are desperate to get out of here, well, they're not stopping them. and this morning saw a steady stream of vehicles headed for the exit. the advice to those stranded in the ankle—deep mud is conserve food, fuel and water supplies, because it's unclear how long you'll be here. for me and my husband, this is an escape from the hard things. and this is kind of hard. so i'm sad. when are we going to get out of here? oh, that's a really good question. everyone keeps saying your guess is as good as mine. what do you make of all this?

i mean, i'm having a great time. is it going to spoil the fun? no, clearly not. this week—long festival transforms a remote area of northwestern nevada into a sprawling desert city. but even before the event got under way, organisers were dealing with flooding caused by the remnants of hurricane hilary. burning man culminates with a large wooden effigy being set alight. that has been delayed, and its timing now depends entirely on the weather. germany's chancellor olaf scholz has posted a photograph of himself online — showing him wearing an eye patch after injuring himself while jogging. here it is — you can see some scrapes and abrasions around his right eye. it's not yet clear what damage he may be suffering underneath his eye patch, and he hasn't given any details, other than to say that "it

looks worse than it is." mr scholz, who's a regularjogger, has had to cancel some appointments, though he'll be back on schedule from tuesday. as you might expect, there have been plenty of pirate jokes on social media — mr scholz said he was excited to see them. reminder of our top story. the uk prime minister rishi sunak says it's "utterly wrong" to blame him for failing to tackle the issue of unsafe concrete in school buldings. as thousands of children return to classrooms today after the summer break — it's emerged that more than 100 schools in england and scotland will be closed or partially shut. it's over safety concerns about what is known as raac — a type of concrete known to be at risk of crumbling. mr sunak denied he failed to take action after concerns came to light when he was chancellor.

we are expecting to hear from the education secretary in the uk parliament later this afternoon. we will bring you that update and all of the latest on that ongoing concern over concrete in schools in england and scotland. plenty more online, stay with us on bbc news. it is set to turn even warmer this week, increasing humidity as well so starting to feel more uncomfortable particularly at night. much of the country will hold onto dry and sunny weather. however, mis—timed fog during the mornings and increasingly towards the end of the week because we pick up more humidity will see coastal mr hunter too. high pressure over the near continent, see the air coming up. later in the week will start to draw in humid air as well in temperatures reaching the low 30s across central and southern areas.

the rest of the day is fine, dry, sunny and warm with that with front in the far north of scotland. more cloutier, 16 in lerwick but across the uk we are looking at the mid to high 20s. through tonight, a dry and largely clear one. mist and fog patches returning once again but a mild night to come. single digits you will notice that. on tuesday, some early mist and fog in places. a small chance of a shower towards the far south—west of the country otherwise most places dry, sunny and very warm. quite hot as we head into the afternoon. mid 20s across central scotland. close to 30 across parts of england and wales. on wednesday a bit more cloud is in the mix. that will burn back to the coast. a bit of coastal mr hunter, turning more humid at this point but again another hot and sunny day,

it's the mid 20s further north. a few weather fronts thrown our way, that could increase the shower activity. some of these could be thundery in nature. mist and fog to start the day again. otherwise another hot and sunny day. still quite warm further north but at this point we've got higher humidity. into next weekend, temperatures start to come down. it's not until the following week that things cool down further.

today at one: the crisis over potentially dangerous concrete in schools — the prime minister denies he cut funding for school repairs when he was chancellor. a former top civil servant has accused rishi sunak of halving the number of schools in england where the government would pay for repairs. the actual ask in the spending review in 2021 was to double the 100 to 200. that's what we thought was going to be practical in the first instance. i thought we'd get it. but the actual decision that the chancellor took in �*21 was to halve the size of the programme. no, i think that is completely and utterly wrong. actually, one of the first things

i did as chancellor, in my first spending review in 2020, was to announce a new ten—year school rebuilding programme for 500 schools. the row comes as the new school year begins this week with dozens of schools fully or partially closed because of potentially unsafe concrete. also this lunchtime... connor gibson is sentenced to 22 years in prison for the murder and sexual assault of his sister amber, who was 16. angela rayner is appointed shadow levelling up secretary as the labour leader sir keir starmer reshuffles his shadow cabinet. the parents of a teenage girl who died in hospital of sepsis say patients and their families should have the right to a second medical opinion. and beware the asian hornet — an increase in sightings of the insect which feeds on honey bees. and coming up on bbc news... manchester united's jadon sancho hits back after remarks by boss erik ten hag saying he was dropped for poor performances in training.