Hillary's knickers in a Brazilian twist

Hillary Clinton: lawyer, mother, ''presidential partner'', cookie- baker, newspaper columnist and now knickers model. Her latest incarnation is quite inadvertent, however. A Brazilian lingerie company is using an accidentally revealing photo of the First Lady, taken during her recent Latin American tour, in an advertisement.

The Portuguese text accompanying the photograph reads: ''Mr President of the United States of America: Your Excellency can't imagine what Duloren can do.'' Smaller print below reads: "A tribute to one of the most important women of the decade."

''In this case, we want to say that daring women don't mind letting their panties be seen,'' said Silvio Matos, director of the Criacao da Contemporanea agency, which created the advert for Duloren.

''In the interest of good taste and good sense we have no comment,'' said Mrs Clinton's press secretary, Lisa Caputo.

Earlier this year, a rival Brazilian lingerie maker, Valisere, hired Divine Brown, the Hollywood prostitute arrested with Hugh Grant for ''lewd conduct'', for an advert warning women against ignoring their partners' sexual fantasies. Ms Brown got a dose of reality on Wednesday, when she began her six-month jail sentence.

Children's charities in South Africa are $100,000 better off, thanks to two of the world's best-loved men, Santa Claus and Nelson Mandela - though to some they are one and the same.

''Not many people are aware that Mandela contributes money from his own salary every month into a fund to help the underprivileged children of South Africa,'' said Conrad Sidegeo, South Africa's ambassador to Denmark, as he accepted the prize on behalf of the President, who was named ''Santa of the Year'' by the Santa Claus Foundation of Greenland. ''It is going to give so much to the children of South Africa, where need is enormous.''

Backed by the government of Greenland, which claims to be the real home of Father Christmas, the foundation assists children all over the world. Lars-Emil Johansen, Prime Minister of the autonomous Danish province, will visit Johannesburg to present the President with the rest of his prize: a full-size wax model of Mr Mandela - dressed as Santa Claus.

It's all over between her and OJ Simpson, Paula Barbieri says. The model told ABC television that she waited faithfully for the American football star from the time of his arrest on double-murder charges in June 1994 until his acquittal a month ago. From jail, she said, Simpson had told her, repeatedly and tearfully, that if he were acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ronald Goldman, he would abandon his celebrity lifestyle. But once free, Miss Barbieri said, he began cashing in on his fame and suggested to her that they pose for photographs together, for money.

"Rather than a quiet, 'Let's get back to who you and I are, and let's get to know each other again on a different level' ... it was a realisation for me that he was going back to that lifestyle,'' she said. Now she just wants to move on. ''And when all those people ask me 'How's OJ?' ... I won't know. I just want to work. I want to have children. I want to love.''

Maryann Bird