With a gleaming smile and a graceful bow, Miss Turkey was crowned Miss World on Saturday, bringing to a close an international pageant that has been dogged by violence and controversy.
Azra Akin, 21, stood proudly to attention while her national anthem was played, after she accepted the glittering tiara and a ?100,000 prize from last year's winner, Nigeria's Agbani Darego.
PHOTO:AFP
"I hope I will represent the women of the world in a good way," Akin told reporters as she sat on her throne.
"I am very honored to be Miss World," she said, wearing her new Miss World sash over a flamboyant red dress. "I think it is good for a woman to have this position, and I hope I can make a difference."
Unlike its heyday in the 1970s, this year's beauty queens glided along the catwalk in evening gowns rather than swim wear -- part of an effort to shed the show's sexist and outdated image.
But swim wear was not entirely absent Saturday. As the girls strutted across the elaborate stage, footage of them shot beside a Nigerian waterfall was flashed across giant screens.
Despite its 11th hour relocation, the 52nd pageant was a slick and glitzy affair, watched by a sellout audience.
Organizers say the show was broadcast in 137 countries to a global audience of more than two billion.
In Britain, however, where the pageant is widely seen as a quaint, kitsch spectacle, no television channel agreed to broadcast it.
The rioting that left more than 200 people dead in Nigeria was barely mentioned during the upbeat show.
"Our thoughts go out to the families that suffered," said Sean Kanan, an actor from US soap The Bold and The Beautiful who co-hosted the event.
"Of course, I was shocked by what happened in Nigeria. I hope people in the world will be more respectful to each other," said Akin.
In Nigeria, viewers tuned in with a mixture of regret and relief, with most agreeing the pageant had to be moved from their country to avoid further bloodshed.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS