The population of Japan is in decline, the birthrate is plummeting, and the consequences look grim. Some studies put the blame on Japanese men who’s appetite for masturbation, sex toys and virtual tete-a-tetes are turning them off the real thing. The future, one might say, is in their hands. - William Sparrow

The police ministry wants to criminalise the sex industry, while experts insist the root cause is poverty. As the Tajik interior ministry announces tougher penalties for prostitution, analysts say the local sex industry is a product of poverty and social dislocation and will not be easy to eradicate. Interior Minister Mahmadnazar Salihov said his staff were drafting a special bill that would soon be sent to parliament.

Japanese police have arrested five porn movie producers and a member of an industry self-censorship group on charges their films were too graphic, police said Monday.

Thai officials urged Buddhist monks on Tuesday to avoid using social networking Web sites to woo women after an advocacy group found some monks were doing just that.

Acting on a tip, the Pasig City police raided on Sunday night a beer joint that allegedly showed nude women dancing on stage, but failed to arrest the owner.

After booking a local youth, his mother and his friend in a rape case, the Basti Jodhewal police have started investigations. Maninder Singh allegedly molested a girl on the pretext of marrying her and made a pornographic film on her.

A district court yesterday jailed a blackmailer for six months after hearing a case that echoed the nude-picture scandal of Hong Kong singer Edison Chen.

Meretz MK Zehava Gal-On is set to unveil legislation Tuesday that will potentially ban all media - including promotional pamphlets and “business cards” - from advertising prostitution services and providing possible clients with access to the sex industry.

A group of sex workers, supported by an NGO, moved in a procession to the office of the police commissioner in Ahmedabad on Saturday to submit a representation against police brutality.

From university sweethearts married in Paris to kingpins in the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, Ieng Sary and his wife Khieu Thirith now bide their time in detention awaiting trial for war atrocities. They’re in separate cells, and Sary has requested conjugal visits. While the two await an answer, they could reflect on one of the Khmer Rouge’s practices - separation of man and wife. - William Sparrow