JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African dominatrix has given up her battle to live in a vicarage, telling the church's congregation they can "shove" the disputed residence, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Pretoria News said Marianne Ellis had been renting the manse, or vicarage, at the Doornkloof Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk near Pretoria for some time when church elders discovered her sideline as a local dominatrix and asked her to move.

"It is a long story, but basically I am tired of fighting, really tired. They can take their manse back, in fact they can shove it," she told the newspaper.

Ellis, who said she was promised a long lease and option to buy the vicarage, had earlier showed reporters her "torture chamber" at the house but said she never had sex with her clients and was not running a brothel.

"But I will crack the whip again after we have moved. Then I will be back with a vengeance," the newspaper quoted her as saying.

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That's timely. The gossip buzzing around the parlor today is that Strumpette also is being shunned... by the good sisters of the Church of St. Salieri.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German prostitutes are signing up for a career change, training to become nurses to tend to the country's aging population.

Thirty prostitutes have enlisted in a church-funded project in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia and more are on a waiting list, project coordinator Gisela Zohren said.

"Competition in prostitution is fierce and the days when one could make a decent living out of it are long gone, especially once you hit the thirties," Zohren said.

She said prostitutes' fees had hit rock bottom and they were well suited to jobs on offer in the retraining program.

"After years of prostitution, they know how to listen, look after people and are savvy in selling over the phone," she said.

Experts in the care industry for the aged also welcomed the initiative.

"We have more and more old and fewer and fewer young people, so there is a strong demand for people working in care professions," said Franz Wagner, head of the German association of care professions.

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QUESTION: Considering PR's current reputation, just how far away from that are we? Ya think? Somebody lend me a tape measure?