NEW YORK (AFP) – Republicans and Democrats may be dominating the US presidential race, but when it comes to the bedroom, it is independents who have better sex, according to Playboy magazine’s Politics of Sex survey.

More than 45 percent of those questioned said independents were better in the sack, against 36 percent who thought Democrats were the best lovers and just over 18 percent who rated Republicans as the real Don Juans.

However, more Republicans had sex at least once a week — 55 percent against only 43 percent of Democrats — according to the magazine’s February edition, which questioned 900 adults aged between 18- and 64-years-old.

The survey also found that Michelle Obama, the wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, was considered by almost one in five respondents as the sexiest woman in politics.

She was followed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, with 17.5 percent, first lady Laura Bush on 16.3 percent and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with 14 percent.

Among former presidents, Bill Clinton emerged as the sexiest former US leader, beating Ronald Reagan by 58.8 percent to 21.7 percent.

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – A well-known Brazilian soccer lineswoman, already in trouble over a mistake she made during a match last month, has raised eyebrows with her decision to pose nude for Playboy magazine.

Ana Paula Oliveira, a 29-year-old brunette who also campaigns for women’s rights, signed a contract with the magazine this week and will appear in its July edition without her usual sports attire.

The Brazilian Soccer Confederation said it was not considering any sanctions against Oliveira, one of a handful of female referee assistants in Brazil, but indicated it may be bad for her career.

“If she took that decision, it’s because she must have other career thoughts,” Lance! a sports daily, quoted the president of the confederation’s refereeing commission, Edson Rezende, as saying through a spokesman.

Oliveira was banned for three games for mistakenly disallowing at least one goal during a Copa Brasil match in May, and has not been called up for any top league matches since. The mistake contributed to debate in Brazil about the presence of female officials at top games.

Fellow lineswoman Aline Lambert told the same Friday edition of the paper that posing nude “is incompatible with the profession.”

Columnist and former World Cup referee Jose Wright said it would now be difficult for Oliveira to become a referee.

But Oliveira said in an Internet chat on Futebol no Interior (Football in the Outback) Web site she was still hoping to be a referee in future World Cup tournaments. She said her mother had told her to accept the Playboy deal. Local media estimate the deal would earn her nearly $250,000.

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Flaunting bunnies, booze and blackjack, the first Playboy Club in nearly two decades opened in Las Vegas on Saturday night with high hopes that its time-tested combination of sex and celebrity will attract a new generation of high rollers.

With a distinctly vintage feel, Playboy bunnies wearing the distinctive ears and cottontail delivered drinks and dealt cards to a mostly male crowd at the Palms Casino Resort.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner surrounded himself with a bevy of blonds — and one brunette — in a red corner booth while pulsating music filled the smoky room.

“There’s a new generation ready to come out and play,” Playboy Enterprises founder Hugh Hefner told Reuters before the party, saying the Playboy brand was just as relevant today as it was when he started the men’s magazine in 1953.

“Playboy has always stood for something — a social, sexual and political agenda that has real meaning,” the 80-year-old Hefner said.

Almost a half century has passed since Hefner opened his first club in Chicago in 1960 and helped usher in the sexual revolution while the Playboy bunny and the Playboy centrefold skyrocketed to American icon status.

Now, the flagship magazine faces depressed advertising and lower newsstand revenues amid competition from magazines like Maxim and Internet porn.

At the same time, however, Playboy has attracted new fans through “The Girls Next Door,” the reality television show about Hefner’s three live-in girlfriends, and a successful licensing business.

While once controversial, the brand appears almost quaint amid today’s X-rated offerings, said Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, who says that Playboy represents a pivotal moment in American culture.

“(Hefner) was starting a revolution to break down fusty, infantile, puritanical mores that probably needed to be broken down,” Thompson said. “At the same time he was creating a cultural climate that made many women who were just starting to make progress in the young feminist movement very uncomfortable.”

In their heyday, the dozens of clubs reached as far as Japan and Jamaica and featured the hottest entertainers of the time like Sammy Davis Jr. and Sonny & Cher.

But the symbols of flesh and free wheeling began shuttering their doors in the late 1980s amid escalating costs, and a sense among many that the bunny brand had peaked.

Now, Playboy is banking that its retro appeal will lure younger fans into the club.

DON’T TOUCH THE BUNNIES

The bunnies have been told how to deliver drinks and how to “perch” themselves delicately on the backs of seats.

“Bunnies don’t sit,” said bunny Ashley Rovenheiser, who said she loved being a bunny. “It’s so exciting.”

Patrons have rules, too, said bunny dealer Charity Mays.

“It’s kind of like at the zoo — don’t touch the bunnies!” she said.

According to Palms owner George Maloof, the Playboy club will be a welcome respite from the X-rated offerings available elsewhere in Vegas. Maloof said he expects young women to frequent the club, along with bachelor parties and high rollers.

“There’s plenty in Vegas to do if you want to go to a strip club,” Maloof said earlier this week. “This is a sophisticated place.”

Cocktails are served up at the bar adorned with thousands of diamond-shaped crystals, while Playboy’s famous rabbit ears adorn everything from the carpet to ashtrays to gambling tables. The bathroom walls are covered with centrefolds, with mirrored centrefold images on bathroom stalls.

Bunnies say the best part of their job is the outfit. Still, it has its drawbacks, said bunny dealer Mays.

“People kept taking the bunny tails — now they’re attached so they can’t come off.”

TOKYO (AFP) – Playboy magazine, well known for its racy shots of women, has dared Japan’s new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to bare all himself.

But in case readers are looking for naked shots of Japan’s youngest post-World War II prime minister, the magazine made clear its challenge to Abe dealt with policy.

In between pictures of less than decent women, the men’s magazine devoted a seven-page cover story to accusing Abe of being opaque on his agenda.

“Our weekly magazine’s motto is and always has been, ‘Be more naked!’” Playboy said in an issue marking the 40th anniversary of its Japanese edition.

“Men and women, and Japan, be more naked! Shinzo Abe and your fellow men, are you ready?” it said, referring to Abe’s male-dominated cabinet.

Playboy featured contributions from commentators ranging from an independent politician to journalists to comedians to offer their views on Abe, who took office on September 26.

They criticized Abe for not giving clear explanations on issues ranging from restoring Japan’s finances to the perceived widening gap between rich and poor.

Abe, 52, enjoys high public approval ratings but has come under a barrage of criticism by the media accusing him of failing to offer a clear agenda.

Abe has been most outspoken on security and foreign-policy issues and champions rewriting Japan’s post-World War II pacifist constitution.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A former Walt Disney World dancer who used to dress up as Cinderella and Snow White was named Playboy magazine’s Playmate of the Year on Thursday.

Kara Monaco, 23, an aspiring actress from Lakeland, Florida, received a check for $100,000, a car and a sports motorbike from Playboy Enterprises Inc., company founder Hugh Hefner announced at the Playboy Mansion.

Monaco, a blonde, hopes to leverage her new role to boost her modeling and acting career.

She was Miss June in 2005.

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – Baylor University in Waco, Texas, which bills itself as the world’s largest Baptist college, has threatened to discipline students if they pose for Playboy magazine, which is trying to recruit models from the college.

Playboy photographers came to Baylor’s hometown seeking models for a photo spread on women of the Big 12 college athletic conference, of which the college is a member.

Baylor Vice President for Student Life Samuel W. Oliver sent an e-mail to students this week warning that any who “associate” with Playboy would be subject to the university’s disciplinary processes.

“Playboy is clearly antithetical to Baylor’s mission and associating with the magazine would be a violation of the code of conduct,” Oliver wrote in the e-mail. University officials said punishment could include suspension.

Baylor, known for its conservative outlook, did not allow dancing on campus until 10 years ago.

A spokesman for Playboy, known for its nude centerfolds, declined to comment on the e-mail.

The threatened punishment was met with a yawn by students on campus.

One woman, who professed no desire to pose for Playboy, said Baylor officials had “more important things to worry about” and wondered if male students would face similar punishment if they were seen reading an issue of Playboy featuring Baylor women.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – An Indonesian maid posed in her underwear for pictures her female employer promised would appear in the Indonesian version of Playboy, but complained after receiving no payment, a Malaysian social group said Wednesday. Playboy magazine caused a stir at its launch in Indonesia last week, despite having less skin on display than U.S. issues of 50 years ago.

Although banned in Malaysia, it became big news because the center spread featured a top Malaysian model named Amber Chia.

In exchange for a promise of 1,000 ringgit ($272) and the use of her connections with the magazine to get the pictures printed, the woman took pictures of her 25-year-old maid in seductive postures while her family was away, the Star newspaper said.

“It was a joke by the employer, but the maid took it seriously,” said M. Ganesha, head of a complaints bureau run by the Malaysian Indian Youth Council, to which the maid turned for help in getting payment.

He told Reuters he would settle the dispute within two days and get the photographs returned, but declined to elaborate.

“In Malaysia posing for nude photographs or taking nude photographs is illegal, so if the maid complains to the police, both of them will face charges,” said L. Krishnan, an official in southwestern Negeri Sembilan state, where the incident occurred.

Indonesians account for 96 percent of the 320,000 licensed foreign housemaids in Malaysia.

($1=3.6736 ringgit)

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Jakarta’s police chief said Thursday that the Indonesia publishers of Playboy magazine should put off their next issue after attacks on their offices.

About 300 hardline Islamists vandalized the building housing Playboy’s offices Wednesday in a protest against its publication in the world’s most-populous Muslim nation.

The protesters threw rocks at the front lobby, breaking windows of the building in the south of Jakarta several days after the magazine hit Indonesian news-stands for the first time.

Police made some efforts to stop the attackers but did not arrest anyone.

“It would be better if there were a deal to postpone the second edition,” Jakarta police chief Firman Gani told reporters.

He said he planned to ask the publishers to meet with police to discuss the matter, but would appeal to higher authorities for support of a postponement if Playboy did not voluntarily comply.

The postponement would allow police time to investigate whether Playboy’s first issue had violated any laws, Gani said.

Protesters showed up at the building Thursday as well, but in smaller numbers and without any incidents of violence. They included women and children, while Wednesday’s violent demonstrators were exclusively male.

A building manager told reporters that Playboy had actually already vacated its offices on the premises, moving out overnight, and showed journalists the emptied space.

Despite widespread controversy, most observers say Indonesia Playboy’s first issue, which bared little more flesh than newspaper lingerie ads, went no further — or if anything was tamer — than foreign and domestic competitors already commonly on sale in Indonesia.

Asked why those magazines were not being asked to pull their issues, Gani said that steps would be taken if they also “caused public restlessness.”

However, a speaker at Thursday’s anti-Playboy demonstration said protesters would act themselves to “sweep” other magazines they consider pornographic off the shelves.

Members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), the hardline group that organized the earlier demonstration that turned violent, are known for taking the law into their own hands, for example by attacking massage parlors, and bars selling alcohol during the Muslim fasting period.

In February, they beat on the U.S. embassy gate in Jakarta with sticks and pelted the embassy complex with tomatoes, eggs and stones, breaking windows as outnumbered police looked on.

Some groups have criticized police in the past for selective law enforcement that effectively encourages militant violence, but Gani said police have arrested FPI members on various occasions and were protecting Playboy staff members.

About 85 percent of Indonesia’s 220 million people are Muslims. Most are moderates, but militant groups have been increasingly vocal in recent years.

Several deadly bombing attacks in Indonesia have been blamed on the al Qaeda-linked Southeast Asia militant network Jemaah Islamiah, including blasts in Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people.

Founded in 1953, U.S.-based Playboy has about 20 editions around the world that cater to local tastes.

WARSAW (AFP) – The Polish edition of Playboy offered to come to the aid of a 19-year-old Polish girl who has been expelled from her high school after she posed nude for the men’s magazine.

Sylwia Preiss “appeared on the cover of our March edition, which went on sale last Friday. Soon afterwards, she sent me a text message to say she’d been kicked out of school”, three months before she was due to sit her exams, the publisher of Playboy Poland, Marcin Meller, told AFP.

“If Sylwia decides to enroll in a private school, we’ll pick up all the tuition costs,” he added Thursday.

The young model was quoted in Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza as saying her school principal had told her she had behaved “immorally and unethically” in posing for Playboy. Poland is overwhelmingly Catholic.

Meller said the expulsion surprised him, as “Sylwia is an adult.”

“I don’t know if the school principal is just hard-headed or if he was trying to be more Catholic than the pope,” he added.