UNEXPECTED HEADLINES: Assassination of an escort leads to miniskirt ban in world’s least popular parliament.

Detectives immediately knew they were dealing with a professional hit. The criminals had riddled the taxi with some 40 bullets, yet stole nothing from the dying driver and passenger.

But what puzzled them was the identity of the victim of the ferocious attack in the centre of Lima, Peru’s chaotic capital, last December. That passenger, Andrea Vidal, 27, was a slim, photogenic lawyer and former congressional aide.

By the time she succumbed to her injuries in intensive care one week later, investigators had begun to unearth a scandal shocking even by the rock-bottom standards of the Andean nation’s ethically-challenged Congress – a prostitution ring allegedly operating within the legislative palace itself.

Politicians initially sought to ignore the mushrooming scandal, which Ms Vidal, who was part of the ring, had reportedly been on the point of revealing when she was killed.

But public pressure finally forced them to act. Last week, they banned female aides from wearing miniskirts and shorts.

Well, that ought to solve the problem.