One of Germany's biggest luxury brothels is being built in the capital to cater for visitors to next year's World Cup.
The 60-room bordello -- oddly named Artemis after the goddess of chastity -- is within walking distance of the Berlin Olympia stadium.
legitimate work
Prostitution, which was legalized in Germany three years ago, is expected to be a huge money spinner during the competition, with brothels paying around 20 euros (US$24.2) for each prostitute each day to the authorities.
Andrea Petsch of the prostitute support network Hydra said: "The World Cup is a mega-event and lots of money will be made in many areas, one of which is prostitution."
Experts predict that around 40,000 foreign prostitutes will travel to Germany for the football tournament. To save the public from spotting women "offering their services," wooden huts are to be erected close to stadiums in cities including Dortmund and Cologne.
Love shacks
It is planned that the "love shacks" will be assembled in a designated area, complete with condom machines and snack bars.
But Petsch is dubious. "It sounds as if the poor women will be working in something like a toilet cabin. Working conditions at the new brothel in Berlin seem much better.
"I understand it is not going to be like the average brothel, where the prostitutes stand waiting at the windows. It will be more like a spa, with saunas, jacuzzis and bars."
`tolerance'
Prostitution was legalized in Germany in 2002, to remove the industry from criminal hands and to improve working conditions. In most cities there is a legal red-light district, known as a "tolerance zone," but the trade is banned elsewhere.
Germany's largest brothel, which has 120 rooms, is in Cologne, where authorities collect 700,000 euros a month from the trade.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
MILITARY’S MAN: Myint Swe was diagnosed with neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy disease, and had authorized another to perform his duties Myint Swe, who became Myanmar’s acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, died yesterday, the military said. He was 74. He died at a military hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, in the morning, Myanmar’s military information office said in a statement. Myint Swe’s death came more than a year after he stopped carrying out his presidential duties after he was publicly reported to be ailing. His funeral is to be held at the state level, but the date had not been disclosed, a separate statement from the
RSS