Smoking and sex go hand-in-hand?

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian brothel owners want an exemption to anti-smoking laws for sex workers and their clients because, they say, one thing leads to another.
Newspapers reported Sunday that the Australian Adult Entertainment Industry had written to Victoria state officials seeking an exemption to laws which ban smoking in workplaces for fear they will drive prostitutes back onto the street.
"People smoke when they drink, and people smoke when they fornicate," the industry group's William Albon was quoted as saying by Australian Associated Press.
Smoking is banned in most public buildings across Australia and will be outlawed in hotels and other licensed premises in Victoria in July.
Albon said the ban would force "men, women and transgender persons" who work as prostitutes out of the state's 87 legal brothels and onto the streets, where they could potentially become targets for violence.
"Having them standing dressed in terms not conventional for the street might be a magnet for violent, anti-social behavior," he said.

Smelly drivers create a stink in Manila

MANILA (Reuters) - Bus drivers negotiating the sweltering streets of Manila have a new thing to stress about -- their armpits.
Faced with complaints from commuters fed up with the stench at the front of the bus, taxi and train, Manila authorities have reminded drivers to wash and deodorize daily during the heat of the summer.
"We understand that drivers must earn money to support themselves and their respective families," said Bayani Fernando, chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. "It is only right that in return, these drivers must observe proper hygiene.
"If they have body odor or armpit odor, ask the advice of doctors for treatment. But I think if they only take a bath every day, and maybe they can use "tawas" or deodorant, then there would be no problem."
Temperatures in the sprawling Philippine capital regularly hit the high 30s Celsius from mid-March to mid-May.
Some of the estimated 30,000 public drivers often strip off to beat the heat but Fernando reminded them to maintain decorum.
"They must also refrain from wearing slippers and shorts," Fernando said.

It's hard out there for a virgin...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A brothel has become the first in Berlin to offer special deals for virgins with prostitutes trained in the delicate art of catering for customers who have never had sex, a German newspaper reported Friday.
The brothel in the red light area of the Kreuzberg district of the city charges 60 euros for a half an hour of sex and works within the laws of Germany where prostitution is legal.
"These are men who either never had sex before or have never been in a brothel before," the brothel's operator was quoted as saying in Berlin's B.Z. tabloid.
"It's the first house of love in Berlin that specializes in taking care of beginners," wrote the daily on its front page.
Prostitutes are given "sensitivity training" for first-time clients, who the brothel operator said are not necessarily young but often 40 or older: "They need to be aware of how much courage it takes to go to a brothel the first time."