Daily Headlines: December 20, 2012

* Nicaragua: A Nicaraguan judge convicted on money laundering and drug trafficking charges eighteen Mexicans who posed as journalists working for Televisa. 

* U.S.: Family members and close associates of the late musician Jenni Rivera praised her in a “graduation to heaven” memorial service yesterday in Los Angeles.

* Venezuela: Did Miss Venezuela Irene Sofia Esser Quintero’s choice to not use a translator in the Q&A segment cost her the Miss Universe crown?

* Ecuador: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to speak later today from the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has resided in for the past six months.

Video Source – YouTube via user PrensaLatinaTV (Video uploaded in October 2012).

Online Sources- CNN, BBC News, Huffington Post, CBC News

"White supremacists" ridicule Miss Universe winner

On Monday Leila Lopes of Angola won the latest edition of the Miss Universe beauty pageant that was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Despite the many congratulations she received for winning, a few individuals were unhappy that a dark-skinned woman from an African country won the contest.

According to several reports, Lopes was taunted with racist messages in English and Portuguese on the website of a “white supremacist” group called Stormfront. One commenter allegedly bemoaned that a “monkey wearing a dress” won the contest while another claimed that she ought to play “the daughter of King Kong” in a Hollywood film.

Unfortunately this isn’t the first time that members of the Stormfront.org have cruelly ridiculed beauty pageant winners. “That disgusting black cannot be Italian,” was one of the messages supposedly written on the site weeks ago insulting Brazilian-born Silvia Novais after she won the opportunity to represent Italy in the next Miss World contest.

Brazilian police have been investigating the Stormfront group over suspected ties to neo-Nazi organizations. In the meantime, Lopes spoke out on Wednesday against being the target of racism:

“Racism doesn’t affect me. Racists are the ones who should seek help because it isn’t normal that a person should think like that in the twenty-first century. There is no basis for that type of prejudice.”

Lopes herself has faced other troubles this week including rumors that she falsified documents in order to enter (and subsequently win) the Miss Angola UK contest.

Image- AFP via USA TODAY (“Miss Angola 2011 Leila Lopes is crowned Miss Universe 2011 by Miss Universe 2010 Ximena Navarrete of Mexico at the 60th annual Miss Universe beauty pageant at the Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo on Sept. 12, 2011.”)

Online Sources- ABC News, Guanabee, Portal Susse, Observador Global, El Universal

Mexico captures Miss Universe crown

The Miss Universe title continues in Latin America after Mexico’s Jimena Navarrete won the crown last night.

AFP described Navarrete’s victory as “an upset” yet she was one of several favorites who made it to the final five along with the representatives from Jamaica and Australia. The 22-year-old received high scores from the judges during the swimwear and evening gown sections of the program. Yet she appeared to clinch the competition after skillfully answering her final round question on unsupervised Internet use while others faced tougher queries on topics such as capital punishment.

Prior to the contest betting agency Paddy Power gave 14-1 odds for Marelisa Gibson to win three consecutive Miss Universe crowns for her native Venezuela. Gibson was cut early in the competition, however, and Navarrete would win the title with Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillipps as the first runner-up.

Before being crowned Navarrete, who becomes Mexico’s second-ever Miss Universe, mentioned one of her aims as the winner:

Navarrete, a nature enthusiast from Guadalajara, revealed earlier in the competition that she wanted to work with women who suffer from eating disorders.

“I studied nutrition and I would like everyone to understand that it is not about your looks it is how you feel inside,” the 5-foot-nine brunette said through an interpreter. “And when you feel good inside you look good.”

Navarrete’s victory came at the end of a gaudy ceremony from Las Vegas that included a dancing troupe of Elvis impersonators.

Image- El Universal
Online Sources- AFP, CBC, CBS News, Time, Toronto Sun

Venezuela takes Miss Universe

For the second year in a row, a Venezuelan woman was crowned Miss Universe in the international pageant.

Stefania Fernandez, a teenager, will get a $100,000 scholarship to study acting, a five-day vacation in the Bahama, jewelry, a complete wardrobe and bragging rights for the next year. She also receives a monetary prize of undisclosed amount.

Last year, Dayana Mendoza, another Venezuelan, won the crown.

Last night's judges included actor Dean Cain and Andre Leon Talley, American Vogue's editor-at-large.

Read more about Miss Universe here.

Source and Photo: AFP

Mexico: Sorry for booing Miss USA

Mexican tourism officials formally apologized for the Mexico City audience’s booing of Miss USA during the Miss Universe pageant. Said the chief of staff for Mexico's tourism department:

“‘We understand the concern of the people of the United States about the incorrect behavior of a small group that attended the event,’ (Gabriel) Szekely wrote. ‘We apologize for the inconvenience and be sure that Miss Rachel Smith will always be welcome in Mexico.’”

Miss USA Rachel Smith took a tumble during the evening gown portion of the pageant, and was subsequently jeered while answering to a question from one of the judges (video link):

Sources- YouTube, International Herald Tribune, MSNBC

Contestants from the Americas favorites for Miss Universe crown

Online betting outfits have several Latin American and Caribbean contestants as favorites to win the Miss Universe beauty pageant tonight in Mexico City. One website has Miss Venezuela Ly Jonaitis and Miss Brazil Natalia Guimaraes as the top two to vie for the crown, while another site has participants from the Western Hemisphere in eight of the top ten spots.

Several contestants have broken the mold of the traditional Miss Universe candidate such as Miss Jamaica Zahra Redwood. The most radical deviation has been by Miss Sweden Isabel Lestapier Winqvist who dropped out of the competition and said that the pageant “is degrading to women and weighed down by scandals”.

Seventy-seven contestants (image) will aim to succeed Puerto Rican Zuleyka Rivera as the next Miss Universe.

Sources- Monsters & Critics, theonlinewire.com, wagerpartners.com, The Latin Americanist, The Hindu, Wikipedia

Image- sawf.org