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The boom in international tourism has fuelled a new phenomenon of women soliciting on the streets of Tokyo’s Kabukicho night-time district

Kabukicho is not known as “sleepless town” for nothing. The bustling centre of Tokyo’s night-time economy is a magnet for tourists and locals in search of a bite to eat, a few drinks and a karaoke session. But behind its famous neon entrance lies a darker side: backstreets populated by women offering sex in exchange for money.

Tokyo has an established fuzoku commercial sex industry that revolves around regulated establishments catering to an array of peccadilloes, from “soapland” bathhouses to “pink salons”.

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• RBA hikes cash rate for fifth time in blow to mortgage holders

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The Reserve Bank has hiked rates for the fifth time this year, from 4.6% to 4.85%, in a bid to regain control of surging inflation amid the ongoing global oil shock triggered by the war in the Middle East.

The RBA’s decision to hit mortgage holders again comes as no surprise after inflation jumped to 4.3% in the year to September, and following tough talk from senior central bank officials over recent days and weeks.

Ukrainian president Zelenskyy says attack on aid hub was ‘vile’ and shows Russia does not want to de-escalate

Russia on Monday bombed an aid distribution centre and neighbouring shelter in southern Ukraine, killing at least 26 ​people, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the country’s emergency services said.

Emergency services said two members of a rescue crew and four police officers were among the dead in the village ⁠of Komyshuvakha, in south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region. Five people were being treated in hospital, including two rescue workers.

Other overnight strikes targeted power plants across Ukraine, damaged hospitals and wounded scores of people

Russia has bombed a humanitarian hub in southern Ukraine, killing at least 31 people and leaving dozens missing, as part of a wave of strikes across the country.

Other overnight Russian strikes targeted power plants across Ukraine, damaged hospitals and wounded scores of people, as the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, warned that the US was distracted by its midterm elections.

In his new memoir, the actor reveals he was slapped 27 times until he was dizzy for a scene director Nichols ‘didn’t even use’

Almost 60 years after The Graduate was released, Dustin Hoffman has revealed that making the 1967 film that launched his career was “a terrible experience” and he felt “immediately uncomfortable, unworthy” as a Jewish actor playing “the ultimate Wasp”, Ben Braddock.

In an essay for the New Yorker, drawn from his upcoming memoir Look at Me, which was co-written with New Yorker staff writer Ariel Levy, the 89-year-old actor wrote: “The Graduate exacerbated all my insecurities from the start.

Police confirm arrest of 37-year-old and 14-year-old boy over alleged assault in Torquay on Sunday night

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Leaders from across the political spectrum have condemned the alleged assault of a One Nation volunteer with a baseball bat outside his home on Victoria’s Surf Coast.

Police on Tuesday confirmed they arrested a 37-year-old Hampton Park man and a 14-year-old boy over the incident, which occurred at a Torquay home on Sunday night.

Jones, a former radio broadcaster, has pleaded not guilty to 21 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching

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The evidence of a star reporter whose investigation led to charges against Alan Jones was paused so the former 2GB broadcaster and horse racing enthusiast could watch the Melbourne Cup.

Jones’s defence barrister, Gabrielle Bashir SC, asked judge Glenn Walsh if the court could break just before 3pm to watch the race as Jones sat laughing loudly in the front row of the public gallery.