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glided along the catwalk in evening gowns rather than swim wear -- part of an effort to shed the show's sexist and outdated image.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.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS